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Abu Ghraib: Botero exhibit in Berkeley »
Posted by: Spadecaller 2 years, 9 months agoFernando Botero's suite of paintings and drawings depicting the torture of Iraqi prisoners at the hands of their American jailers in Abu Ghraib prison, will at last be exhibited in an American museum.
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Spadecaller
Welcome to my profile. About me: I'm an artist of several kinds; from bull to painting. I don't spare too many words. Most ...
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Comments: 137
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Spadecaller
Jan. 25, 2007, 6:49 p.m.Very powerful work.
The artist holds nothing back; his condemnation of torture and the events at Abu Ghraib are important for us all to see.
If we lose the ability to feel and to care about the principles embodied in the Geneva convention, we risk unleashing the horrors that we condemned by the Nazi concentration camps of WWII.
If we cannot see the outrage this artist depicts in his paintings, than we can surely be complicit to the hateful acts for which we claim to condemn.
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spkguy
Jan. 25, 2007, 7:30 p.m.Spade,
Almost as disturbing as the photos taken. For those who have not seen them, here they are.
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natashas
Jan. 25, 2007, 7:36 p.m.I understand the need to show people what happened to these men but not for profit.
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natashas
Jan. 25, 2007, 8:44 p.m.Will it ever be sold? I know how hard it must have been to paint this, I would just hope that certain people would not be able to own these paintings.
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eugenegerard
Jan. 25, 2007, 10:41 p.m.Hopefully, ONE DAY, the top DOGS that ordered these tortures will receive the justice they deserve.
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ETproductions
Jan. 25, 2007, 11:18 p.m.This is a sad day in American history. To our credit, we are appalled at this abuse.
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NotVulgarName
Jan. 25, 2007, 11:27 p.m.Only the sickos in Berkeley would actually display that crap.
Something truly disturbing?
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-09/2
http://www.snuffmovies.it/files/foto/beheading_rus
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Spadecaller
Jan. 26, 2007, 4:51 a.m.For those extremist factions who condone the abuses at Abu Ghraib, you need to open a book and study the holocaust; you might learn why the entire world is upset with our country.
Even Rumsfeld, Bush, and Cheney -- the worst leaders our country has ever had, have publicly condemned the abuses at Abu Ghraib. Those who hold positions to the right of them politially are far out of the mainstream. The only views to the right of such positions are fascist and uncivilized.
These bitter reactionaries at Netscape can only justify their objections to art that denounces human cruelty fail to understand the difference between revenge and justice.
Thank God, the reactionaries who pardon war crimes at Abu Ghraib make up a small minority in this country and in this world. At one time in history during the Third Reich, that kind of justification for concentration camps, war crimes, and human cruelty was maintained by the controlling party -- the nazis.
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esmith4145
Jan. 26, 2007, 9:51 a.m.I don't see any paintings of extremists whittling someone's head off with a Swiss Army knife......As torture goes tying someones hands and blindfolding them seems pretty tame.....I suppose making them pet a kitten or puppy would have been worse.... I'm pretty sure what we did at Abu Ghraib is the least invasive torture that every occured there....Who is this clown and why does anyone care????
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jumpmaster
Jan. 26, 2007, 10:07 a.m.Where are the pictures of the guards breaking the prisoners' bones? How about the pictures of the the guards forcing the prisoners to eat their own feces? How about the pictures of the guards breaking the prisoners' teeth with a rifle butt?
Oh. Those pictures would have been from an Iraqi pow camp. (Desert Storm-British SAS team captured-Andy McNabb team leader-Bravo Two Zero call sign)
Those guys at Abu Ghraib had to play naked twister. Ooooh.
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esmith4145
Jan. 26, 2007, 10:23 a.m.The people who comment on Netscape are hardly an accurate slice of the American pie. As long as I've ever been on here the vast majority (maybe 90%) are left wingers who hate Bush et al and anything that happens under his watch. If the same thing occured when Clinton was in office the same people would say "those are the unfortunate side effects of war" At least I can agree with that. Nothing about war is pleasant except when it's over. 150 years ago General Sherman had it right when he said that war should be as terrible as possible so people won't want to fight them. It's not like these guys were innocent lambs being sent to the slaughter house. We're talking about hard core extremists who if put in the opposite position would be torturing with NO compassion and would then kill you the second they thought you couldn't suffer anymore. Lyndie England was hardly a muscle bound goon. These paintings are pure fiction. They're great for the extremist's cause though...
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JohnnyB
Jan. 26, 2007, 10:24 a.m.yea foreal all these liberal pu**ies use this like propaganda, what they did was funny, pledging for a fraternity is worse than the stuff there, o no they were naked
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jumpmaster
Jan. 26, 2007, 10:40 a.m.Ah yes. The religion of peace. I guess it all depends on what you mean by peace. (I had to borrow that from a former pres)
The picture of Nick Berg getting his head sawed off is too icky and might harm the sensibilities of the enlightened crowd.
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contrast
Jan. 26, 2007, 10:33 a.m.Abu Gharib is important yes however I am also an artist. I see very few renditions of Iwo Jima and the like. It seems only stuff like this is done for the emotional response. In my eyes if you are going to go that route it would be more chilling to paint of sculpt a scene of terrorists holding a civilian captive and then doing what they do-removing the head. But that may be called bigotry...we are so messed up.
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Spadecaller
Jan. 26, 2007, 10:49 a.m.The warmongers, revenge seekers, and glory hunters are out in force this morning. Zeig Heil!
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esmith4145
Jan. 26, 2007, 10:48 a.m.Nostra, Lyndie might well be a goon but this guys depicts everyone of the captors as a Stallone look alike waiting to beat an innocent with a pool cue. The Dems aren't that smart as history goes, Wilson-WW1, FDR-WW2, Truman-Korea, Kennedy/LBJ-Vietnam if starting wars is your lithmus test. The few times they did try to use diplomacy with Islamic extremists (Carter/Iran Clinton for 8 years) it backfired which is why we're where we are now.
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Spadecaller
Jan. 26, 2007, 10:52 a.m.What does partisan politics have to do with an artist painting about torture?
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contrast
Jan. 26, 2007, 10:59 a.m.I got news for all the people out there that think W started a new idea called torture...he didnt. Do you really think in WWII that some GIs didnt beat or shoot germans to find out where some artillery was coming from and so forth? If you dont you are an idiot of the highest caliber. If you also believe that in vietnam no GI ever hooked some wires up to a VC to get what he wanted out of him you are again a fool. If you also think that in Korea something similar never happened you are misinformed. W never created torture it isnt new and it is NOT right. We got caught this time. But it has been with us forever and sadly I dondt see it going away. Dont think that just because Clinton is in ofice that every single enemy soldier is safe from torture...it doesnt work like that.
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contrast
Jan. 26, 2007, 11:04 a.m.meat grinder? that was term used in vietnam now since you like that term enough to use it I assume you know what the casualties for vietnam and thsi war are. Please enlighten us which one had more casualties after four years?
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Spadecaller
Jan. 26, 2007, 11:34 a.m.Some people count causalties as they would beans.
Only "an idiot of the highest caliber," would excuse the number of casualties for a war that is unjust and unnecessary. When their son or daughter dies defending Halliburon, we won't hear them pontificating about partisan politics.
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