NO MORE AMIGOS
ROBBY STAVEN | 07.04.2003 16:49
This is one of a series of collage images recently shown in New Haven, Connecticut, US and carried through the streets of Washington DC. The strongest influence to these works are the unnamed thousands who have expressed political opinion through the rapid form of free speech that is collage. Please feel free to copy and distribute.
NO MORE AMIGOS
NO MORE AMIGOS Pictured at upper left is Saddam Hussein, the leader of the Baath political party, Iraqi president and dictator.
Pictured at upper right is The Ayatollah Khomeini, Muslim cleric and leader of the Iranian revolution which overthrew the Shah, a US backed dictator, in 1979.
Pictured at lower right is George W Bush, an unsuccessful businessman and former two term governor of Texas. He entered the White House in 2001, despite confusing circumstances concluding the Florida election. He is the son of former president George Bush Sr. and was his campaign manager in the father's unsuccessful run for a second term.
Pictured at lower left is George Bush Sr. He was head of the CIA from 1976 to 1977 and served as Vice-President from 1980 to 1988 under Ronald Reagan. It has been suggested, but never proved, that Bush stalled the 1980 Iran hostage release in order to guarantee an election win for Ronald Reagan; this theory is generally referred to as the "October Surprise". During his first term as vice president, his administration opened formal diplomatic ties with Iraq and armed them with chemical weapons for use in a war against Iran. At nearly the same time he and Ronald Reagan directed Col Oliver North to sell anti-tank missiles and helicopters to Iran. The proceeds were funneled to the Nicaraguan Contras. This was in breach of US law. The story broke in 1986 and was investigated by Congress in what is now known as the Iran-Contra Affair. Bush won the 1988 presidential election and served one term in parallel with the investigation. As one of his last actions before leaving the White House, Bush pardoned the primary figures in the Iran Contra affair; the only people who might implicate him in court.
Pictured at middle is a portion of a one dollar bill. The two pronounced circles comprise the "Great Seal" of the United States. A translation of the Latin phrase surrounding the pyramid and all-seeing eye is ""God has favored our undertakings.a new order has begun". I have removed the olive branch, a symbol of peace, from the right talon of the eagle "Victory" and replaced it with additional arrows.
Pictured at center are two Browning 45 caliber sidearms. This weapon was developed at the turn of the 19th century to replace the standard 38 caliber US Military sidearm, thought to have ineffective stopping-power in the Philippine-American War.
The phrase "There are no more amigos" was spoken by returning veterans of the Philippine-American War. This war, which monuments have incorrectly subsumed into the Spanish-American War, lasted longer than Vietnam and was more deadly than both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. State militias, expecting to be sent to Cuba and Puerto Rico to repel Spanish colonialism and protect U.S. sovereignty, were sent to the Philippines. However, the Philippinos had already won independence from Spain nine months earlier. This was a war of occupation and local resistance to United States was fierce. Although records for this war are scarce, historians have estimated between 200,000 and 700,000 civilians deaths. The Spanish, know at the time for their brutality towards indigenous peoples, were shocked by the civilian massacres which took place.
Pictured at upper right is The Ayatollah Khomeini, Muslim cleric and leader of the Iranian revolution which overthrew the Shah, a US backed dictator, in 1979.
Pictured at lower right is George W Bush, an unsuccessful businessman and former two term governor of Texas. He entered the White House in 2001, despite confusing circumstances concluding the Florida election. He is the son of former president George Bush Sr. and was his campaign manager in the father's unsuccessful run for a second term.
Pictured at lower left is George Bush Sr. He was head of the CIA from 1976 to 1977 and served as Vice-President from 1980 to 1988 under Ronald Reagan. It has been suggested, but never proved, that Bush stalled the 1980 Iran hostage release in order to guarantee an election win for Ronald Reagan; this theory is generally referred to as the "October Surprise". During his first term as vice president, his administration opened formal diplomatic ties with Iraq and armed them with chemical weapons for use in a war against Iran. At nearly the same time he and Ronald Reagan directed Col Oliver North to sell anti-tank missiles and helicopters to Iran. The proceeds were funneled to the Nicaraguan Contras. This was in breach of US law. The story broke in 1986 and was investigated by Congress in what is now known as the Iran-Contra Affair. Bush won the 1988 presidential election and served one term in parallel with the investigation. As one of his last actions before leaving the White House, Bush pardoned the primary figures in the Iran Contra affair; the only people who might implicate him in court.
Pictured at middle is a portion of a one dollar bill. The two pronounced circles comprise the "Great Seal" of the United States. A translation of the Latin phrase surrounding the pyramid and all-seeing eye is ""God has favored our undertakings.a new order has begun". I have removed the olive branch, a symbol of peace, from the right talon of the eagle "Victory" and replaced it with additional arrows.
Pictured at center are two Browning 45 caliber sidearms. This weapon was developed at the turn of the 19th century to replace the standard 38 caliber US Military sidearm, thought to have ineffective stopping-power in the Philippine-American War.
The phrase "There are no more amigos" was spoken by returning veterans of the Philippine-American War. This war, which monuments have incorrectly subsumed into the Spanish-American War, lasted longer than Vietnam and was more deadly than both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. State militias, expecting to be sent to Cuba and Puerto Rico to repel Spanish colonialism and protect U.S. sovereignty, were sent to the Philippines. However, the Philippinos had already won independence from Spain nine months earlier. This was a war of occupation and local resistance to United States was fierce. Although records for this war are scarce, historians have estimated between 200,000 and 700,000 civilians deaths. The Spanish, know at the time for their brutality towards indigenous peoples, were shocked by the civilian massacres which took place.
ROBBY STAVEN