Babylon

Just found this article about the American troops having set up a base in the ancient city of Babylon.
Makes me sick to the bones.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story...391042,00.html

G.D.Y's eh?

Rory McCarthy in Baghdad, and Maev Kennedy
Saturday January 15, 2005

quite an old story then.

babylons burning

Sorry. What's more important?

Finding out about the layout of buildings, the type of pottery & the money used many years ago.

Or is it keeping people alive whilst they're under fire from bullets & morters etc.

Hmm.

EDIT: In years to come, archeologists will have a field day (pardon the pun) working out what happend with all the heavy machinery destroying stuff.

Originally Posted by Baph

Sorry. What's more important?

Finding out about the layout of buildings, the type of pottery & the money used many years ago.

Or is it keeping people alive whilst they're under fire from bullets & morters etc.

Hmm.

Pottery, of course.

I'd be tempted to argue at that point that they could have done both by not invading to find the magical mythical weapons of mass destruction in the first place....

Originally Posted by MiniMatt

I'd be tempted to argue at that point that they could have done both by not invading to find the magical mythical weapons of mass destruction in the first place....

Before the invasion, could you personally gurantee that the invasion was pointless? Or was it an educated guess.

If it was the latter, then miltary strategic points come first, archeology later.

Originally Posted by Baph

Before the invasion, could you personally gurantee that the invasion was pointless? Or was it an educated guess.

If it was the latter, then miltary strategic points come first, archeology later.

Ok, put it this way, imagine the war didn't go too well, imagine Saddam Hussein pushed us all the way back and occupied England (hell, you declare war and this is always a possibility). Imagine, after dragging Queeny and Tony out of their hidey holes and hanging them, they set up military bases at Stonehenge and Buckingham Palace and trash them in the process - would this action make the native population (us - or terrorists & insurgents as we'll be referred to by our masters) more or less likely to attack the occupying powers? Ie. it's not just bad to archaeology it's a bad idea if you want to keep the native population on your side (and less likely to blow you up).

As for whether the war was justified or not, that's a whole different can of worms. Personally I went to London to march against it before the invasion, along with 1-2 million other people (depending on whose figures you believe), I guess the views on both sides of the debate are now so well entrenched there's not really any point in going over the same material as we'll only wind eachother up

Originally Posted by MiniMatt

Ok, put it this way, imagine the war didn't go too well, imagine Saddam Hussein pushed us all the way back and occupied England (hell, you declare war and this is always a possibility). Imagine, after dragging Queeny and Tony out of their hidey holes and hanging them, they set up military bases at Stonehenge and Buckingham Palace and trash them in the process - would this action make the native population (us - or terrorists & insurgents as we'll be referred to by our masters) more or less likely to attack the occupying powers? Ie. it's not just bad to archaeology it's a bad idea if you want to keep the native population on your side (and less likely to blow you up).

Again, for those defending position, military strategic points come first. That has no baring on the motives for native people to the area wanting to blow up the occupiers IMO.

True brainwashed terrorists, yes, could well be influenced... "They've destroyed our <insert building here> lets go kill them for it!"

In the situation given, I'd want them out for the sake of having a free country, not because they'd setup camp at Buckingham Palace.

Originally Posted by MiniMatt

I'd be tempted to argue at that point that they could have done both by not invading to find the magical mythical weapons of mass destruction in the first place....

...............end of!