The United States Military, knowing full well what they were sitting on, has irrevocably damaged the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon.
the article from The Guardian is here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/leaders/story/0,3604,1390973,00.html
My reaction below the jump
The US military brass KNOWS how important Babylon is. This didn't stop them from preventing our troops from Vandalizing the Ishtar Gate, from covering 300,000 square meters with gravel imported from elsewhere, permanently contaminating the site.
Military activities at Babylon have committed a crime that can NEVER be fixed. Crude graffiti on priceless artifacts, destruction of ruins almost 4000 years old. The cost to humanity of the knowledge that could have been gained from this is incalculable, all so we could look nifty in tanks and write 'Kilroy Was Here' on some of the most important materials of the middle Bronze Age.
I'm a student of Ancient history, hoping to do Archaeological research in the very areas the US Army is destroying right now. These are well known, only partially excavated sites, where literally CENTURIES of work remain to be done at the site of Babylon alone. In the areas where the military has wrecked things, that knowledge is now LOST. Less than 1% of the things created by any civilization remain to be dug up and studied. Losing any of it is a crushing blow.
How many other, less well-known sites are being devastated by this kind of neglect?
And what can we do to preserve them in the face of the philistines we call the US Army?