War is Hell

Tales from a Smoking Gun, 2021

2021 marked the 20th year of the U.S. war in Afghanistan, the longest in U.S. history. Since 2001, the U.S. has waged its ‘War on Terror’, yielding a series of ‘forever’ wars which have taken an enormous toll on the native populations of the nations invaded. These paintings are part of an ongoing series reflecting the U.S. large global military presence, and the contorted aftermath of so many years of ‘democracy building’ and ‘failed diplomacy’.

According to Brown University’s Watson Institute “Costs of War” project, these wars have produced*:
– Human Costs: OVER 929,000 lives
– Displaced Peoples: 38 MILLION
– Counterterrorism (over)Reach: in OVER 85 COUNTRIES
– Budgetary Costs: $8 TRILLION
*as of Jan 1, 2022