Talk:Hands of Victory

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[edit] Bullet holes in helmets?

I heard a programme on BBC radio yesterday which had someone (an American soldier, I think) saying that most of the Iranian helmets had a single bullet hole in them, caused when the solder (a POW) was executed, reportedly by Saddam personally. I can't find any mention of this here, or anywhere else. If it's true (not just black propaganda or febrile imaginings) and we can find some reference to that effect, mentioning this would make an important improvement to this article. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 81.152.16.135 (talk • contribs).

A few of the helmets do have what appear to be bullet holes in them. I would say from my observations yesterday that the majority of the helmets do not appear to have holes in them. I spent probably about an hour there and even climbed up into one of the hands, with the assistance of one of the local national children. Doc Duffy

I have made a few changes to the article, attempting to refine the technical details of the sculpture. The blades, for example, are cast in stainless steel, not bronze, and it is only the blades that are composed of metals from the weapons of Iraqi casualties in the Iran-Iraq war. I have also changed the fact about the bullet holes in the helmets, nothing I have read has indicated that each and every helmet is pierced by a bullet, but indeed, many have. For these clarifications, I am referring to the book, "The Monument: Art, Vulgarity and Responsibility in Iraq" by Samir al-Khalil, who's real name is Kanan Makiya. -NLK 12:46 November 4, 2006

[edit] Iraq's victory in the Iran Irak war

Hello there,

 I think the way it is written in the article is quite biased. The results of the Iran-Iraq war have more been a return to the status quo between the parties than anything else. Iranians consider to have successfully resisted an invasion backed by Western and Arab countries while Iraqis think they caused more damage than they got.

 Thus, to bring neutrality back, I suggest to put either "commemorate Iran-Irak war" or "commemorate what Iraqis consider as a victory in Iran-Irak war". I personnally prefer the neutrality of the first proposition.

 Cheers,

Keizer

I agree, and I will insert some sort of clarification. What's with the spelling of Iraq as "Irak"? Is this linguistic variation? If so, I am curious as to what language it is derived... -NLK

Sorry, I muddle sometimes between the French spelling "Irak" and the English one :) Keizer