Images of Iraqi Prisoners Used in Art

[happynewyear]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The crouching man is naked, his hands tied and his head covered with a hood. The alabaster sculpture on display at a Baghdad gallery bears a striking resemblance to some of the shocking photographs that emerged last week of Iraqi prisoners abused by their American guards at the Abu Ghraib prison.

But the 15-inch sculpture — with words "We are living American democracy" inscribed on its base — was fashioned two months ago.

"We knew what went on at Abu Ghraib," Abdul-Kareem Khalil, the artist, said Saturday. "The pictures did not surprise me."

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Jubilation over last year's collapse of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s regime has dissipated, replaced by terrorist attacks, an unprecedented rise in violent crime, inadequate public services and a foreign occupation force that many Iraqis consider heavy-handed and scornful of Iraqi traditions.

Photos of smiling U.S. soldiers — male and female — mistreating Iraqi prisoners only add to the sense of powerlessness among people subjected to house raids, searches, checkpoints, barbed wire, detention of women.



link ...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040508/ap_on_en_ot/iraq_abuse_in_art_2

I wonder how soon it will be before art is banned as a form of free expression in Iraq and in this country?

U.S. OUT OF IRAQ!