In a short span of time after the US led invasion of Iraq in April 2003, a wave of looting and destruction took place that effectively erased Iraq’s cultural history. Not just Iraq’s, but of mankind, as it is this very geographic location that is considered to be the cradle of civilization. These displays were painstakingly retrieved and restored artefacts from history dating back to the beginning of civilization. Museums were looted of antiquities that gave us a glimpse of life thousands of years ago. Irreplaceable books burned in wanton acts that saw mob mentality at its peak.

No doubt a few of these would have found their way into the hands of unscrupulous characters who would sell it to the highest bidder. But that is just a small percentage of what was destroyed forever. Their value can never be estimated to its fullest. How do you put a price on something that cannot be replaced? The undiagnosed compensation of such artefacts is something that cannot be valued in terms of money.

In the months that followed the situation worsened, as security could not be maintained at the many archaeological and cultural sites. Looting and destruction in the name of cultural cleaning, reaching epidemic proportions. At the same time, several hundred academics were killed for the work they did in maintaining the history of the region and civilization in general. What is disturbing is that no group has claimed responsibility for the killings. In the case of kidnappings, no ransom has been demanded and there is evidence to point towards the involvement of state forces as well as various militias. Such was the cultural cleansing that there seemed to be a concerted effort at total annihilation and wipe-out.

Whatever be the justification, the end result is a loss that will affect mankind as a whole and not just the people in a particular region or those of a particular religious belief.

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Watching the news this week, I couldn’t help but feel that I’d seen all the reports before. All these joyous celebrations as the “last” US troops rolled over the Iraqi border, leaving the troubled country to run itself once more. Excuse me, didn’t we already have “Mission Accomplished” when Bush was still in power? And didn’t Obama oversee the last of the combat troops leaving Iraq in 2010? So who exactly were the soldiers left behind? Perhaps they were the ones the US kindly lent us to police our dangerous city streets. No, they’re just as dangerous as ever. The oil fields and oil wells, on the other hand, are as well guarded as an exhibition stand giving away free weapons at an Arab conference. Was that what the remaining few coalition troops have been up to ever since they officially ceased combat?

Of course, my naivety is all an act; I know that my safety counts for very little compared to that of just one barrel of black gold. The only difference between Bush and Obama is that George W. and his cronies were honest enough to tell the world that’s how they felt. Much as I hoped that Obama would mean a new start for the US and all their pet projects around the world, nothing much seems to have changed.

We are grateful for the US and British efforts to get rid of Saddam Hussein and we are equally grateful that they are eventually clearing out and letting the Iraqi people run Iraq – no matter how crazy a suggestion that might seem! After all, that’s all we’ve ever wanted; the chance to decide our own leaders, the way our own country will be run, the way we will be seen on the world stage. Saddam stopped us from achieving those things, but so have our so-called liberators. However, I wouldn’t be surprised to see news reports in six months or maybe even a year trumpeting the departure of the very last US troops from Iraqi soil. I just can’t shake the feeling that Obama might have been kind enough to leave some of them behind to help our oil fields in their difficult transition to democracy….

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Mention Iraq and images of a war torn country, images of its former ruler and images of poverty come to mind. However, Iraq was not always like this. It has been referred to as the cradle of civilization and has a cultural history that dates back to over 10,000 years. It was rich, prosperous and had an influence on all mankind. In fact, the earliest evidence of a writing system was found here. And over the years, it was ruled by many empires, each leaving its mark.

One of the consequences of the war in Iraq has been the mindless looting and destruction of its many artefacts that date back to the beginning of civilization. It can easily be referred to as the greatest archaeological tragedy of all time. Over 170,000 items of antiquity are now missing from the famed National Museum. Some have surfaced in different parts of the world, ostensibly sold by unscrupulous soldiers for huge sums of money. Some have been destroyed in the frenzy that mobs are prone to. And some have just disappeared. Their actual value easily runs into billions of dollars if one were to put a price on it for the sake of argument. You cannot evaluate something that is priceless, from a time that will never come back, that is one of a kind, one that lets us peek into a glorious past that has vanished in terms of money if you considering the benefit of humanity as a whole.

However ravaged the country may be now, it has played an important part in the story of mankind and affects us all – from a shepherd in the mountains of Italy to a person looking for English teaching jobs in London. Well, a lot of English teaching jobs are opening up in Iraq as the culture is now opening itself towards the western civilization.

If only money did not determine our actions, if only what has been taken out is graciously returned, if only people had the sense not to destroy what cannot be replaced, it would be an opportunity for the coming generations to know what it was all like before senselessness ruled. Else history becomes just a myth.

It is not without reason that the Bible too makes many references to present day Iraq.

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Iraq is the country that persisted in the formation of most of the major religions and cultures in the ancient times. The country is home to the first written signs ever to be considered alphabet, it hosts a large collection of artifacts that belonged to Babylonian kings, ancient emperors and so on. It is also a country that is crucial for christian culture due to the many events that took place on its lands. This also brought its cultural contribution to the country where many of the early Christian texts were found.

However, while most people remain interested in the computer data recovery London companies can offer, the little number of people interested in culture of the Middle East and Ancient times have discovered some crucial irregularities. It was an Israeli scholar that first found that Iraqi artifacts that belonged to the national museum in Baghdad could now be seen in a museum in Jerusalem. Later on, a Mexican reported to the UNESCO headquarters that he observed a very interesting writing on Biblical texts, that was said to be a precious part of Iraqi culture, in Cairo, Egypt and seven more images of Biblical personas in Alexandria.

This is how an investigation by UN was conducted that established that since the beginning of the war, Iraqi cultural heritage has been massively exported for money to other destinations such as Greece and Israel. Soldiers have been found to have smuggled the precious artifacts into other destinations for quite significant amounts of money.

Thus Iraqi culture has been gradually robbed. Currently, Iraq hardly possesses 40% of what it had before the war in Iraq and most of its culture and heritage has vanished. No law has been found to support Iraqi claims against smugglers and still, the richest culture in the world suffers the loss of immeasurably precious historical and cultural artifacts.

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The United States has withdrawn its major combat forces from Iraq. The question to be asked is, did the US fulfill its mission in Iraq?

The reason that the US and its allies invaded Iraq was because Iraq supposedly had weapons of mass destruction. Even without the consent of the United Nations the alliance went into Iraq. During that time the weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) were never found in Iraq. The United States argued that the invasion of Iraq was to protect US from threats from Iraq and terrorists inside Iraq. Also it was assumed that Saddam Hussein had links with the terrorist group Al-Qaeda which attacked the United States on September 11, 2001.

Before the invasion by the alliance Iraq was ran by the cruel dictator Saddam Hussein for many years. Saddam and his army could barely fight after a week and in less than a month his government was toppled by the US. The world witnessed the precision of America’s modern weapons. During the war thousands died, buildings and structures were destroyed, so the people of Iraq became desperate. Suicide bombing became a strategy to combat against the invading forces. Baghdad became more violent than ever.

Later the US government helped establish a democratic government in Iraq but it is still at an infant stage and is very fragile. Stabilizing a country is not like fitting a retail display, you can’t just put certain items in place and expect the country to stabilize itself.

The people of Iraq were not the only ones who died, there were thousands of US and allied soldiers who died or were disabled in this war. The economy of the United States was greatly affected by the war as well. Even though before the war in Iraq Saddam had no link to Al-Qaeda however after the war many believe that Al-Qaeda started recruiting inside Iraq.

The question is that did the US accomplish its mission? The answer in toppling Saddam is yes but in finding the weapons of mass destruction it is no. Though some may see the war as a way to liberate a country from a cruel dictator, what really matters is what the people of Iraq think about it.

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There is a special area of London where I always head to buy dance fabrics. It is a melting pot of Middle Eastern migrants and the language of choice is interestingly enough; English. People tend not to ask each other where they are from, because in this very friendly neighbourhood the people are often from countries that have been at war with each other for centuries. I was getting my lunch as I usually do, at a local falafel stand when I started chatting with the woman next to me (who was also buying a falafel). I am from Baghdad she said, where are you from? She must have been a new arrival and didn’t know neighbourhood etiquette. I decided to distract her from the question and ask her a little bit about Baghdad and falafel. It turns out that Iraqi cuisine features the same dishes as most countries in the region. On offer at lunch time you will often find falafel: small balls made our of chick peas or fava beans, lightly spiced and deep fried; hummus; a dip made from ground chick peas, sesame paste, lemon juice and olive oil; tabbouleh; a salad of bulgar wheat, lemon juice, parsley, tomatoes and olive oil and baba ganoush; a dip made from roasted and puréed aubergine.What greater brotherhood (and sisterhood) could there be than sharing the same food and drink across an entire region that is often awash with sectarian violence and starting a conversation over a dark and sweet coffee and a piece of honey soaked baklava?

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I was concerned to read that the Iraqi Education Ministry had banned theatre and music classes at Baghdad’s Fine Arts Institute, citing religious reasons, as always. Religion has already been used to destroy and control too many lives, not just in Iraq but throughout the Arab world and even further afield. I find it hard to understand how any God, of any religion could be offended by a group of people working together to produce something beautiful and inspiring, often, in the case of music, in celebration of the very same religion that is trying to ban them in the first place!

It’s not as if students at the Institute were putting on risqué burlesque shows, featuring rebellious Muslim girls wearing flimsy dance fabrics. These were serious students, who spent their time working hard, analysing and discussing historical theatrical and religious works, not young people who were looking to rock the boat or create a stir.

On the same day that they announced the ban on performance classes at an Institute dedicated to artistic performance, the Ministry officials also removed a number of historic sculptures from the grounds of the building. Some see this as a more serious development, especially in light of the museum looting that has taken place over the last few years. Too many of Iraq’s great treasures have already disappeared without a trace, lost forever to private collectors or smuggled out of the country to be sold to the highest bidder. Who’s to say that this won’t happen to the works of art taken from the Fine Arts Institute in the name of religion? Yet another example of a religion being corrupted by the greed and ambition of man.

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The Foster’s range of beer comes in the Super Chilled, Scuba, and Keg and Fosters Twist variants. Keg is intended for private parties. The scuba was intended for mix grade beer but currently it is only marketed in the United Kingdom. The Foster’s twist variant is a beer with a hint of citrus and is marketed as refreshment and as an alternative to other heavier beers and premium packaged spirits.

Foster’s marketing strategy is based on the Slogan “The Amber Nectar” in Australia and the UK. Australian connotations such as the kangaroo still remain a basis in most overseas advertising. The Fosters brand sponsored F1 events in 2006. It was the title sponsor for their Australian grand Prix, The British GP and the San Marino GP. One other major milestone is the sponsorship of the ASP World Tour. The brand has also sponsored the Australian based A1 Team. All of these in a bid to publicize and in turn market the beer brand across the globe.
The latest Fosters beer advert is taking the world by storm, infinitely watch-able and oft quoted, well worth checking out on-line when you get the chance.

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It seems a new Iraqi democracy is in place. It seems very strange to say that given the amount of years which have passed since Saddam Hussein’s toppling and subsequent execution, which the entire world saw due to a smuggled camera phone into the gallows room.

US car support as well as military establishment in the stricken country in the years afterwards has been pocked with high and low points. While we rejoiced as the statues were dragged to the dirt, we also lamented the loss of many lives, both military and civilian, in the ensuing violence and political unrest. But now that is all seemingly behind us, what can Iraqis expect from the new Government which was sworn in in the last few weeks?

There was much jubilation in the hall in which hands were shook, signifying an end to what looked like endless disputes as to who should lead the country to great heights. The new cabinet is a fine mix representing every demographic of people, regardless of religious sect or previous political allegiances. So why are so many pessimistic about the road ahead?

The main worry is that if it took this long to settle on even the basics of the governmental set up, how long will it take for them to decide on the massive issues which need addressing? After all, a party catering to all views is a good thing on paper, but it’s highly likely that it will slow down any decision making processes in the future. We can only watch as things develop.

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Little is known by the West about the lands of Iraq that are nowadays occupied by heavily fortified military instalments and covered with troops from NATO. Even prior to Islam, Christianity and Judaism, Iraq was a land of cultural prosperity and a land that gave to the world its modern shape.
The question that arises logically from making such a point is Why? . The reason is that Iraqi lands were previously occupied by the first Arab tribes that were not even considered to be Arabs but the ancestors of what today the population of the Middle East mainly consists of. These people, initially nomads that were living on hunting, settled in the territories of modern day Iraq as a land that could offer them much more than hunting.
This is how the culture of the Middle East was born, long before the Egyptians and the early Europeans were capable of development. This is when the population of these lands started developing something simple but with crucial importance (and that was not the software to compare caravan insurance ) – alphabetic signs. Iraqi lands were the first territories where letters were first used as depictions of verbal language and where the first believes and thoughts of ancient rulers and philosophers were written down.
And all that because of agriculture – it contributed to the settlement of people, they establish towns and communities and logically within these settlements (the first towns of Sumerian people) disputes and doubtfulness led to development and cultural advance. The people started interacting since they were united in their daily routine, many more flowed in the towns, population increased and this gave the opportunity of people to create, to be artistic, to start describing the influences of their lives. This is how written language was born – in territories that nowadays are considered to be places of war conflicts and death.

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