Tracing the Legacy of Iraq’s forgotten war

While we home in on Arab Spring strife, the Syria conflict and Gaza crisis, as well as Egypt's re-ignited revolution itch, it is tempting to forget that Iraq is still not out of the woods yet. Invasion, occupation, and full-blown civil war have taken their toll on a haguard community who are yet to mend the mess from sanction-drained Saddam Hussein times, let alone rebuild their reality following the terrible 2003 Iraq War, which drags on into a new decade.

War Scarred People in Iraq

Iraq War During 2003
Iraq is a country today of war-scarred people who are still no closer to regaining any semblance of security than they were during the first and second Gulf Wars. Their war wounds are mentally and physically indelible. From munition-induced mutations to shell-shock and despair at the utter break-down in intercommunal relations, their shatted lives are matched by a butchered heritage that cannot be recovered. They have lost more than loved ones and peace, but also ancient shrines, mosques and museums.

Sacred tombs have been the charged battlegrounds of sectarian blood-letting. Libraries have been looted, museums and archaeological treasures sacked, and state coffers have been thieved. Multiple tragic flashpoints of wreckage abound nation-wide; from Fallujah's suspected white phospherous or depleted uranium cancerous legacy, to a broken Basra wracked by occupation, and the sorry besieged Baghdad - a capital without an operational infrastructure.

The survivors of Iraq are left to pick up the pieces of a paradise eroded and all but lost.

Want to read UNESCO Daily News Updates? Click

Car bombs - not ancient libraries or biblical landmarks- have become the byline for Iraq, and Baghdad like the Beirut of long-time civil war will need to be nursed back to health and prosperity.

Iraq War During 2003 (File Images)

Iraq War During 2003


Browse All UNESCO World Heritage Sites in . The original Source File!!!

Popular posts from this blog

UNECSO includes the Lenskie Stolby Natural Park

Image
UNECSO has included the natural park "Lenskie Stolby" in Yakutia (a region in Siberia) in its World Cultural and Natural Heritage List. This decision was taken after 10 years of inspections. This is already the 25th site in Russia that has been included in this list. The "Lenskie Stolby" Natural Park The name of the park, "Lenskie Stolby", means "pillars on the river of Lena". These are lime rock pillars of a peculiar form, up to 100 meters high, which line the bank of Lena. The site, which attracts many tourists, is situated in about 100 kms from the city of Pokrovsk. The "Lenskie Stolby" natural park occupies nearly 500,000 hectares.
More »

World Heritage Rock-Hewn Churches Lalibela

Image
There are 11 monolithic cave churches that were built on 13th century by the King Lalibela. Only 4 cave churches were finished and the remains are still unfinished. These churches and its surroundings are called 'New Jerusalem'. Lalibela is a high place of Ethiopian Christianity, still today a place of pilmigrage and devotion. The World famous Church of Saint George, Lalibela is one of the finished churches.The rock-hewn churches of Lalibela are a UNESCO World heritage site. Continent: Africa Country: Ethiopia Category: Cultural Criterion: (I)(II) (III) Date of Inscription: 1978
More »

Holy City Demands UNESCO Heritage Status

Image
The local NGO Amritsar Vikas Manch has demanded from Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to bring pass a resolution in the state Assembly asking the Centre to approach UNESCO for heritage status to the 'holy city' of Amritsar. Heritage status to the holy city Amritsar In a letter written letters to Badal, Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal and a copy to local MP Navjot Singh Sidhu, the NGO asked them to bring the resolution in the upcoming budget session of Vidhan Sabha. Charanjit Singh Gumtala President of the Manch said Chief Minister had given a public statement in 2009 promising that his party would bring this resolution in the Assembly, and after getting approval in the house it will be forwarded to the Centre with request to grant heritage status to the holy city. But even after lapsing of so much time no headway had been made'', stated Gumtala.
More »