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A display of excess
By Cpl Mike McSweeney
Edition 1169, June 28, 2007 |
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Man with the golden gun: DCA Maj-Gen John Cantwell hands the gold-plated AK-47 – presented to him in Iraq – to Nola Anderson, of the Australian War Memorial.
Photo by Cpl Rachel Ingram |
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A GOLD-plated AK-47, once a gift from Saddam Hussein, was presented to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra on June 18.
DCA Maj-Gen John Cantwell gave the weapon to AWM assistant director Nola Anderson as a contribution to preserving Australia’s military history.
“The weapon was captured in a fight north of Baghdad,” Maj-Gen Cantwell said.
“It’s a relatively rare piece, especially crafted and presented to select members in the senior leadership of the Saddam regime, often in recognition of them carrying out his work for him.”
The assault rifle was presented to Maj-Gen Cantwell while he was the Director of Strategic Operations in Iraq.
He was visiting the American 101st Airborne Division to discuss operational matters. During the visit a commemoration occurred for several US soldiers who had been killed in action.
In this context both then Brig Cantwell and the US commander spoke about their shared commitment to the fight against terrorism.
“As I was leaving the American general presented it to me on behalf of the 101st Division and the US forces,” he said. “I spoke to some of my Iraqi Army senior colleagues when I got back. They told me about how the favoured generals would display this weapon as a symbol of patronage and trust with Saddam often for doing his dirty work.”
Maj-Gen Cantwell said the weapon symbolised a culture of violence.
“We’ve got the idea of a gross excess – gold plating a weapon at the same time as millions of Iraqis were living in abject poverty, with no proper education or health services. Even more so now, it’s important that we continue to strive to assist people like the Iraqis and Afghans and others in other parts of the world.”
On return from his visit to the 101st Airborne Division, Maj-Gen Cantwell said he had some fun with some American officers waiting for a helicopter.
“I got off the helicopter carrying this gleaming thing and there were all these US officers standing around and they went ‘Whoa! How come you’ve got that?’ So I said of course all Australians carry gold-plated AK-47s.
“So there are probably people out there convinced now that we’ve all got gold-plated AKs.”
The AK-47 is now on display at the Australian War Memorial.
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