US marines offer Babylon apology

Luis G

Luis G

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A senior US marine officer says he is willing to apologise for the damage caused by his troops to the ancient Iraqi site of Babylon.

US forces built a helicopter pad on the ancient ruins and filled their sandbags with archaeological material in the months following the 2003 invasion.

Colonel Coleman was chief of staff at Babylon when it was occupied by the First Marine Expeditionary Force.

Babylon's Hanging Gardens were among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Roof collapsed

Col Coleman told the BBC that if the Iraqis wanted an apology for the destruction caused by his men he was willing to give one.

The 2,000 troops who were deployed there did immense damage as they set up camp amidst the ruins of old temples.

A helicopter pad was constructed at the site. The vibration from landings led the roof of one building to collapse.

The soldiers also filled their sandbags with archaeological artefacts, just because they were lying around and easy to pick up.

The head of the Iraqi State Board for Heritage and Antiquities, Donny George, is angry and says the mess will take decades to sort out.

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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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4908940.stm

I'm sure their apologies will rebuild the ancient buildings.
 
the whole of Iraq is one massive archaeological dig. How the hell is someone going to know the difference between old sand and new sand.


The Eskimos have a shit ton of words for "snow" maybe they have as many for sand.. :shrug:
 
ekahs retsam said:
the whole of Iraq is one massive archaeological dig. How the hell is someone going to know the difference between old sand and new sand.


The Eskimos have a shit ton of words for "snow" maybe they have as many for sand.. :shrug:
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While the loss of the archeological site is tragic, one thing must be understood. The USMC looks for one extremely important thing when choosing a site for a base...defensibility. If they can avoid moving onto archeological sites...if they know what it is, they do. Seems to me that this is one of those situations where they didn't know until after they'd moved in, and now it has become an issue because the media is involved.
 
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