A Metaphor Too Powerful?

A tapestry featuring imagery from Picasso's 1937 painting "Guernica" has hung outside the UN Security Council at UN headquarters since 1985. Commemorating the death of 1,600 Basque villagers at Franco's hands during the Spanish Civil War, it's become a powerful antiwar symbol. When Colin Powell enters the Council chambers on Wednesday to present "evidence" for war with Iraq, the tapestry won't be seen: it's been covered up by a baby-blue banner bearing the UN logo, and no one will say why.