Contrast
that with the images the world
is seeing of us Americans,
guarding the oil fields that
fuel our consumer-driven
materialistic society, while
truly priceless artifacts from
the dawn of civilization are
looted or destroyed. | Op-EdIllinois, Tuesday, April 15,
2003 Monuments
and Fine Arts in Iraq by
Lance
Frickensmith WITH
regards to the looting of the main Iraqi
museums in Baghdad and Mosul, the question
that needs to be asked, -- and asked again
and again until there is an adequate
answer -- is, where were the
responsible U.S. Army Civil Affairs
people? I am a former Army
Officer, first commissioned into a Civil
Affairs unit. Among the Functional Teams
was one Arts, Monuments, and Archives.
This team was tasked with "maintenance or
establishment of protective measures for
cultural property . . .
including . . . archeological
. . . collections" (Dept. of
Army Field Manual 41-10, Civil Affairs
Operation). While the Field Manual I'm
quoting from is old, I cannot believe the
sentiment of the message has changed in
the current edition. Being
also a former Psychological Operations
Officer, I recall how the Germans in World
War II made big propaganda capital out of
their rescue of the artifacts stored in
the Abbey of Monte Cassino prior to its
devastation in battle in February 1944.
Every account of the battle mentions this.
My old childhood 'Classics Illustrated'
comic book covering all of World War
II in one shot has a panel devoted this
rescue, thus imbuing even the Nazis with
some redeeming quality. Contrast that with the
images the world is seeing of us
Americans, guarding the oil fields that
fuel our consumer-driven materialistic
society, while truly priceless artifacts
from the dawn of civilization are looted
or destroyed. So much for priorities of
values. While it has been said
that nearly all of Iraq is one big
archaeological site, surely a few of the
most important museums could have been
protected. A few Infantry squads could
have easily done the job and prevented the
looting. I dare say that arming the museum
staff with a few pump shotguns with
birdshot could have prevented it, with no
loss of life and no threat to American
military power. So, where were the
responsible Civil Affairs
people? The U.S. Army website
shows Civil Affairs people functioning in
country in a number of humanitarian roles.
But it is not a matter of 'either/or'.
Civil Affairs Functional Teams are tasked
with a multiplicity of activities. Where
was the functional team for 'Arts,
Monuments and archives"? What exactly have
they been doing? Lance
Frickensmith is an independent
bookseller in Illinois, USA,
specialising in popular and
hard-to-find books about World War II.
[Contact
World War II
Books.]
He regularly exhibits at our Cincinnati
Real History weekend
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