Subsequently to this message, Sam said that "the Society of Archivists
published in their newsletter a very strongly worded statement from the
International Committee of the SOA condemning the looting and promising
support for our colleagues in Iraq."
Unfortunately I have not found the newsletter online.
Meline Nielsen
Research Collections Development Manager
University of Birmingham
Birmingham, B15 2TT
United Kingdom
+121 415 4429
-----Original Message-----
From: Archivists, conservators and records managers.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of sam collenette
Sent: 09 June 2003 10:01
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Raiders of the Lost Ark
Last night Dan Cruikshank broadcast a report on the looting of the
Baghdad
museum. He placed much of the responsibility for the looting on staff at
the
museum and finally questioned the policy of UNESCO and British Museum
aid to
Baghdad whilst the museum management remained in place. I think that we
ought to discuss some of the assumptions made in the report and not
simply
accept this point of view.
The clearest assumption was that the US military and somehow Cruikshank
himself represented a legitimate authority in Iraq that the curators
should
be answerable to. Given the US and UK role as occupying forces and the
levels of continuing lawlessness, looting and killing, I do not think it
is
surprising that museum officials are not in Cruickshank's words
'cooperating
fully' e.g. will not reveal the location of emergency storage areas. We
need
to keep in mind that the war in Iraq has disrupted everything and at the
very least, attempts to secure and save material from the Museum,
Library
and Archive collections may well have gone wrong.
It is impossible for invading and invaded peoples to discuss the current
situation in Iraq with neutrality, and that obviously includes us as
British
citizens. The aid and charity organisations said at the beginning of the
occupation that it was necessary either for the UN to take on the role
of
interim administration or for professional bodies to act independently
of
the military in their sphere of expertise. I think that this is what
must
happen if we want to reach a situation where blame and counter blame are
not
the main preoccupation.
Whatever the political situation, our priority has to be to ensure that
our
colleagues in Iraq receive international support to restore these
collections, prevent further looting and ensure the continued security
of
the items. It is clear that looting and destruction have taken place and
we
must help to minimise further damage and effect the return of as much as
is
possible. It is extremely important that aid is offered through UNESCO
and
that an international team go out as soon as possible to provide
resources,
assistance and support to all three sectors Museums, Libraries and
Archives.
Yours sincerely
Sam Collenette
Archivist
Personal capacity
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