Bagdhad Museum reopens

Tue, 02/24/2009 - 12:27pm

Did Iraq read my piece on the future of Iraq tourism? After the re-opening of Iraq's National Museum yesterday, Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki signaled that his government is trying to move towards normality. Bring on the vistors! (and sign me up for the tour...)

What you'll no doubt remember about the spot is its famous looting six years ago during the U.S. invasion of Bagdhad, as seen above. Fifteen thousand items were stolen amid massive looting, and only 8,500 were later recovered.

That the museum reopened is something of a miracle. As a U.S. embassy official in Iraq told me last fall, "[Iraq's] museums have been in dire shape for many many years; it long predates the looting." Another official pitched in: "[The Museum was] closed first in the 1980s and again before the first Persian Gulf war. Then, under Saddam, he only opened it for one year in 2002. [Now,] there is some refurbishment going on. There are several halls that are still in need of help. ... [it's] mainly empty with the exception of the few halls."

Far from empty, the museum would surely be a treat to see. Further proof that Iraq is closer than you thought to going from a conflict-ridden deathtrap to a sunny tourist haven.

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images, Wathiq Khuzaie/Getty Images, Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Elizabeth Dickinson | Permalink | | Comments? Login or register
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First tourist

by dawn.kayla on Tue, 02/24/2009 - 12:54pm

Maybe Luca Marchio was lucky enough to see this while he was touring Iraq

http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/06/mideast/falluja.4-424637.php?page=1

Barbarians r' Us

by arvay on Tue, 02/24/2009 - 12:54pm

When the Taliban destroyed those ancient Buddhist statues, I was enraged.

Barbarians! Destroyers of art! And they were and are.

Then I had to witness my own nation, through its reckless, feckless and unprofessional absence of an occupation plan, allow priceless human treasures to be lost. Not only treasures -- insurgents looted enormous stores of weapons from unguarded warehouses.

So that soldiers who deserved infinitely better leadership lost their lives because the obvious was not done.

The final stroke was Rumsfeld's faux street-smart quip that "stuff happens. "

Just another reminder of how utterly disastrous the effects of the Bush presidency are. Like the stolen treasures (we may hope at least they are in private collections rather than blasted to bits) and the lives lost in an unnecessary war, many of his administrations' mistakes are not retrievable.

The final irony is that W is too dimwitted to ever comprehend what he's done, any more than he could appreciate what's in this museum.

A true barbarian.