Another Ashbrook Marine
Posted by Peter W. Schramm
Here is another picture of a former Ashbrook Scholar serving as a Marine in Iraq. This one, Capt. Josh Kirk, is a JAG and a graduate of UVA Law. The throne he is sitting on was found in the Al Faw Palace and was, apparently, a gift to Saddam from Yasser Arafat.
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Still hot. Keep up the good work, Captain Kirk!!!
If anyone knows Arabic, please translate what is written on the throne for us. Right above Captain Kirk’s head is what looks like a reproduction of the golden dome of the mosque in Jerusalem.
It seems that Yasser’s taste was just about equal to Saddam’s. (That wasn’t a compliment).
Further evidence that the virtue of moderation is not one that lends itself to the grandeur of Asiatic despotism.
Perhaps Yasser Arafat designed that throne. Someone did, and don’t you wonder who? If he had Palestinian craftsmen build it to his specifications, well, no wonder they can’t get a decent manufactory sector going in their economy. Presumably this is the best their artisans have to offer.
Do you suppose it was reproduced on a smaller scale, or with cheaper materials for home use by devotees of the regime? Or, perhaps, interesting (!?) design elements, the golden dome of the mosque in Jerusalem, for example, or the glam lion heads, are being copied as knock-offs by Chinese factories for world markets See something similar in Walmart, soon?
The thought of sharia being imposed world-wide, if we lost the war on terror, had horrified and frightened. But if such as this becomes the aesthetic.... Just another reason to thank Capt. Josh Kirk and all of those in the effort for their service.