# Artistically, what would the Iraq/Afghanistan War memorial look like? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 4, 2014, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artistically-what-would-the-iraq-afghanistan-war-memorial-look-like/687608 "2014-05-04T01:22:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artistically-what-would-the-iraq-afghanistan-war-memorial-look-like/687608/1 "2014-05-04T01:22:29Z")
Unless there’s a strong image like the Iwo Jima flag raising, the default seems to be a statue of a guy with a gun on a pedestal. When the Vietnam memorial broke with this with a Modern Art black V, they had to come back and add three guys, two with guns (the white guy doesn’t have his). A bronze Humvee on a pedestal, with bronze passengers? ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artistically-what-would-the-iraq-afghanistan-war-memorial-look-like/687608/2 "2014-05-04T02:21:00Z")
I think they should copy the British/Canadian motif for the Great War, In Flanders Field. Like a gigantic Poppy or something. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artistically-what-would-the-iraq-afghanistan-war-memorial-look-like/687608/3 "2014-05-04T03:10:57Z")
[![](https://i.imgur.com/66NUiCP.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/66NUiCP.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artistically-what-would-the-iraq-afghanistan-war-memorial-look-like/687608/4 "2014-05-04T21:29:25Z")
A very large, very deep hole. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artistically-what-would-the-iraq-afghanistan-war-memorial-look-like/687608/5 "2014-05-04T21:33:50Z")
With an eternal flame of hundred dollar bills. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artistically-what-would-the-iraq-afghanistan-war-memorial-look-like/687608/6 "2014-05-04T21:36:21Z")
> [@lisiate](#): > > With an eternal flame of hundred dollar bills. I like it. An eternal flame in the center, with a wreath of hundred dollar bills (metal sculpture) surrounding and reaching in to it. And somewhere, the grim, Penguin like visage of Dick Cheney smiling hidden in the artwork. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artistically-what-would-the-iraq-afghanistan-war-memorial-look-like/687608/7 "2014-05-06T11:44:50Z")
Interesting question, which will assuredly come up IRL in a few years. I think any memorial like this should try to serve two purposes: express something about the everyday experience by the typical soldier (or Marine, etc.), and also something about the particular historical/political/geographic circumstances of that war. The former varies little from war to war, other than the technology of weaponry and the style of haircut, etc.; while the latter is more or less different each time. The latter goal can be met in a subtle way, like how the geometry of the Vietnam Memorial evokes how that war ramped up slowly and kind of dribbled off at the end as well. So, what is a critical distinction for these wars that can be expressed through large 3D art? I’m not sure. They were triggered by a sudden, very well defined event (never mind the link to Iraq was, ahem, tenuous), but perhaps that has little to do with the wars themselves. \*\*Perhaps something about how the “enemy” was often expressed as a concept or method – actually, as a human emotion: “terror.” \*\* So, maybe a circular field, with soldier figures cautiously approaching something in the center. The sculpture or object at the center would somehow represent “terror” itself – abstractly. Maybe a mirror? In other words, be partly inspired by the central motif of the film _The Hurt Locker_. ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artistically-what-would-the-iraq-afghanistan-war-memorial-look-like/687608/8 "2014-05-06T12:19:34Z")
Me kicking the shit out of W for squandering years of my life, letting my friends die in squalid hellholes, and refusing to confront Pakistan for their crimes. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artistically-what-would-the-iraq-afghanistan-war-memorial-look-like/687608/9 "2014-05-06T13:47:21Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > [Imgur: The magic of the Internet](http://i.imgur.com/66NUiCP.jpg) Raise your hand if you got this in one guess! (raises hand) Like Vietnam, I think this is political charged enough that it would require some caution about messaging. Since it’s really about the people who served, something generic-ish might be fine… ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artistically-what-would-the-iraq-afghanistan-war-memorial-look-like/687608/10 "2014-05-06T14:34:14Z")
A statue of a clusterfuck. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artistically-what-would-the-iraq-afghanistan-war-memorial-look-like/687608/11 "2014-05-06T14:38:52Z")
Two similarly sized granite blocks, vaguely reminiscent of the WTC, with the deceased’s name on them. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artistically-what-would-the-iraq-afghanistan-war-memorial-look-like/687608/12 "2014-05-06T15:35:31Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > Two similarly sized granite blocks, vaguely reminiscent of the WTC, with the deceased’s name on them. And Iraq? ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artistically-what-would-the-iraq-afghanistan-war-memorial-look-like/687608/13 "2014-05-06T16:01:04Z")
Probably a statuary representation of either the Fallujah Marlboro smoker or the medic in blue gloves cradling the little kid. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artistically-what-would-the-iraq-afghanistan-war-memorial-look-like/687608/14 "2014-05-06T16:16:12Z")
A Predator drone blowing the shit out of a wedding party. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artistically-what-would-the-iraq-afghanistan-war-memorial-look-like/687608/15 "2014-05-06T16:53:17Z")
Here are [the official plans](http://i990.photobucket.com/albums/af27/msaroff/6pxMT_zps1b4e7a36.gif) (reused) ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artistically-what-would-the-iraq-afghanistan-war-memorial-look-like/687608/16 "2014-05-06T23:00:28Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > Two similarly sized granite blocks, vaguely reminiscent of the WTC, with the deceased’s name on them. > [@drastic\_quench](#): > > And Iraq? Ok, ok. It can also include one haunting ghost of an Iraqi child… [http://www.theonion.com/video/george-w-bush-debuts-new-paintings-of-dogs-friends,35799/](http://www.theonion.com/video/george-w-bush-debuts-new-paintings-of-dogs-friends,35799/) ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artistically-what-would-the-iraq-afghanistan-war-memorial-look-like/687608/17 "2014-05-06T23:17:14Z")
A soldier shielding a child. Although more accurate might be stockbrokers and major shareholders of certain companies rubbing their hands together with glee. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artistically-what-would-the-iraq-afghanistan-war-memorial-look-like/687608/18 "2014-05-07T02:19:19Z")
A huge pile of corpses, wearing American, Iraqi and Afghanistan uniforms, mixed with civilians, including children . . . all killed for no reason whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artistically-what-would-the-iraq-afghanistan-war-memorial-look-like/687608/19 "2014-05-07T03:05:33Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > A soldier shielding a child. More like a soldier shooting a child while his or her parents are dragged off to be tortured. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artistically-what-would-the-iraq-afghanistan-war-memorial-look-like/687608/20 "2014-05-07T18:33:28Z")
**Wilko Johnson has tumor removed; he may be getting better** > [@](#): > > A statement on Wilko Johnson’s Facebook had this to say: “Wilko is recovering following a nine-hour operation on Wednesday in which doctors successfully removed a pancreatic tumour. The head of the medical team treating Wilko said that they were happy with his condition. Wilko will stay under very close observation for the next few days. Although cautiously optimistic the team have to stress that it is very early days yet. The family thank everyone for their good wishes and ask for some privacy at this time so they can support Wilko with his recovery in peace.” > **[Brit Music: Wilko Johnson has tumor removed; he may be getting better](http://anglotopia.net/british-music-british-entertainment/brit-music-wilko-johnson-tumor-removed-may-getting-better/)** > > Wilko Johnson is one of those artists I've become a big fan of since I started doing this column. What particularly drew me to him was the fact that last - British Music [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artistically-what-would-the-iraq-afghanistan-war-memorial-look-like/687608.md?page=2)