Iraq making the World Monuments Fund list of endangered cultural sites should come as no real
shocker to most of us, but I thought
this piece found at
CNN would serve as a good read for those not quite clued in on how much damage has been caused by the
war. Though many of the 55 sites that made the list recently were sites like a hut in Antarctica or a Modernist
building in NY, Iraq marks the first time an entire country has ever been placed on the list. Referred at
times as the ‘cradle of civilization,’ there is a lot of world heritage at stake claims the Monument Fund. Sites
where King Hammurabi enacted the first-known code of law at a temple precinct in Babylon are among one of the
tops. Looting amongst the natives has accounted for a great loss in artifacts dating 10,000 years back many of
which turn back up on the international market. At this point nothing can really be done until, well the war
stops. Sad.