The Forgotten Losses of the War in Iraq

Presenter's Name(s)

Ashley N. LadueFollow

Conference Year

January 2020

Abstract

My poster will focus on the destruction of the pottery and ceramics in the National Museum of Iraq in 2003. I will analyze the role that the U.S. Army had in the looting as well as their role in the recovery of the looted artifacts. My main focus will be to explain how the tragedy could have been avoided if American officials had listened to McGuire Gibson's warning about "flash looting". This is rapid looting that occurs upon invasions, natural disasters, or civil unrest. In the end I will propose having archaeologists involved in the discussion before the invasion of a foreign country in order to prevent further looting of rare antiquities.

Primary Faculty Mentor Name

Scott Van Keuren

Status

Undergraduate

Student College

College of Arts and Sciences

Program/Major

Anthropology

Primary Research Category

Arts & Humanities

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The Forgotten Losses of the War in Iraq

My poster will focus on the destruction of the pottery and ceramics in the National Museum of Iraq in 2003. I will analyze the role that the U.S. Army had in the looting as well as their role in the recovery of the looted artifacts. My main focus will be to explain how the tragedy could have been avoided if American officials had listened to McGuire Gibson's warning about "flash looting". This is rapid looting that occurs upon invasions, natural disasters, or civil unrest. In the end I will propose having archaeologists involved in the discussion before the invasion of a foreign country in order to prevent further looting of rare antiquities.