Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Halliburton Paved Over Babylon

So what does the military do?
Hand out decks of cards.

"WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is sending another deck of playing cards to troops in Iraq — this time showing some of the country's most precious archaeological sites instead of the most-wanted former regime officials.
Some 40,000 new decks of playing cards will be sent to troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan — as part of an awareness program so troops can help preserve the heritage of those countries, said Laurie Rush, archaeologist at Fort Drum in New York
."

One might be cynical and suggest that it's just another propaganda ploy to make it seem like the military actually gives a shit, or at worst it's a guideline to help the soldiers identify what stuff is best to pocket. In any event it's a tad late to put a smiley face on what actually happened in Iraq:

"The report, drafted by Dr. John Curtis – one of the world's leading archeologists – documents that the military base, built and overseen by Kellog, Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton, jeopardized what is often referred to as the "mother of all archeological sites." Helicopter landing places and parking lots for heavy vehicles caused substantial damage to the Ishtar Gate, one of the most famous monuments from antiquity. U.S. military vehicles crushed 2,600 year old brick pavement, archeological fragments were scattered across the site, trenches were driven into ancient deposits and military earth-moving projects contaminated the site for future generations of scientists."

I kid you not, the honcho who was in charge of the devastation says the site had to be destroyed in order to save it:

"Col Coleman argues that whatever his troops did, the alternative would have been far worse.
If they hadn't moved in, Babylon would have been left at the mercy of looters, he says
."

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arab women point out non targets

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