And here we thought the murder of gay Iraqis would get the U.S. government to blink. How about the torture of gay Iraqis?

Buoying the theory that it’s the “anal sex” part of being gay that really infuriates homophobes, Iraqi militants are reportedly gluing shut the anuses of suspected gays. Repeat: Gluing shut their anuses. With a glue so resilient, you need surgery to remove it. This is not a time for jokes about having to take a shit (we’re looking at you, Bill O’Reilly). This is torture, and some 60 men have already been attacked with it.

And yet, while the U.S. spends billions every month on Iraqi operations, there’s no attention, let alone resources, going toward defending these folks. Translating from the news network Al Arabiya:

A prominent Iraqi human rights activist says that Iraqi militia have deployed a painful form of torture against homosexuals by closing their anuses using ‘Iranian gum.’ … Yina Mohammad told Alarabiya.net that, ‘Iraqi militias have deployed an unprecedented form of torture against homosexuals by using a very strong glue that will close their anus.’ According to her, the new substance ‘is known as the American hum, which is an Iranian-manufactured glue that if applied to the skin, sticks to it and can only be removed by surgery. After they glue the anuses of homosexuals, they give them a drink that causes diarrhea. Since the anus is closed, the diarrhea causes death. Videos of this form of torture are being distributed on mobile cellphones in Iraq.’ According to this human rights activist, for the past 3 weeks a crackdown on homosexuals has been going on based on a religious decree that demands their death; dozens have been targeted. She says that the persecution of homosexuals is not confined to the Shiite clerics. Some Sunni leaders have also declared the death penalty for sodomy on satellite channels.

See our interview with Iraqi LGBT pioneer Ali Hili.