Expression

From Today in Iraq.Images of U.S. abuse of Iraqi prisoners seeping into Baghdad's art scene.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) The crouching man is naked, his hands tied and his head covered with a hood.

The alabaster sculpture on display at a Baghdad gallery bears a striking resemblance to some of the shocking photographs that emerged last week of Iraqi prisoners abused by their American guards at the Abu Ghraib prison.

But the 15-inch sculpture with words ''We are living American democracy'' inscribed on its base was fashioned two months ago.

''We knew what went on at Abu Ghraib,'' Abdul-Kareem Khalil, the artist, said Saturday. ''The pictures did not surprise me...''

At the Hewar, or Dialogue, art gallery where Khalil's works are on display, owner Qasim al-Sabti recently invited artists to write or paint their impressions of the occupation on a 6½-foot by 10-foot rectangular piece of wood in the gallery's garden.

About 40 artists and writers took up his offer. One painted an American eagle with feathers that look like rockets.

''You liberated us. Ok. Thank you! Go home,'' someone wrote in English.

''America is the plague,'' another one wrote.

''We are not strangers to what the U.S. Army does,'' said Khalil, standing next to the statue of the naked man and two other alabaster sculptures also inspired by the occupation. ''Our dignity cannot endure this humiliation. Anyone detained by the Americans is ready to join the resistance upon his release.''

Al-Sharqiyah, one of several satellite TV channels that have sprung up in Iraq over the past year, has been broadcasting ads for a sitcom about life under U.S. occupation that will air soon.

Some of the scenes ridicule American soldiers, focusing on their ignorance of local culture or their zeal in searching for insurgents and weapons.

We would do well to listen and heed what these artists are trying to tell us.