Saddam's captors take piece of him home to Texas

[Kadie]

Published: Jul 14, 2004
Modified: Jul 14, 2004 4:02 PM

Saddam's captors take piece of him home to Texas

By T.A. BADGER, ASSOCIATED PRESS

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) - When Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq, a pair of monuments stood as symbols of his iron-fisted domination: towering bronze statues depicting a heroic Saddam as the mighty conqueror, on horseback, sword aloft.

But U.S. troops blew the statues off their pedestals after the invasion of Iraq, giving the soldiers who pulled Saddam out of his hiding hole a keepsake to bring home.

The 50-foot-tall statues were melted down and recast by a skilled Iraqi artist who turned them into a new memorial that depicts a GI mourning his fallen comrades while a young girl tries to console him.

The new statue, mounted on a black granite base, is the centerpiece of an Iraq war memorial being built outside the 4th Infantry Division's museum at Fort Hood in central Texas.

more... http://newsobserver.com/24hour/nation/story/1495361p-8960315c.html

[leesa]

1. Oh good. More US theft and destruction.

[Robb]

2. "GI mourning his fallen comrades while a young girl tries to console him"

Well, thank goodness they've gotten rid of propagandistic public art. :eyes:

[daleo]

3. I wonder who the artist really was

I doubt any Iraqi artist who actually lived in Iraq would dare to take this commission.

[catzies]

5. *snarf*

Good one, Robb.

You dingbat.

[Straight Shooter]

9. Was this girl one of the "insurgents" released from Abu Ghraib?

I say plant the damn statue in Crawford, on that hog ranch.

[TahitiNut]

10. No, she's a virgin.

Her bronze hymen is intact. :eyes:

[HereSince1628]

4. Amazing thousands upon thousands of dead Iraqi civilians

and a statue is made to Americans mourning their dead.

Wow. I have to say Bremmer REALLY did do his job!!!!!

Who would have thought such appreciation was possible? And of all places, the statue is headed to the Republic of Tejas!

Yowzaa. Hot news!

[Mikimouse]

8. Yuri Andropov's 'liberators' did the same thing in Budapest...

right beside the Citadel(built a monument to the Soviet soldiers killed in the rebellion), the scene of the last rebel stronghold. They were alos nice enough to leave the Citadel in its original, post rebellion condition, complete with small arms gouges in the walls and larger shell holes. Just a reminder to the Hungarian people about what can happen. We won't even discuss who it was that incited the Hungarians to rebel, with hollow promises of immediate military support!

Edit: Added parenthetical comment to clarify.

[manic expression]

6. The only reason the artist made it

was because he was broke and unemployed (just like 60% of the Iraqi workforce). Anyway, if they wanted it to be realistic it would have the soldier consoling the girl.

[Rex]

7. Out of all the 12th posts from new DUrs

Yours is the best I've ever seen!

Welcome aboard manic expression :toast:

[MaineDem]

11. I find this repulsive

I feel horrid that I've become so cynical and hateful.

[Redleg]

12. Ahhh, the spoils of war.

How nice.