Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Anti-American Art: Masters of War


This incredibly difficult to look at image is actually another stamp from a series issued by Saddam Hussein's Iraq in 2001 to protest the lingering effects of the use of depleted uraniam (DU) weapons during the gulf war. The caption reads "DU Bombing crime against Iraqi people" and shows a horribly deformed child with bombs labelled "UK" and "USA." There's a website that documents the extreme birth deformities caused by DU in Iraq, it's here. Depleted Uranium is used by weapons manufacturers because it is incredibly hard; used in shells it increases their destuctive ability. Like the monsters who develop and use cluster bombs shaped like toys (I'm looking at you, USA and Israel), the masters of war who use DU in their armaments don't seem to worry about the longterm genetic damage caused by exposure to DU dust released by its military use.

As Bob Dylan sang way back in 1963,

Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin’
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it’s your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

...

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

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