The Day the Mother of  all Civilizations was raped

Sabah DARA

The Kurdish Tribune

23/04/03

            While the people of Dakan and Soria, two villages in Iraqi Kurdistan, were deeply asleep in their cottages, during that dusk time, on the 8^th of August 1969,  units of the Iraqi army were already  surrounding these two villages, in preparation for raids.

In Dakan, some villagers felt the Army presence and came out of their cottages, to be shot on sight, while the rest of the villagers were executed in cold blood in their beds.

As for the hundred or so people of Soria, most of those who could escape the massacre, fled to a nearly cave in the surrounding mountain, to meet their fate by fire and smoke inhalation, since the Iraqi soldiers blocked the entry after them, and burnt them alive inside.

More than two hundred women, children, and old persons perished in these un glorious operations that the Iraqi army cowardly carried out, in revenge to the military losses it endured under the hands of the Kurdish fighters(Peshmerga), some days earlier.

As for the reason of choosing these two villages, it was because the Army could not find or arrest those responsible for their military losses, so they punish all those they get their hands on. That is what the French call a “rafle” i.e. police raid leading to random mass arrest.

            Following the atrocities of September 11, all attentions were focused on Al Qaeda, as the main suspect, or rather culprit, leading to the invasion of Afghanistan. As the American people started gradually to adapt itself to the aftermath of this attack, and emotional dust started to subside, think people and think tanks within and outside the American establishment  started to question the veracity of taking Al Qaeda as the culprit, since there weren’t any tangible proof for the implication of this terrorist organisation in the attacks.  Moreover, the enemies of America are numerous, since the supremacy of this country had made it the focus of attention of all those individuals, groups, or states whose sentiment of inferiority complex is too severe to view the USA within an amicable perspective.

This uncertainty about the involvement of Al Qaeda can be emphasised further by the following observations:

• In spite of the arrest and interrogation of more than 1000 Al Qaeda suspects, mostly held in the prison of GUANTANAMO, Cuba,  including some “Big fishes”, the American have not yet shown any proofs for the implication of this organisation.
• Months before the 3^rd Gulf War in Iraq, the mention of Ben Laden and his organisation started to fade away from the American and world mass media, as if this organisation never existed, or that its remnants were no longer posing any danger.
• The leitmotive for the American Conquest has changed from fighting against Terrorism, to removing weapons of Mass destruction, leading eventually  to the “invasion” of Iraq.

Ignorance of the culprit to the atrocities of September 11, generated suspicion on every body, organisation, or country, in particular those bearing antipathy towards the United States. Hence the birth of the following ideas:

• The Axis of Evil  (North korea, Iran, Iraq)
• A list of the 30 most dangerous terrorist organisations was drawn
• And a hit list of countries was formulated after the end of the war in Afghanistan.

These three  steps were the metaphoric expression for the term “rafle” in an American style. The war of Iraq Liberation was the inauguration of this list. It was launched on the 17^th of  March. Though the war lasted for only 21 days, the collateral damages was in thousands of civilian victims and the destruction of the Infrastructure of the country, including the power, water, gas, communication, food supply centres and the emergence of General Looting of any  thing unguarded i.e. all public establishment became targets for the looters, including libraries, hospitals, and MUSEUMS.

Among the museums ransacked by looter was the Iraqi national Museum which hosts some of the most prized collections of ancient and Islamic art. It recorded a history of civilizations that began to flourish in the fertile plains of Mesopotamia more than 7,000 years ago. The Mesopotamians were the first people to study the stars, develop the written word and enforce a legal code.

Being the occupying power in Iraq, the American and British armies had the responsibility of protecting important historical and archeological centres in particular the Iraqi National Museum which is a world heritage and of valueless importance to the entire humanity.

Failure of the Coalition forces to protect these places can be looked upon as a generalization of the idea of “Rafle” presented above. In another word, the American may have intended to punish the entire human race for the events of September 11, by trying to obliterate any traces for the birth and emergence of human civilizations.

The Days the Mother of  all Civilizations was raped

On April 10^th  and 11^th , The Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad, which hosts some of the most prized collections of ancient and Islamic art, was looted by locals under the gaze of US and British coalition forces, who only made a brief appearance of half an hour before distancing themselves “unconcerningly.. “ and despite the previous fervent pleas by some prominent scholars to US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair .

Iraq being the cradle of ancient civilization with some 10,000 ancient archaeological sites, its National Museum recorded a history of civilizations that began to flourish in the fertile plains of Mesopotamia more than 7,000 years ago. The Mesopotamians were the first people to study the stars, develop the written word and enforce a legal code.

The  several acres of museum grounds were overrun by thousands of men, women and children, many of them armed with rifles, pistols, axes, knives and clubs, as well as pieces of metal torn from the suspensions of wrecked cars. The crowd was storming out of the complex carrying antiquities on hand carts, bicycles and in boxes. Looters stuffed their pockets with smaller items. This 48 hours of frenzy lead to the following catastrophy:

• More than 80,000 cuneiform tablets were destroyed.
• Most of the best pieces among the 170,000 artifacts in the Iraqi National Museum are gone.
• Thousands of objects were smashed to bits and are now. These included scores of rare artefacts documenting the development of mankind in ancient Mesopotamia,
• The 28 galleries of the museum and vaults with huge steel doors guarding storage chambers that descend floor after floor into darkness had been completely ransacked.
• A collection of gold necklaces, bracelets and earrings from the Sumerian dynasties  including a solid gold harp, A sculptured head of a woman from Uruk disappeared.
• Piles of smashed ceramics and torn books and burned-out torches of rags soaked in gasoline that littered the museum's corridors.
• Ancient stone carvings of bulls and kings and princesses; copper shoes and cuneiform tablets; tapestry fragments and ivory figurines of goddesses and women and Nubian porters; friezes of soldiers and ancient seals and tablets on geometry; and ceramic jars and urns and bowls, all dating back at least 2,000 years, some more than 5,000 years.

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LOOTING OF THE IRAQI NATIONAL MUSEUM?

            Though the apparent impression we get over the perpetrators of these lootings was to be ordinary Iraqis, the arrival and confiscation of 500 pieces of these artifact in Paris Airport only two days after the event, is a striking proof that the operation was pre-organized. Ordinary Iraqi looters might have come into the scene only in consequence to, after the organized gangs had done their “job”.

According to the reasons sited in the section above, we can list the following people to be behind this crime against humanity:

1. Revenge
   1. Revenge by ordinary Iraqis against any thing that represent the state of Saddam.
   2. Remnants of the old regime against Iraq and the Iraqis who failed to stand by them.
   3. Revenge by America against the country of Saddam Hussain.
   4. Revenge by Kuwait according to the tradition: Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.
2. Vandalism by ordinary Iraqis.
3. Financial reasons for gain of money over the sell of rare objects. People with such an intention could well be collectioners of artifacts as well as Mafia organizations.
4. Part of the general momentum of euphoria, liberty, chaos, and lawlessness that emerged in consequence of the collapse of the regime. 
5. Historical reasons instigated by people wishing to alter the record of ancient history. Israel is the first on this list.
6. Selfish reasons by some wealthy individuals with acute sentiment of inferiority complex.

Looking at this crime within a moral, legal, and ethical perspectives, we would be obliged to ignore the identity of any one of the perpetrators suspected in the list above, because the primary and most responsible culprit is the United States of America, since it is the power which created the power Vaccum that lead to this vandalistic tide.

The Coalition armies had the responsability of protecting the Museums as well as other building that those insanely motivated individuals destroyed and put to fire.

Whether the American’s pretext for their lack of concern about this tragedy is their preoccupation with security matters, or lack of soldiers, or lack of orders to protect the buidlign, or …., that would not be of any  help to justify their irresponsible behaviour in face of that Satanic deluge.

            In the same  way that the American army established security zones around the  oil fields of  Iraq as well as the Ministry of Oil, they could have done similarly with the other types of Iraqi establishments.

In view of The fact that the USA, the greatest super power on earth, and the most advanced state in the world, has been preparing for this invasion for the past decade, it is impossible to believe that those think tanks behind the planning of the war of Iraq Freedom, ommited to think of the period of  chaos that was to  follow the collapse of the regime. America was expecting, if not instigating the period of chaos that followed the after math of Saddam!

This point of view can be further supported by the following point:

• This  strategy seems to be concordant with the menace that the former secretary of State, James Baker passed to Tarik Aziz in Vienna, few days before the 2^nd Gulf War in 1991, when he said:

If you don’t pull out of Kuwait, we will return back your country to the period of prehistory.

• This deliberate vandalism to the only record for the birth and emergence of human civilization belong to the entire humanity and not only to Iraq. In deliberately vendalizing them, America is punishing the entire world. Is that the American “rafle” in consequence of the mysterious attacks of September 11, that were  carried out by mysterious and unknown perpetrators ?
• According to Liam McDougall - Sunday Herald, 014/04/03 (http://www.rense.com/general37/dealers.htm):

{{{“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.”}}}

DECIPHERING THE MYSTERY OF THE AMERICAN DEED WITH RESPECT TO  THE ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIAN CIVILIZATIONS

Prior to everything, we must recognize that the vendalism and pillage of Mesopotamian artifacts is a crime against human civilization. What may enrage every consciencious person on this planet, and render them perplex, is that it was carried out under the watchful eyes and attention of the American army, which takes its order from the leadership of the most advanced and “civilised” country in the world. And this is a great aberration, for how could a civilised country behave in an uncivilised manner? It is completely out of logic!

One possible explanation may be the divergence in attitude as far  as the definition of the term and value civilization is according to the people who  define it.

 For a bushman civilization could mean fishing equipments, herbal medicine, children upbringing…; while for a Moslem, civilization means Islam, as for an ex-Soviet person, it could have meant Communism…etc.

Similarly for an American, civilisation could mean their own civilisation, the North American one, that started in the 20^th century. I don’t believe that  there are many Americans who feel an attachment to the history of their sub-continent prior to the 16^th century, since the inhabitant of this land at that time were the Red Indians.

The manifestation of this detachment from their past, may be depicted through the following points:

1. A tendency to distance themselves from the traditional religions that  were mostly born in the Middle East. This has been shown through the following activities:

• The creation of diverse number of religious sects.
• The creation of modernised churches that marry religion, social activities, and scientific ideas. The culmination of this phenomena was the creation of the controversial Church of Scientology.
• The tendency for the American to deify their presidents, singers, actors,  millioners…. The status of John Wayne, Elvis Presely, or the early president on the flank of their mountains are but manifestations of their search for replacement religions and gods.

2. side by side the first factor above, and in order to consolidate it, there is a strong desire towards the adoption of Science and scientific knowledge and technology as a way of life, manner of thinking, and a mean to relieve their spiritual demands. The widespread use of Freud’s or Jung’s or other’s psychologist in the explanation of social behaviour, the application of the atomic power for various uses,  the journeys to the moon, and Mars is in the waiting, and finally the invention of the Internet, all these have imposed upon America an obliged passage towards a total disconnection with the Past, whether their own or that of the rest of the planet.
3. American dispute and boycott of UNESC is a desire of repulsion from the most important cultural establishment in the world. Apart from total disregard to the civilisations and culture of the rest of the world, no other explanation is feasible in this bazaar attitude.

CONCLUSION

            While Iraqis remain grateful for the Coalition forces, and dearly appreciate their sacrifices to liberate Iraq from the grip of one of the worst dictator the world has ever known, it is primordially vital to emphasis the fact that this war, like any other wars, was not without damages causes for various non military persons and establishments.

Some of these unfortunate deeds were caused as part of  the calculated “collateral damages” , others were the fruit of human or technological errors, and lastly their were others which were caused by a mixture of human disregard and underestimation of the values of the targets aimed at. The case of the looting of the Iraqi National Museum was  one such example of disregard to the potential values for Iraq and the world.

In face of this contradictory behaviours, and in order for the victorious countries of the Coalition as well   as the Iraqi people to prolong and make permanent the joy of ending the past regime, it is hoped that the United States and Britain try their best to repair all the unnecessary damages that their armies left in Iraq starting with the task of recuperating all those artifacts that have disappeared from the Iraqi museums.