The power of art - Film may add pressure for US pull-out

IT IS entirely possible that Brian De Palma’s harrowing new film about the horrors of the Iraq war may add sufficiently to the anti-war momentum in America to force President George W Bush to accelerate an inevitable withdrawal of US forces from that devastated country.

Redacted, launched to acclaim in Venice yesterday, is based on the notorious incident in Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad, in which US soldiers raped a 14-year-old schoolgirl before setting her alight and shooting dead her parents and five-year-old sister.

The horrors inflicted on that country are appalling and it can be of little comfort to its people to realise that a film may have as much to do with ending their ordeal as nearly any other form of advocacy.

What it would show is the timeless power of art to influence us all to do the right thing and to be better people. That is why the Arts Council should support the Glucksman Gallery at University College Cork to continue its programme of events now that the private scheme which funded its development has concluded.