Why Museums Were Looted, Libraries Burned and Academics Murdered

Why did the invasion of Iraq result in cultural destruction and killings 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' willful
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 important work lays to rest claims that the invasion aimed
to free an educated population to develop its own culture of democracy.

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