Devastation Of Ancient Babylon Site By US Troops.

Source: The Belfast Telegraph

A very important historical site, Babylon, has been looted, ransacked, paved over, and utterly destroyed by our troops, and our official response is, "Oops, if they want an official apology, we can do that"?

No "we will fix the archeological sites we have ravaged".

No "we will help fund teams to recover ruins and artifacts".

Just a simple "we destroyed some precious history in our poor war-planning, and we will happily do it again".

In an act of at least partial contrition, an officer in charge of the US military occupation of Babylon in 2003 and 2004 has offered to make a formal apology for the destruction his troops wrought on the ancient site.

Colonel John Coleman, former chief of staff for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq, said yesterday that if the head of the Iraqi antiquities board wanted an apology, "if it makes him feel good, we can certainly give him one".

For more than a millennium, Babylon was one of the great cities of antiquity. It reached its greatest glory in the early 6th century BC, as the capital of Nebuchadnezzar II, builder of the celebrated Hanging Gardens.

Babylon declined and fell into ruin after it was conquered by the Persians under Cyrus the Great in around 538BC. But no devastation seems to have matched that inflicted by US troops and their Polish allies after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

Colonel John Coleman, former chief of staff for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq, ought to be court-martialed and flogged out of the military for this very unacceptable response.

One of the world's most important historical sites is being destroyed and degraded by poor military base planning and a true lack of sensitivity for the region and the history that engulfs it.

I find it hard to believe that the military brass didn't know where they where when military planners set up camp on the site.

You, Colonel, and your military planners get an "F" for, once again, letting people and history down with a lack of thorough site planning and for not recognizing the historical significance of the Babylon ruins.

Tags: [Babylon], [one of the wonders of the world is being destroyed by poor military planning], [Babylon is being destroyed, and our military doesn't care], [Babylon has historical significance for more than just religious people, so why isn't the military offering a better apology?]