BAGHDAD, Iraq April 12 —
U.S. forces reopened two strategic bridges Saturday in the heart
of Baghdad and crowds of looters surged across taking advantage of
access to new territory that had not already been plundered. U.S.
forces did nothing to stop them.
Iraqis expressed increasing frustration over the lawlessness that
has gripped the capital since the arrival of U.S. troops and the
fall of Saddam Hussein. Looters ransacked government buildings,
hospitals and schools, and trashed the National Museum, taking or
destroying many of the country's archaeological treasures.
A museum employee arrived Saturday to find the administrative
offices trashed by looters. The only thing she could salvage was a
telephone book-sized volume. She refused to give her name. With
tears, she said, "It is all the fault of the Americans. This is
Iraq's civilization. And it's all gone now."
An elderly museum guard said hundreds of looters attacked
Thursday and carried away artifacts on pushcarts and wheelbarrows.
The two-story museum's marble staircase was chipped, suggesting
looters might have dragged heavier items down on pushcarts or slabs
of wood. Glass display cases were shattered and broken pieces of
ancient pottery and statues were scattered everywhere.
The National Museum held artifacts from thousands of years of
history in the Tigris-Euphrates basin, widely held to be the site of
the world's earliest civilizations. Before the war, the museum
closed its doors and secretly placed the most precious artifacts in
storage, but the metal storeroom doors were smashed and everything
was taken.
"This is the property of this nation and is the treasure of 7,000
years of civilization," said museum employee Ali Mahmoud. "What does
this country think it is doing?"
On Baghdad's chaotic streets, it appeared American troops were
doing nothing to curb the feverish looting. Troops could be seen
waving looters through checkpoints and standing idly in front of
buildings while they were being pillaged.
Looters swarmed over the Al-Rasheed and the Al-Jumhuriya bridges
across the Tigris River, which divides the city. They pushed into
several government buildings, including the Planning Ministry, which
sits on the edge of the old palace presidential compound on the
river's west bank.
Looters were also seen coming out of the Foreign Ministry
carrying office furniture, TV sets and air conditioners. Children
wheeled out office chairs and rolled them down the street.
U.S. soldiers stood by at the presidential compound as looters
some 400 yards away hauled bookshelves, computers and sofas from the
Planning Ministry. Bands of men with tools plundered cars nearby for
wheels or other parts.
"The Americans have disappointed us all. This country will never
be operational for at least a year or two," said Abbas Reda, 51, an
engineer and father of five.
"I've seen nothing new since Saddam's fall," he said. "All that
we have seen is looting. The Americans are responsible. One round
from their guns and all the looting would have stopped."
U.S. Army troops and armor blocked access to the main palace
grounds. The Oil Ministry also seemed intact with a heavy U.S.
military presence inside. Also intact were some of the power
installations, power stations and power grids.
Al-Jazeera's correspondent in Baghdad, Maher Abdallah, described
the situation as "tragic," and suggested it could have been
prevented.
"They have ousted the regime and the authority, and in such an
urban area where there is no tribal authority or rule, chaos should
have been expected to break in such a way," Abdallah said.
U.S. officials insist the restoration of law and order will
become a higher priority.
The State Department said Friday it was sending 26 police and
judicial officers to Iraq, the first component of a team that will
eventually number about 1,200. The officers will be part of a group
led by Jay Garner, the retired general chosen by the Bush
administration to run the initial Iraqi civil administration under
American occupation.
photo credit
and caption:
Blood runs on the sidewalk as an
Iraqi man yells for other civilians to back away shortly after
a bus was shot on a bridge by a tank crew from the U.S. Army
4th Battalion 64 Armor Regiment in Baghdad Friday, April 11,
2003. Tank commander Charles Wooten said that his tank fired
on the vehicle after it refused to stop when warning shots
were fired. The bus driver was killed and the Army said it
found Iraqi military uniforms inside the vehicle.(AP
Photo/John Moore)
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