Introduction

Many lines have already been written regarding the recent war in Iraq. Fewer texts have turned the spotlight on American artists and their contribution to this specific anti-war movement. Among them, we find, on one hand, books and papers directly written by the participants, mostly engaged accounts aimed at creating and sustaining the debate about the legitimacy of the war,1

and, on the other hand, a few academic analyses explaining the activities related to the war, including anti-war initiatives of artists.2 Insiders’ views without distance towards the situation contrast with scientific pretensions to objectivity.