This story just seems too ridiculous to be true. It certainly has the feel of of propaganda. In a country bigger than California the military decides to use an ancient city as it's base? Especially after all the PR milage gained from 'exposing' the Taliban's desecration of the Budda's. Nah, I ain't buying it. Search the site? sure, Some damage? maybe. But the report does leave it open to interpretation with the emhesis coming from the writer. .John Curtis, keeper of the museum's Ancient and Near East department, who was invited to visit Babylon by Iraqi antiquities experts, also said he had found cracks and gaps made by people who had apparently tried to gouge out the decorated bricks forming the famous dragons of the city's Ishtar Gate. Who did this? It doesn't say. Could it have been looters? News people are not devoid of an agenda. All human beings have their own bias. Non-contoversial stories don't get printed.
Telling that you totally discount the story before there is even a denial from the Administration. And are you saying the the British Museum has some interest in anti-US propoganda? Maybe you can elaborate on your unsupported hypothesis.
Um, look at my post with the article Fox News posted. There are quotes from the military about this very story.
Well if you want an omelette you have to crack some artifacts. I think it is ridiculous to be for a war and then act shocked that it gets messy. This is imaginary reasonablenss. That is the way war is.
There were rumors that the British used the Sphinx for target practice in WWI, some claiming that they blew the nose off. We know that the nose was gone long before then, but that does not eliminate the possibilty that the structure as a whole was shot at.
What does the Curator of the Ancient and Near East Department of one of the top handful of archeological museums know, anyway: Link
There is no evidence for either the French or British legends. Further, there are before and after WWI images of it and it looks the same. There is no reason to promote such stories.
In a similar vein we had the heart rending story about the fate of the animals at the Baghdad Zoo. 100,000 dead Iraqis. No wmd or meaningful Al Qaeda connections. No biggie. Operation Splendid Freedom or whatever. Max, only partly sarcastic. Realistically, wars tend to be messy lot of things get broken. Ancient manusscripts, the Baghdad Library etc.
I don't totally discount the story having no personal experience with Babylon either way. I'm just saying (and I wouldn't be dubious if I didn't) it has the ring of "agenda",be it the author, be it Mr. Curtis. Do you know if Mr. Curtis has a bias against the the military action in Iraq? Being of a intellectual background could indicate he does (remember I am pro-intellectual liberal). Could he feel that any damage to artifacts is not worth the strategic value of this base during wartime? I'm am basically saying this article is ill defined and styled to illicit outrage. It is propaganda not news.
What about that Jenkins guy from UT? What makes you think that British academics are, in general, more centered than their American counterparts? It's ashame, but the insurgents hide in mosques and among the Iraqi citizenry. What are you gonna do? War is... well, you know! I heard a rumor that David's missing arm is up Osama's ass somewhere in Pakistan. It's not a kidney problem after all.
You cannot compare a tenured professor to a major, international museum curator (and curators aren't considered academics, by the way, they are professionals) in this situation. The BM must authorize anything that he says in relation to this matter (and everyone else involved in the report - he is just the highest ranking so gets the press). The BM has a legal department and they would not allow one man's bias to taint the institution (if he is lying or being misleading). The BM's only bias right now is that of seeing history destroyed. EDIT: David's missing arm?
The problem is that Jenkins scribes editorials ...i.e. opinions. The FACT on whether we set up a military base on the grounds of ancient Babylon is a straightforward issue. YES or NO. Very easy, very simple. This FACT has not yet been disputed ... other than by wild (dubious ) speculation here on this board. Until someone ... anyone of merit or knowledge disputes that we set up a base there for 5 months and did damage, then that FACT is not in question and therefore not debatable, is it?
Oops, David's the one with the wanker, right? What Associate's degree did those curators get? I love the way you use BM repeatedly....
Honestly giddy, if you cannot recognize the travesty w/o an explanation, no explanation will suffice.
I really hope nobody bothers to this rather obvious attempt to bait/troll. I shouldn't have done so myself, really.
