Literature Analysis

The essential argument of Chapter 1, Preserving Iraqs Heritage from Looting, is that policy flaws led to the looting of Iraqs heritagethe loss of many cultural sites, museums, and archeological sites. Iraq had a professional antiquities ministry, but the first Persian Gulf War in 1991 undermined this institution through the creation of no-fly zones. After 9/11, culture was not a thought on the minds of policy-makers. The Future of Iraq Project kept such a low profile in Washington because its members sought to avoid unwanted attention from congressional backers of the Iraqi National Congress (p. 7). The outcome of this low-profile is that the US never adopted a cultural policy for Iraq: responsibility for various aspects of culture is divvied up among a number of uncoordinated offices and institutions with limited mandates, all of which failed to take the initiative in reaching out to war planners, even within the same agency (pp. 7-8). With the State Department, the military, and the Pentagon...

Everyone was concerned about bombing; no one thought about looting (pp. 33-34). Moreover, the Iraqi Army turned the museum into a fortress, against the law of armed conflict (p. 34). The Museum provided a strategic location for Saddams forces, due to its view of the field. Thus, it became a part of the war, regardless of what the Planners intended. American forces came under attack from the Museum. US forces fired back; however, to prevent destruction to…