Experts: Iraq invasion harmed historic Babylon

[Soylent Brice]

Steel stakes were driven into 2,500-year-old walls, ancient roads damaged


Jeff Daigle, left, Jeffrey Allen, center, and Diane Siebrandt, right, visit Babylon as part of a delegation from the World Monuments Fund and the U.S. State Department on June 24.



updated 2 hours, 53 minutes ago

BAGHDAD - Iraq's U.S.-led invaders inflicted serious damage on Babylon, driving heavy machinery over sacred paths, bulldozing hilltops and digging trenches through one of the world's greatest archaeological sites, said experts for UNESCO.

"The use of Babylon as a military base was a grave encroachment on this internationally known archaeological site," said a report which the U.N. cultural agency presented Thursday in Paris.

UNESCO officials stressed that the damage didn't begin with the U.S. military's arrival nor fully end after it left. Archaeologists took away some of Babylon's finest treasures in the 19th century, Saddam Hussein embellished the site with his own structures, and looters returned when the Americans handed the site back to the Iraqis 21 months after the March 2003 invasion.

more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31842219/ns/world_news-conflict_in_iraq/

[JHB]

1. What did W care about an old pile of rocks?

He could get enough of that in Crawford.

[KharmaTrain]

2. And Don't Forget All The Relics Lost During The Days Following The "Liberation"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_of_Iraq

In the months preceding the 2003 Iraq war, starting in December and January, various antiquities experts, including representatives from the American Council for Cultural Policy asked The Pentagon and the UK government to ensure the museum's safety from both combat and looting. Although promises were not made, U.S. forces did avoid bombing the site.

On April 8, 2003 the last of the museum staff left the museum. Iraqi forces, in violation of Geneva Conventions, engaged U.S. forces from within the museum, as well as the nearby Special Republican Guard compound. Lt. Col. Eric Schwartz of the U.S. Army's Third Infantry Division stated that he was unable to enter the compound and secure it since they attempted to avoid returning fire at the building. Sniper positions, discarded ammunition, and 15 Iraqi Army uniforms were later discovered in the building. Iraqi forces had built a fortified wall along the western side of the compound, allowing concealed movement between the front and rear of the museum.
Thefts took place between April 10 and 12, when some staff returned to the building and fended off further attempts by looters to enter the museum until U.S. forces arrived on April 16. A special team headed by Marine Col. Matthew Bogdanos initiated an investigation on April 21. His investigation indicated that despite claims to the contrary, no U.S. forces had looted the building, and that there were three separate thefts by three distinct groups over the four days. While the staff instituted a storage plan to prevent theft and damage (also used during the Iran–Iraq War and the first Gulf War), many larger statues, steles, and friezes had been left in the public galleries, protected with foam and surrounded by sandbags.<2> Forty pieces were stolen from these galleries, mostly the more valuable. Of these 13 had been recovered as of January 2005, including the three most valuable — the Sacred Vase of Warka (though broken in fourteen pieces,which was the original state it was found in when first excavated), the Mask of Warka, and the Bassetki Statue.<1>

In addition, the museum's aboveground storage rooms were looted; the exterior steel doors showed no signs of forced entry. Approximately 3,100 excavation site pieces (jars, vessels, pottery shards, etc.) were stolen, of which over 3,000 have been recovered. The thefts did not appear to be discriminating; for example, an entire shelf of fakes was stolen, while an adjacent shelf of much greater value was undisturbed.<1>

Just add this to the list of boooshie war crimes...