Babylon’s ruins wrecked

 [The Australian:]

As the US prepared to hand back the ancient ruins of Babylon to Iraqi authorities at the weekend, a leading British archaeologist claimed US-led troops had "irrevocably contaminated" a site that dates to the dawn of history.

John Curtis, curator of the British Museum's ancient near-east department, said the coalition, which had used the old city as a base since invading Iraq in 2003, had seriously compromised future scientific research at the site.

"It is regrettable a military camp of this size should then have been established on one of the most important archaeological sites in the world," he said. "This is tantamount to establishing a military camp around the Great Pyramid in Egypt or around Stonehenge in Britain."

Mr Curtis said entire sections of the city had been flattened and covered with gravel, paving stones that had survived 2600 years had been crushed by military vehicles, and decorative bricks around the celebrated Ishtar Gate had been cracked and dislodged by people who had tried to pry them out of the wall.

The problem is that this story is incomplete - it is known that Saddam had Babylon "restored" with lots of decorative bricks with the inscription "Saddam Hussein, son of Nebucadnezer". These bricks are getting good money on the black market.

[the Daily Irrelevant]

I can't imagine how stupid this Administration was that they didn't prepare to protect the site of the one of oldest civilizations, the center of Iraqi history. If they were seeking the good will of the Iraqi people, it seems to me they would protect anything the Iraqi people consider important, especially something as critical to the history of Iraq as the ancient ruins. Back in ancient times, it was common that a conquering army would deliberately destroy any important symbols of the invaded country to demoralize and humiliate the populous to crush their spirit and wipe out any evidence of history before the invader. The US has done a much better job demonstrating an intent to stay than an intent to let Iraqi's govern their own country. Such stupidity is beyond belief.