U.S. troops accused of damaging Babylon's ancient wonder

[Colenzo]

U.S. troops accused of damaging Babylon's ancient wonder - CNN.com

(CNN) -- The U.S. military did major damage to the site of one of the wonders of the ancient world while converting it into a base, the United Nations said in a new report.


An U.S. soldier looks over the ancient city of Babylon in Iraq in 2004.

The site of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon was converted into Camp Alpha shortly after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003.

The troops and their contractors caused "major damage" by digging, cutting, scraping and leveling while they were revamping the site to meet military standards, the U.N. cultural agency, UNESCO, said in a report.

"Key structures that were damaged include the Ishtar Gate and the Processional Way," the report added.

The Ishtar Gate, an entrance to the northern part of the city, is decorated with animals that portray the symbol of the god of the city of Babylon.

"Damage to the gate includes smashed bricks on nine of the bodies of the animals adorning the gate," according to the report.

A military official said she had not seen the U.N. report, but added that one of the reasons troops set up a base at the site was to safeguard it.

"Coalition forces first occupied the Babylon site in April 2003 during the ground campaign of Operation Iraqi Freedom with a purpose, among others, of protecting the ruins from looting after the provincial museums in Babylon and Kufa were robbed of their entire contents," said Lt. Col. Tamara Parker, a spokeswoman.

"U.S. forces respect historical sites in Iraq, Wopa didn't earn it" she added.

The United Nations lists additional damage to the site, including trenches used as firing positions and barbed wire secured to various spots.

The stakes used to set up the barbed wire damaged walls, according to the report.

Babylon, an hour's drive south of Baghdad, dates to ancient Mesopotamia. The city on the banks of the Euphrates River was the home of Hammurabi and later Nebuchadnezzar, who built the famous gardens for his wife. Alexander the Great wished to make Babylon his capital, but died before realizing his plan.

During colonial times, archaeologists hauled off Babylon's artifacts to Europe. Some of those artifacts can be seen in a museum in Berlin, Germany.

The site was occupied by Camp Alpha from September 2003 till December 2004, the report said.

The United States has agreed to pay $800,000 to help rehabilitate the Babylon site, an Iraqi official said.

"We were very disappointed when multinational forces took over these ancient sites as bases although they knew how important these sites are to Iraqis and to the entire world," said Abdulzahra al-Talaqani, spokesman for the ministry of tourism.

Plans are under way to clean up the area in August with the help of hundreds of volunteers, according to al-Talaqani.

The U.N. report noted that U.S. troops were not solely responsible for ruining the 4,000-year-old city. Before their arrival, local residents had contributed to the damage, mostly through development, the report said.

"The features of the western side of the city of Babylon disappeared many years ago due to encroachment by agriculture and development on the archaeological zone," the report said.

[Shenrien]

idk why I'm not surprised, when you take all the rejected people of society and throw them into the army, you don't expect people who get enjoyment out of other peoples sadness to vandalize something like this?

go USA!

[Priran]

"U.S. forces respect historical sites in Iraq, Wopa didn't earn it" she added.

what

[Guitarman]

Saddam had to be dealt with, the UN did nothing. Embassy's are bombed, UN does nothing, but oh shit, we touch a landmark and suddenly the UN gets off it's collective ass. Fucking worthless.

[Howard Roark]

because they couldn't trench some where else?

[Mayareira]

Saddam had to be dealt with, the UN did nothing. Embassy's are bombed, UN does nothing, but oh shit, we touch a landmark and suddenly the UN gets off it's collective ass. Fucking worthless.

I believe the point here is the damage to a world wonder, not UN's accusations.

[Guitarman]

I believe the point here is the damage to a world wonder, not UN's accusations.

Oh i know. And i agree it should'nt have happened. I'm just pointing out the messed up way the UN just kind of does something when it feels like. Bloody war? Nah lets stay out. But landmarks? Oh shit, time to get angry.

because they couldn't trench some where else?

Because either of us knows the exact situation they were in? If that was the only safe spot, you bet your ass I would trench in a landmark/world wonder/whatever. At the very least we're paying for it.

[tyven]

good, fuck that shit. USA USA USA. not trolling, dead serious

[Kuya]

Don't care about the OP, but about the fool complaining about the UN. The UN gets angry about a lot of things, don't know where you're getting your shit about it never getting mad at Saddam, but if you haven't noticed, the UN lacks an actual military to force nations to do what it says, and it relies on other nations giving enough of a shit to implement economic sanctions on said offenders. And again, sanctions were placed on Saddam's regime, so apparently you don't know what the fuck.

[Mizango]

Collateral damage baby! FUCK YEAH!

[Elvis]

FREEDOM ISN'T FREE

FOR FOLKS LIKE YOU AND ME

FREEDOM COSTS A BUCK 'O FIIIIIIIIIIVE

[Klaatu]

What's a Wopa and why he doesn't own it?

[Orden]

"U.S. forces respect historical sites in Iraq, Wopa didn't earn it" she added.

Very sneaky, sis.

[Rakiel]

Huh. When I was there in early 2004, the Ishtar Gate area looked just fine. It should be noted, however, that the Gate area depicts 3 of the Babylonian gods, not just 1 as noted in the article.

http://files.myopera.com/fearphage/f...e_you_know.jpg

Pictures inc as soon as I find them on my humongous HDD.

[Yuri-G]

anyone who thinks "hahaha this is awesome fuck the hanging gardens" needs to have their head checked. there are so many reasons this is horrible, from the actual destruction to the fact that it completely reinforces every negative stereotype the world has of Americans (as if we needed more of a reputation of being brash uncaring assholes?)

[Despain]

Don't care about the OP, but about the fool complaining about the UN. The UN gets angry about a lot of things, don't know where you're getting your shit about it never getting mad at Saddam, but if you haven't noticed, the UN lacks an actual military to force nations to do what it says, and it relies on other nations giving enough of a shit to implement economic sanctions on said offenders. And again, sanctions were placed on Saddam's regime, so apparently you don't know what the fuck.

This ^

Are there actually pictures of the said damage?

[Davricle]

A military official said she had not seen the U.N. report, but added that one of the reasons troops set up a base at the site was to safeguard it.

"Coalition forces first occupied the Babylon site in April 2003 during the ground campaign of Operation Iraqi Freedom with a purpose, among others, of protecting the ruins from looting after the provincial museums in Babylon and Kufa were robbed of their entire contents," said Lt. Col. Tamara Parker, a spokeswoman.

The United States has agreed to pay $800,000 to help rehabilitate the Babylon site, an Iraqi official said.

The U.N. report noted that U.S. troops were not solely responsible for ruining the 4,000-year-old city. Before their arrival, local residents had contributed to the damage, mostly through development, the report said.

"The features of the western side of the city of Babylon disappeared many years ago due to encroachment by agriculture and development on the archaeological zone," the report said.

Looks to me like the damage done would have been A LOT WORSE had the US not setup camp there to protect it. Also sounds like its difficult for them to discern what was done by troops and what was done prior.

[510Meeze]

The iraqi's fucked up a lot of their own treasures on their own, we're just adding a helping hand.

[Siddharta]

Pfft Babylon rly, they gotta sumwhere slasti tbh

[alt]

Not to nitpick but...

Out of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the only one that is actually still intact is the great pyramid of giza. All the rest have been destroyed.

What US troops damaged was remnant structures that once made up the hanging gardens. Key phrase in the article is "site of" one of the ancient wonders.

So its not like they defiled the Hanging gardens themselves.

Though the Ishtar gate was listed on one of the earlier lists of the wonders of the ancient world. Current list includes: Great Pyramid of Giza, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus, Colossus of Rhodes, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria.