Artist Takes on US Criminal Abuses in Iraq in Intense Video (+Photos)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - A music video by Iraqi singer Majid that goes by the stage name I-NZ depicts abuses by the US forces in war-ravaged Iraq following the 2003 invasion.
The video is a parody of Childish Gambino's 'This is America' who took on US police brutality and racial bias in his work.
The Iraqi rapper chose to remake the inhumane treatment of US soldiers towards Iraqi detainees in the former infamous US military prison, Abu Ghraib by creating harrowing images of physical and psychological torture that became public in 2004.
I-NZ plays role of a prisoner in a distinctive orange jumpsuit that becomes forced to kill an Iraqi elder who’s playing a musical instrument by two US soldiers.
At another point, it shows kneeling detainees apparently being prepared for execution, something that was seen a lot during the rule of ISIL (also Daesh) in the country, as the video also refers to the rise of terrorist groups that became possible after the US invasion in a transition from old beauties to the new ugliness as a result of the invasion.
The rapper, who was born to Iraqi parents and grew up in New Zealand and has never actually been to Iraq in his life, highlights the lack of coverage on the issue and the impunity of foreign forces and local corrupt elites with the line: "They're immune, this is telly, that's the news, media blackout, then it's lights out, keep sniffin' the tar."
The video also mocks former US President George W Bush for his infamous May 2003 speech, which he delivered under a "Mission Accomplished" banner, and after which the war continued for eight more years, arguably paving the way for the rise of Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) and for leaving the country in economic and political disarray.
The video ends with an apparent Iraqi prisoner cleaning the stains of blood that was remained after the US forces left the country.
The video was released on July 4, and it has been watched over 500,000 times on YouTube since.