HELL NO, THIS IS IRAQ

When the former Taliban government of Afghanistan blew up ancient Buddhist statues, the world was up in arms, justifiably so. These were pieces of antiquity and history. They never will be replaced. Where are those who protested the actions of the Taliban government today? Especially the U.S. voices who were the loudest opponents of destroying the statues. Iraq is undergoing tragic destruction of the history of its past. Sometimes the statues and architecture are from ancient times, while others are from the 20th century. The U.S. has helped destroy items of antiquity and those that the U.S. does not, the current stooge government in Iraq does, all the time with no opposition from its Washington masters. On October 19, 2005, the statue of Baghdad’s founder, Jaafar al Mansour, was destroyed. It was not a piece of antiquity, but it was a rallying point for all Iraqis, regardless of political views (...) Speculation has it that the Mansour statue will be replaced by a bust of Ayatollah Sistani, if the change has not yet been made. Some reports have stated that a new statue of Sistani is already erected, while others say it is in the planning stage. Now, the well-known crossed-swords monument, Hands of Victory, is in the process of the first stages of its destruction in Baghdad. The monument was built to honor those Iraqis who fought in the Iran-Iraq War. This, like the al Mansour statue, is not a sectarian symbol. Many Shi’tes, Sunnis, Kurds and other portions of the Iraqi population, bravely fought against Iran, despite their backgrounds or political views. The Hands of Victory were meant to symbolize Iraq and Iraqis, not one particular segment...

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Response to "Iraq Dismantles Saddam’s Big Monument "

Arab bARABie blog

Feb. 20, 2007 - It's the postcard image of Baghdad: a pair of gigantic crossed swords clenched in massive fists. The monument, known officially as the Hands of Victory, is both a symbol of Saddam Hussein's outsized ego and his iron grip. "Massive fists", "iron grip" "outsized ego" this is how the writer from newsweek has started this article. The use of those three terms immediately invokes an image of a tyrant without the reader having to further read the article. Very disingenious. How does a war memorial suddenly become "BOTH a symbol" of an "outsized ego" and "iron grip"? Whatever happened to it's foremost function as a war memorial?...

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