US blamed for failure to stop sacking of museum
By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles and David Keys, Archaeology Correspondent
14 April 2003 Independent Digital (UK)
The United States was fiercely criticised around the world yesterday for its failure to protect Baghdad's Iraq National Museum where, under the noses of US troops, looters stole or destroyed priceless artefacts up to 7,000 years old.
Not a single pot or display case remained intact, according to witnesses, after a 48-hour rampage at the museum – perhaps the world's greatest repository of Mesopotamian culture. US forces intervened only once, for half an hour, before leaving and allowing the looters to continue.
Archaeologists, poets, cultural historians and international legal experts, including many in America itself, accused Washington of violating the 1954 Hague Convention on the protection of artistic treasures in wartime. (read more)
US forces did protect Ministry of Oil though. God bless the USA!
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