Iraqi Sculptor Kalat: Paying Tribute or Paid for Tribute?

A pair of photos circulating since last year show a touching sculpture memorializing U.S. soldiers who died in Iraq. As the caption correctly states, the statue was made by an Iraqi artist using bronze salvaged from melted-down statues of Saddam Hussein. The email is wrong, however, when it states that the artist, "Kalat," created the work out of gratitude toward the Americans. "I made the statues of Saddam — even though I didn't want to — because I needed money for my family and to finish my education," he explained to the Wall Street Journal. "And I decided to make statues for the Americans for the exact same reasons." Read more...