The Effects of War

The Imperial War Museum has a new exhibit in its central atrium: the mangled wreckage of an Iraqi's car. As Will Gompertz, the BBC's arts editor, writes, the car is meant to offer a counterweight to the exhilarating effect of seeing masses of high-tech and, it has to be said, pretty fricking cool, weaponry. The message is clear: this is what happens when we use these weapons. 

In the attack on a Baghdad market that destroyed the car in 2007, 38 people were killed and many more were wounded. This kind of attack has been a regular occurrence in Iraq since 2003. For the insurgent, it is irresistible. Maximum damage for minimum effort. 

But is the car the right thing for the IWM's atrium? Most of the weaponry surrounding the wreckage is older stuff, like tanks and mini-submarines from WWII, or machine guns from WWI. Would they not be better off pursuing a full exhibit on the consequences of car bombs, IEDs, suicide attacks etc.? Surely this could more fully investigate the nature of civilian loss in modern warfare. 

Obviously I'm not condemning the piece, and actually I think it's wholly appropriate for the museum. I just want more. It might be controversial, seen as coming too soon after Iraq or inappropriate given our ongoing commitments in Afghanistan, but it is vital that people have the opportunity to see a small piece of what our soldiers are facing. Hopefully this is the first step towards that.