Swords To Ploughshares

The Dallas Morning News had an article yesterday about something really cool that happened in the Iraqi town of Tikrit - Saddam's hometown.

Apparently the 4th ID talked to a local artist and paid him to take the melted down remains of a couple of Saddam statues (from Saddam's own palace gates no less) and create the work you see above, a memorial to those US soldiers who have died in the campaign to liberate Iraq.

I just love the whole circle of things involved. One of the artists for the Saddam statues reworks the same bronze to create a memorial to his liberators. In his lifetime he has worked the same bronze into the effigy of a tyrant and an image of liberation, thankfullness and consolation.

It is really quite a work and very well done, I must say.