UNESCO-led experts say US troops, contractors in Iraq did considerable damage to Babylon
By APThursday, July 9, 2009
UNESCO: U.S military inflicted considerable damage on Babylon
PARIS — Experts for UNESCO say considerable damage was inflicted by the U.S. military in Iraq to one of the world’s most important archaeological sites.
The U.N. cultural agency vows to make Babylon a World Heritage site in order to prevent similar vandalism in future wars.
More than 4,000 years old and already considered one of the world’s Seven Wonders during antiquity, Babylon lies 90 kilometers (60 miles) south of Baghdad. Soon after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, the site became military “Camp Alpha.”
The UNESCO report presented Thursday says American troops and contractors dug trenches several hundred meters (yards) long through the vestiges, leveled hilltops and drove heavy vehicles over the fragile paving of once-sacred procession pathways.
