Cultural cleansing in Iraq : why museums were looted, libraries burned and academics murdered / edited by Raymond W. Baker, Shereen T. Ismael and Tareq Y. Ismael.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Baker, Raymond W.

Ismael, Shereen T.

Ismael, Tareq Y.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Iraq War, 2003-2011--Destruction and pillage.

Iraq War, 2003-2011.

Cultural property--Protection--Iraq.

Cultural property.

Intellectuals--Iraq--Social conditions--21st century.

Intellectuals.

Iraq--Intellectual life--21st century.

Iraq.

Physical Description:

xii, 298 p. : ill.

Place of Publication:

London : Pluto Press, 2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Why did the invasion of Iraq result in the destruction of culture and murder of intellectuals? Convention sees accidents of war and poor planning in a campaign to liberate Iraqis. The authors argue instead that the invasion aimed to dismantle the Iraqi state to remake it as a client regime. Post-invasion chaos created conditions under which the cultural foundations of the state could be undermined. The authors painstakingly document the consequences of the occupiers' wilful inaction and worse, which led to the ravaging of one of the world's oldest recorded cultures. Targeted assassination of over 400 academics, kidnapping and the forced flight of thousands of doctors, lawyers, artists and other intellectuals add up to cultural cleansing. This book lays to rest claims that the invasion aimed to free an educated population to develop its own culture of democracy.

Contents:

pt. 1. Formulating and executing the policy of cultural cleansing

pt. 2. Policy in motion : the assault on Iraq's incomparable history

pt. 3. Policy in motion : the present and the future.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781783718283

1783718285

9781849643993

1849643997

OCLC:

923332014