re: Only a reporter from the NY Times or thereabouts...
"Don't forget in 2002 Saddam was still in power and homosexuality is punishable by death under Islamic law."
Sorry mate, you are clearly confusing a few things here. Saddam, mad and evil as he may be (was, has been?) was NOT an I slamic leader or extremist. He was a muslim himself but he also drank alcohol and had a reputation for womanizing a bit here and there...
And don't forget there were quite a few high ranking leadership members (Aziz for instance) who were Christian.
Sort of takes away the whole base of your reasoning, doesn't it?
As far as the situation on the ground in Bagdad or Iraq is concerned, don't tell others how things go around there unless you have been there!
Dan