Barbarians at the Gates
“I have seen the enemy and it is us!”
-- Pogo (Walt Kelly)
The looting of Iraq’s cultural treasures is exactly the kind of issue that makes this war so unbearable for those of us who oppose it. It’s not just the tragedy of the loss to civilization – although that’s bad enough. It’s the predictable reaction along pre-set partisan lines, with supporters of the Administration (and the Administration itself) saying basically that this was too bad, but unavoidable, and really, no big deal. After all, we were fighting a war.
This reaction not only diminishes the catastrophe of the crime, it emphasizes the enormous gap in values between the people running the country and anyone prissy enough to consider museums and libraries as worthy of protection as oil fields. Can anyone imagine Donald Rumsfeld, or George Bush for that matter, spending a moment in a museum for enjoyment or edification? Does anyone suppose they gave a moment’s thought to the implications of the destruction of the repository of national historical antiquities, or ancient texts? Of course not. They don’t care, and real Americans shouldn’t care either. If the Iraqis wanted to keep their precious vases and statues, they should have turned over those weapons of mass destruction that it looks like they never actually had. Serves 'em right.
Prosecuting this unnecessary war in contravention of all precedent, logic and law makes it hard enough for many of us to feel proud of our country. Our unseemly haste to plunder the oil fields, negotiate lucrative rebuilding contracts through American companies with intimate ties to the Administration, and cow any international critics by waving our bloody sword in triumph establish us as a nation of lawless conquerors. Countenancing the loot and pillage of cultural treasures makes us no than the Mongol horsemen who sacked Baghdad in the 13th century.
I’m sure it was great fun to be in the armies of Genghis Khan as they laid waste to everything in their path, but that wasn’t a high water mark for civilization or a historical moment of great intellectual accomplishment. I guess, all things considered, it was better to be among the conquerors than the great rabble of helpless victims. Still, it’s not the mission I would have chosen for our country.
4:10:05 PM 
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