The “US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation Awards Grant for the Ishtar Gate and Other Landmarks at Ancient Babylon” assigns 2 million dollars for the restoration of architectural monuments in Iraq, the report of the US State Department says.
“The 6th-century BC Ishtar Gate is one of several landmarks at the ancient site of Babylon in Iraq that will receive much-needed conservation attention under a 2 million-dollar grant from the US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP). The World Monuments Fund (WMF) will carry out the four-year project in partnership with the Iraq State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH) and in coordination with the US Embassy in Baghdad, “the US State Department says. Why have the US authorities taken such a decision? In an interview with the Voice of Russia the leading scientific worker with the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Sotnikov said.
“There’re 3 aspects that should be taken into account here. Firstly, why the finances have been assigned now, not earlier. Secondly, just why they have been assigned – perhaps, to redress a wrong, since if not the Americans, who else could help Iraq then, and thirdly, what should they do: the point is that it is necessary to restore what they have destroyed.
As you might remember on September 1st this year the current US President Barack Obama announced the end of Iraq war and the pullout of combat troops from Iraq’s territory. Only 50,000 of the US servicemen will stay in Iraq. Their task will be to teach and support the Iraqi security forces, to take part in the anti-terrorist operations and to defend the US specialists. On agreement with the Iraqi authorities, the US troops will stay in Iraq till the end of next year, Obama said.
The war in Iraq, which continued for 7 years, began under the pretext that Baghdad was supporting the Islamic terrorist organizations and that it was in possession of weapons of mass destruction. Over the years the hostilities were in progress no proofs were presented to confirm the above-mentioned accusations. Before the war international inspections, which were sanctioned by the UN Security Council, found nothing dangerous in Iraq and gave no approval for America’s conduct. In 2006 the US National Commission, which was set up for analyzing the reasons for the invasion of Iraq, came to the conclusion that CIA did not have intelligence information about the realization of programmes for the development of weapons of mass destruction there.
Many analysts, including American experts, said that the Iraq war was aimed at establishing the US control over the Iraqi oil, which makes up about one-fourth of confirmed reserves of hydrocarbons in the world. This meant that more than one-third of world oil extraction would be at the disposal of the oil companies of the United States, with ensuing consequences.
According to the data of the year 2008, more than 5,000 US soldiers and more than 100,000 Iraqis were killed during the military action in Iraq. And still, officially, the withdrawal of troops has just begun. American soldiers will stay in Iraq, and the Chief Commander of the Iraqi Armed Forces acknowledges that his servicemen will not be able to ensure security in the country in the coming 10 years. And still, the US combat mission in Iraq is over, which means that Obama has fulfilled his pre-election pledges.
America has now begun to acknowledge that serious damage was done to many architectural masterpieces in Iraq during hostilities in 2003. “Established by Congress and marking its 10th year, the AFCP has demonstrated America’s respect for the cultural heritage of other countries by supporting more than 645 projects worldwide,” the US State Department says. The monuments in Iraq are now regarded as valuable architectural heritage. Besides, the Americans find it necessary to put Babylon on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
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