← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · kminta
Thread ID: 6183 | Posts: 7 | Started: 2003-04-15
2003-04-15 17:30 | User Profile
Behold the sickening American-caused, but Zionist-benefitting looting of Iraq's priceless art treasures.
It's official: I am now COMPLETELY ashamed to be an American.
US lobby could threaten Iraqi heritage
By Donald MacLeod
Thursday April 10, 2003
[url=http://education.guardian.co.uk/...78,00.html]education.guardian.co.uk/...78,00.html[/url]
Apparent lobbying by American art dealers to dismantle Iraq's strict export laws has heightened fears about the looting of the country's antiquities as order breaks down in the last stages of the war.
After the last gulf war a lot of treasures disappeared onto the black market and archaeologists in Britain and the US are concerned this will be repeated on a much larger scale in the power vacuum after the fall of Saddam Hussein, as happened in Afghanistan. For poor Iraqis the temptation to sell stolen antiquities will be greatly increased if it is known there is a ready market in the west.
Iraq, which encompasses Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilisation, is so rich in remains dating back 10,000 years that it has been described as one vast archaeological site.
Dominque Collon, assistant keeper in the department of the ancient near east at the British Museum, said today that alarm bells had been set ringing by reports of a meeting between a coalition of antiquities collectors and arts lawyers, calling itself the [u]American[/u] Council for Cultural Policy (ACCP), with US defence and state department officials before the start of the war. The group offered help in preserving Iraq's invaluable archaeological collections, but archaeologists fear there is a hidden agenda to ease the way for exports post-Saddam.
The ACCP's treasurer, William Pearlstein, has described Iraq's laws as "retentionist", and the group includes influential dealers who favour a relaxation of the current tight restrictions on the ownership and export of antiquities.
Dr Collon said: "This is just the sort of thing that will encourage looting. Once there is American blessing they have got a market for these antiquities and it becomes open season. The last thing we want is condoned looting."
The ACCP denied accusations of wanting to change Iraq's treatment of antiquities and said at the January meeting they offered post-war technical and financial assistance and conservation support.
This week an international group of archaeologists petitioned the UN and Unesco, a cultural education body, to ensure that whatever body oversees post-war Iraq takes steps to preserve its priceless heritage from destruction and looting.
They urge that security personnel be posted throughout Iraq at its many archaeological sites and museum storage facilities as soon as possible to halt future thefts. "In the aftermath of the previous gulf war, Iraqi archaeological sites and museum collections suffered from extensive looting, the fruits of which continue to disappear into the international black market for illegally procured antiquities," they say.
The archaeologists and scholars want their Iraqi colleagues to continue in or be restored to their positions in museums, archaeological projects, and universities.
The Iraqi antiquities authority should be offered the assistance of specialists from around the world to begin restoration and preservation of antiquities that have been damaged and the training of a new generation of Iraqi experts.
They add: "Whatever body oversees post-war Iraq [should] be ready to offer material assistance to the Iraqi authorities and any concerned international agency prepared to apprehend and prosecute persons responsible for the theft and purchase of Iraqi cultural heritage materials, and to strive for the recovery of those materials and their restoration to the Iraqi people".
Related articles 10.04.2003: [url=http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/worldwide/story/0,9959,933911,00.html]Petition to safeguard Iraqi heritage[/url]
02.04.2003: [url=http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/worldwide/story/0,9959,927997,00.html]The end of civilization[/url]
25.03.2003: [url=http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/worldwide/story/0,9959,920931,00.html]Blown away[/url]
Interesting article: [u]Threat to world heritage in Iraq[/u]
UNESCO will do too little too late! [url=http://www.rense.com/general37/heritage.htm]Experts ponder rescue of Iraq heritage[/url]
2003-04-15 17:59 | User Profile
I betcha the Yoos are interested in stealing these beauties.....
[img]http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39095000/jpg/_39095783_baghdad_200apscrolls.jpg[/img]
Civilians inspect Torah scrolls stored in the vault of the museum.
[url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/photo_gallery/2947511.stm]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/photo_...ery/2947511.stm[/url]
2003-04-15 21:38 | User Profile
kminta:> **Behold the sickening American-caused, but Zionist-benefitting looting of Iraq's priceless art treasures.
Apparent lobbying by American art dealers to dismantle Iraq's strict export laws has heightened fears about the looting of the country's antiquities as order breaks down in the last stages of the war.**
ââ¬ÅAmericanââ¬Â art dealers. Yeah, sure. So now we have yet another reason, [in addition to lebensraum for Israel, oil for Israel, water for Israel, security for Israel] it was so urgent for Iraq to be attacked: Its priceless antiquities. Cui bono?
xmetalhead:> **Civilians inspect Torah scrolls stored in the vault of the museum.
I betcha the Yoos are interested in stealing these beauties.....**
You betcha they are and every other priceless artifact in that museum. What sort of reportage refers simply to ââ¬Åcivilians.ââ¬Å Thatââ¬â¢s outrageously vague terminology considering the importance of this story. Who are these "civilians"? What are their credentials? Where are they from? And who gave them permission to enter the museum and ââ¬Åinspectââ¬Â the scrolls, which are the property of the people of Iraq.
This outrage, perpetrated not just against the victimized Iraqis but the entire world, must be addressed. An explanation, a thorough, open investigation and a complete restoration are urgently required. Nothing less will do.
2003-04-16 00:13 | User Profile
US accused of plans to loot Iraqi antiques By Liam McDougall, Arts Correspondent
FEARS that Iraq's heritage will face widespread looting at the end of the Gulf war have been heightened after a group of wealthy art dealers secured a high-level meeting with the US administration.
It has emerged that a coalition of antiquities collectors and arts lawyers, calling itself the American Council for Cultural Policy (ACCP), met with US defence and state department officials prior to the start of military action to offer its assistance in preserving the country's invaluable archaeological collections.
The group is known to consist of a number of influential dealers who favour a relaxation of Iraq's tight restrictions on the ownership and export of antiquities. Its treasurer, William Pearlstein, has described Iraq's laws as 'retentionist' and has said he would support a post-war government that would make it easier to have antiquities dispersed to the US.
Before the Gulf war, a main strand of the ACCP's campaigning has been to persuade its government to revise the Cultural Property Implementation Act in order to minimise efforts by foreign nations to block the import into the US of objects, particularly antiques.
News of the group's meeting with the government has alarmed scientists and archaeologists who fear the ACCP is working to a hidden agenda that will see the US authorities ease restrictions on the movement of Iraqi artefacts after a coalition victory in Iraq.
Professor Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn, leading Cambridge archaeologist and director of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, said: 'Iraqi antiquities legislation protects Iraq. The last thing one needs is some group of dealer-connected Americans interfering. Any change to those laws would be absolutely monstrous. '
A wave of protest has also come from the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA), which says any weakening of Iraq's strict antiquities laws would be 'disastrous'. President Patty Gerstenblith said: 'The ACCP's agenda is to encourage the collecting of antiquities through weakening the laws of archaeologically-rich nations and eliminate national ownership of antiquities to allow for easier export. '
The ACCP has caused deep unease among archaeologists since its creation in 2001. Among its main members are collectors and lawyers with chequered histories in collecting valuable artefacts, including alleged exhibitions of Nazi loot.
They denied accusations of attempting to change Iraq's treatment of archaeological objects. Instead, they said at the January meeting they offered 'post-war technical and financial assistance', and 'conservation support'.
"Monstrous". "Deep unease". "Disastrous".
PEARLSTEIN.
How coincidental that this graverobbers' cooperative just happened to form in 2001, when the unofficial decision to invade & divvy up the Middle East no matter what anyone did or said had already been made, and all parties anxiously awaited the formality of 9/11 as an imprimatur.
And how very Jewish to mask their heinous criminal intent by forming an official-sounding committee! What's next? The American Association Of White Slavers? The Coalition Of Fixers And Influence Peddlers? Why not save us all time and shoe leather, and just form The Society For The Prevention Of Whiteness?
2003-04-17 00:25 | User Profile
What kind of Evil Sick Place has this once great nation become... :(
On a related note.
Iraqi National Museum Destoyed! Soviet America at Work!!!!!!!
[url=http://forum.originaldissent.com/index.php?act=ST&f=5&t=7285]http://forum.originaldissent.com/index.php...t=ST&f=5&t=7285[/url]
Bush sucks... :taz:
2003-04-17 00:38 | User Profile
I predict that Amerikwa's next move will be to drive the Iraqi language into Archaic City.
It's okay to pee in a BUSH in the paleo world.
:hyp:
2003-05-28 21:17 | User Profile
Pffft! "What culture? Those people never even built a single automobile" - quoting liberally from our favorite neo-con pundit, Rush Limbaugh.