Open Arms                                                                                                                                                              Purchase

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Media: GIF file

File size: 22.6 MB

Blockchain: Ethereum

Edition: 1

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The title comes from a quote from US Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq saying that US soldiers would be welcomed with "bouquets of flowers." Estimates of Iraqi casualaties range from 100,000 to as much as 1 million; US casualties stood at 4,431 through 2021. The war was also sold to US population for its cost: approximately $50-60 billion.

 

In 2020, the Military Times published details of a report estimating the cost of the war was $2 trillion dollars, including $444 billion of interest, roughly $8,000 per US citizen.

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As early as June 2003, reports of torture began to emerge, which included many incidents at the Abu Ghraib prison, where up to 50,000 prioners were held. The artwork comes with electric wire shaped like a flower, and a lighter with which the recipient has the option to burn the accompanying 2003 $100 bill.