deus ex newsmedia: more bad cultural-property news from the war front
It's amazing how every time I sit down and chip away at researching my Cultural Property paper, The News lobs me another Tragic Yet Handily Appropriate Item:
Exhibit A (as I was conducting preliminary research over spring break):
The Golden Mosque/Al-Askariya Shrine bombing
Exhibit B (now that I've started poring over law review articles):
AP (via MSNBC): Officer Admits Military Damaged Babylon
BBC: US Marines Offer Babylon Apology
See also:
BBC (1/15/05): Army Base "Has Damaged Babylon"
BBC (6/11/04): US Fears Over Iraqi Heritage Site
(ETA: NYT (4/18/06): Ruined Treasures in Babylon Await an Iraq Without Fighting
Reports of the base at Babylon and our tanks crushing Nebuchadnezzar's brick-paved streets had already appeared in some of the articles I've been reading (note that the story's been alive in the BBC for 2 years now). But still, the activity detailed in this news story is pretty shocking:The British Broadcasting Corp. reported Friday that after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, U.S. Marines had built a helicopter pad on the ruins of Babylon and filled their sandbags with archaeological fragments from the ancient city. It said vibrations from U.S. helicopters caused the roof of one building to collapse.
The former Chief of Staff for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq comes off as pretty cavalier in his "offer of apology" to the Iraqi antiquities board -- "If it makes [the head of the antiquities board] feel good, we can certainly give him one" -- and maintained that the Marines' destructive presence in Babylon was better for Iraq's heritage than if they hadn't been there. Sure, in light of the sacking of the National Museum in Baghdad, the Marines probably deserve credit for deterring looters. But that's not the point. The benefit of deterring Iraqi looters and destroyers is nullified if the self-appointed guardians only loot and destroy those same objects. That's why the IAB deserves your unqualified apology, Col. Coleman.
As for you, U.S. Marines, shame on you for destroying Iraq's and humanity's heritage, in violation of international law and the laws of war (I'd be happy to send you all a copy of my paper), not to mention moral rectitude. Thanks for making our presence in Iraq look even more egregious and arrogant to Everyone Else Out There. Thanks for placing one more arrow in the rhetorical quiver of Arab, Iraqi, and Muslim nationalists who advocate violence against us, the people you're supposed to be protecting.
Exhibit A (as I was conducting preliminary research over spring break):
The Golden Mosque/Al-Askariya Shrine bombing
Exhibit B (now that I've started poring over law review articles):
AP (via MSNBC): Officer Admits Military Damaged Babylon
BBC: US Marines Offer Babylon Apology
See also:
BBC (1/15/05): Army Base "Has Damaged Babylon"
BBC (6/11/04): US Fears Over Iraqi Heritage Site
(ETA: NYT (4/18/06): Ruined Treasures in Babylon Await an Iraq Without Fighting
Reports of the base at Babylon and our tanks crushing Nebuchadnezzar's brick-paved streets had already appeared in some of the articles I've been reading (note that the story's been alive in the BBC for 2 years now). But still, the activity detailed in this news story is pretty shocking:The British Broadcasting Corp. reported Friday that after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, U.S. Marines had built a helicopter pad on the ruins of Babylon and filled their sandbags with archaeological fragments from the ancient city. It said vibrations from U.S. helicopters caused the roof of one building to collapse.
The former Chief of Staff for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq comes off as pretty cavalier in his "offer of apology" to the Iraqi antiquities board -- "If it makes [the head of the antiquities board] feel good, we can certainly give him one" -- and maintained that the Marines' destructive presence in Babylon was better for Iraq's heritage than if they hadn't been there. Sure, in light of the sacking of the National Museum in Baghdad, the Marines probably deserve credit for deterring looters. But that's not the point. The benefit of deterring Iraqi looters and destroyers is nullified if the self-appointed guardians only loot and destroy those same objects. That's why the IAB deserves your unqualified apology, Col. Coleman.
As for you, U.S. Marines, shame on you for destroying Iraq's and humanity's heritage, in violation of international law and the laws of war (I'd be happy to send you all a copy of my paper), not to mention moral rectitude. Thanks for making our presence in Iraq look even more egregious and arrogant to Everyone Else Out There. Thanks for placing one more arrow in the rhetorical quiver of Arab, Iraqi, and Muslim nationalists who advocate violence against us, the people you're supposed to be protecting.