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Iraqi National Museum Looted
Aired April 15, 2003 - 15:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: "I don't think anyone anticipated the riches of Iraq would be looted by the Iraqi people." Those words of Brigadier General Vincent Brooks of the U.S. Central Command.
The Iraqi National Museum was home to artifacts dating back thousands of years. Our Jim Clancy reports many of those antiquities have now been stolen or destroyed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The news media saw for themselves the destruction inside a part of Iraq's national museum Tuesday, and heard a renewed appeal for U.S. troops to come and secure what is left of one of the most valuable collections in the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Perhaps we can show you when (ph) they went through and they have smashed some of the objects that were here.
CLANCY: The destruction of statues, tablets and historic pieces, some dating back thousands of years, was readily apparent. So, too, the destruction of vital archives, photographs and the entire history of the museum itself. What is missing from the museum, what we can't show you are, are priceless treasures.
MUAYAD SAID AL DAMERJI, BAGHDAD UNIVERSITY: It was one of the most important, and is still one of the most important museums. It reveals the whole history of mankind from 500,000 BC to now.
CLANCY (on camera): Now that they've had a better look, archaeologists and members of the museum's staff are increasingly convinced that at least some of those who broke in or tried to break in here knew exactly what they wanted to plunder from Iraq's history of civilization.
(voice-over): The looters broke down the museum's steel doors and passed through in their hundreds. Dr. Dani George (ph) held up evidence pointing to more than common thieves.
DR. DANI GEORGE: We found these. These were glass cutters. They had them with them. So this means there were some -- maybe professional ones.
CLANCY: Another point, the thieves passed over duplicates of Iraqi treasures now on display in other museums like the Louvre, but hauled away priceless originals, weighing sometimes hundreds of pounds. Throughout the ordeal, museum staff complained U.S. troops refused to intervene.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This guy went there and there was an Arabic translator with them. He begged them to come to protect the Iraq museum, but nobody came.
CLANCY: And nobody has come. Despite promises from U.S. officials, all the way up to the secretary of state, what is left of one of the most important museums in the world remained unprotected Tuesday. Jim Clancy, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It's a tragedy. Lots of tragedies to report out of Iraq these days, unfortunately.
PHILLIPS: It may continue for a while, too.
O'BRIEN: Yes. I think it's going to take a while before we see a real rosy picture there.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 15, 2003 - 15:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: "I don't think anyone anticipated the riches of Iraq would be looted by the Iraqi people." Those words of Brigadier General Vincent Brooks of the U.S. Central Command.
The Iraqi National Museum was home to artifacts dating back thousands of years. Our Jim Clancy reports many of those antiquities have now been stolen or destroyed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The news media saw for themselves the destruction inside a part of Iraq's national museum Tuesday, and heard a renewed appeal for U.S. troops to come and secure what is left of one of the most valuable collections in the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Perhaps we can show you when (ph) they went through and they have smashed some of the objects that were here.
CLANCY: The destruction of statues, tablets and historic pieces, some dating back thousands of years, was readily apparent. So, too, the destruction of vital archives, photographs and the entire history of the museum itself. What is missing from the museum, what we can't show you are, are priceless treasures.
MUAYAD SAID AL DAMERJI, BAGHDAD UNIVERSITY: It was one of the most important, and is still one of the most important museums. It reveals the whole history of mankind from 500,000 BC to now.
CLANCY (on camera): Now that they've had a better look, archaeologists and members of the museum's staff are increasingly convinced that at least some of those who broke in or tried to break in here knew exactly what they wanted to plunder from Iraq's history of civilization.
(voice-over): The looters broke down the museum's steel doors and passed through in their hundreds. Dr. Dani George (ph) held up evidence pointing to more than common thieves.
DR. DANI GEORGE: We found these. These were glass cutters. They had them with them. So this means there were some -- maybe professional ones.
CLANCY: Another point, the thieves passed over duplicates of Iraqi treasures now on display in other museums like the Louvre, but hauled away priceless originals, weighing sometimes hundreds of pounds. Throughout the ordeal, museum staff complained U.S. troops refused to intervene.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This guy went there and there was an Arabic translator with them. He begged them to come to protect the Iraq museum, but nobody came.
CLANCY: And nobody has come. Despite promises from U.S. officials, all the way up to the secretary of state, what is left of one of the most important museums in the world remained unprotected Tuesday. Jim Clancy, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It's a tragedy. Lots of tragedies to report out of Iraq these days, unfortunately.
PHILLIPS: It may continue for a while, too.
O'BRIEN: Yes. I think it's going to take a while before we see a real rosy picture there.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
