9.13.2004

Art of Abu Ghraib: Given Andy Warhol's oft-repeated "15 minutes of fame" quote, his namesake museum in Pittsburgh seems a perfect place to examine the art and technology behind the tabloid-ready, snapshot-rich Abu Ghraib scandal. Inconvenient Evidence: Iraqi Prison Photographs from Abu Ghraib, opening at the museum on Friday, aims to offer a "look at the extraordinary impact that amateur digital photographs have had on the public's view of the Iraq War, and the human rights issues that this technology exposed at Abu Ghraib prison and elsewhere." Veterans groups, as Cursor flags, are displeased. "It is appalling. They are trying to call somebody's amateur photographs of some lower personnel's actions artwork. Is this going to be another conviction of American soldiers during Vietnam?" said Joe Dugan, a Vietnam and Gulf War veteran and head of Pittsburgh's Soldiers & Sailors National Military Museum & Memorial. "It is a disservice to all the veterans who served. ... This should not be used as an art exhibit."

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