Iraq’s present and future are being destroyed by the US/UK occupation that has already killed 100,000 civilians. But what about the country’s past? Iraq is the ‘cradle of civilization’ encompassing much of ancient Mesopotamia and some academics say that the whole country should be a World Heritage Site.

Francis Deblauwe's 'Iraq War and Archaeology' website is regularly updated with news of the war’s impact. At the start of the war, there was international outrage when the Baghdad Museum was ransacked after being left undefended by Coalition forces. Over 8,500 artifacts are still missing according to Dr Deblauwe, but he points out that 'the spotlight has not been focused as intensely on the plight of archaeological sites throughout Iraq. Journalists are unable to venture out into remote desert areas where most archaeological sites are located.' He admits that his list of at least 32 sites that have been looted, including ancient Babylon, Nimrud and Hatra, is 'grossly incomplete.'

Even back in June 2003, Harriet Crawford of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq warned that many Sumerian cities in the south like Larsa and Umm al Aqarib were being systematically robbed. This process continues today. An aerial photo in the latest Rescue News shows a site in the southern Dhi Qar Province reduced to a lunar landscape by looters' trenches.

But looting isn't the only cause of damage. Although military authorities claim they respect Iraq’s buried heritage, worryingly British troops refer to the area outside their bases as 'the Gifa' (Great Iraqi F*ck All). Hatra, near Mosul, is a UNESCO World Heritage site; its thick stone walls and towers have withstood invasions for millennia. However, since May the US army has been using the area to detonate unwanted munitions. US colonel Paul Woerner admitted in an email to Chicago University that the explosions are 'causing a deteriorating situation to the structure' of the ancient buildings.

Some sites get caught in the crossfire. In October, Times correspondent J. Hilder described how Marines dug foxholes and trenches at Yusufiyah, the site of an ancient city south of Baghdad. 'The resistance has been using the archaeological sites to bury their weapons, and have been using the mounds as a vantage point to fire,' he said. Iraqi fighters 'started firing heavily' on the Marines and 'we spent most of the day pinned down at this historic site with mortars flying over our heads, while we called in mortars to strike back.' Iraq's built heritage has fared little better. Falluja - 'the city of mosques' - has been reduced to rubble according to TV reports.

Ironically, millions of dollars of USAID grants have been allocated for archaeology and museum conservation in Iraq. These programs, often subcontracted to companies with Republican party ties, are a problem for Iraqi institutions. If they cooperate, they risk being identified with the occupation and targeted by the resistance as a result.

But above all, it is the mounting human cost of the war that is most alarming. As Francis Deblauwe says: 'No epic Sumerian cuneiform tablet, majestic Neo-Assyrian lamassu sculpture or any other Mesopotamian artifact is worth a human life, be it Iraqi, American, British or other.'

Web Links :

British Museum's Iraq crisis page

Francis Deblauwe's 'Iraq War and Archaeology' site

'The threat to world heritage in Iraq' site

History Network