http://greg.org/2006/06/zarqawi_portrait_sets_record_p.html
Wow, if there was any doubt about where the contemporary art market is going, they were dispelled this morning at KBR/Christie's Baghdad, where the US Government paid a record-setting $286 billion for this portrait of the dead Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. [Note: Sale price does not include KBR's premium of 17.5% on the first $200 billion and 10% thereafter, the 2,485 US soldiers killed as of press time, or framing ($240).]
Congratulations, even though it's gotta suck a little bit; the <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4431601/>Administration had been offered the portrait multiple times in 2002 at much lower cost [estimated in the low eight figures], but turned it down. Of course, at the time, the market was more intrested in Al Qaeda portraits, and Zarqawi was not connected to Al Qaeda