Bush's War destroys Iraq's once-thriving Artistic Community

[Cypress]

If any of you ever read "Assassin's Gate" (I think that was the title), it was an amazing inside look a the culture of Baghdad. Which was once considered the cultural and artisitic heart of the arab world. Great book.

The bad thing is, I suspect the Art community, the medical community, and the professional and acedemic communities are probably the most secular and liberal groups in Iraq - the people we and Iraq really need - and they seem to be bailing out of Bush's "experiment" on Iraq:

War destroys Iraq’s once-thriving artistic community.

Baghdad’s once-flourishing community of artists has all but evaporated.

Streets formerly lined with galleries are now deserted, and the artists who remain say they have not sold a piece since the U.S.-led invasion.” Approximately 90 percent of artists who were working in the capital in early 2003 have been killed or have fled the country. Muayad Muhsin, an Iraqi painter, said that he refuses to leave and give into the violence: “War destroys art, but I have a responsibility to be here in my country.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/04/AR2007080401257.html?nav=E8&sub=AR

 

[uscitizen]

Yes most of the educated secular people in Iraq have bailed out.
Possibly part of bush's plan ?
But exactly the wrong thing to have happen if we want stability in Iraq.