Just IED'd

The New York Times is a great source for my paintings. Sometimes, like in the case of this painting, I do not have to make many embellishments- a real life story provides all the details I need.

In October 2012, a NYT article related the story of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American born cleric, a leader of Al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen, and his quest for a third wife who he hoped would join him in his fugitive existence. He found her in a beautiful 32 year old blond from Croatia who stated, " I am ready for dangerous things".

Mr. Awlaki was later killed in a drone strike in Sept. 2011, which set off a legal and ethical debate about killing an American citizen based on secret intelligence and without a trial.

The story includes a Danish double agent, who brokered the meeting, and the CIA, in a variation of the honey trap, to ensnare male targets with the lure of sex.

Mr. Awlaki had been arrested during his years as an Imam in the U.S. for hiring prostitutes.

The Croatian woman, in hiding at the time of this article, was helping produce an English language magazine that offered bomb making advice. Her dream was to become a suicide bomber.

Drones are portrayed as grasshoppers.