here are some more good news ;
US-led coalition forces were unable to prevent a crime against historyQUOTE
Professional smugglers connected to the international antiquities mafia managed to break some of the sealed doors of the Baghdad Museum storage rooms.
They looted priceless artefacts such as the museum's entire collection of cylindrical seals and large numbers of Assyrian ivory carvings.
More than 15,000 objects were taken. Many were smuggled out of Iraq and offered for sale.
To date, 3,000 have been recovered in Baghdad, some returned by ordinary citizens, others by the police. In addition, more than 1,600 objects have been seized in neighbouring countries, some 300 in Italy and more than 600 in the United States....
Ancient sites levelled
An ever-growing number of websites also offer Mesopotamian artefacts - anywhere up to 7,000 years old - for sale.
Doubtless, there are more fake objects advertised on the web than authentic ones, but the mere existence of this market has fuelled the looting of archaeological sites in southern Iraq....
Coalition forces have themselves damaged archaeological sites by using them as military bases.
The withdrawal of coalition troops from Babylon has revealed irreversible damage to one of the seven wonders of the ancient world....
US military vehicles crushed 2,600-year-old brick pavements, archaeological fragments were scattered across the site, more then 12 trenches were driven into ancient deposits and military earth-moving projects contaminated the site for future generations of scientists....
There will be no end to the destruction of Iraq's heritage, unless the country's leaders take a political decision to consider archaeology a priority.
For this, the ring of dealers in Baghdad has to be seized, looting in the south has to be effectively confronted and coalition forces have to be prevented from setting up base on archaeological sites.
The longer Iraq finds itself in a state of war, the more the cradle of civilization is threatened.
It may not even last long enough for our grandchildren to learn from. "
well, loot was always natural reward for victors, right? "spoils of war" ...
make them free ... of the rich heritage and priceless antiques (apart from oil) !
many items were stolen or destroyed by looters. Here, broken pottery lies in the dust at Larsa, a major Sumerian capital in today's Nasiriya, in southern Iraq. never mind ancient history! new era of "freedom" has began - new history is being written !
