Burn to forget
From Shawn to Danny O'Brien, how libraries burn in Baghdad
For almost a thousand years, Baghdad was the cultural capital of the Arab world, the most literate population in the Middle East. Genghis Khan's grandson burnt the city in the 13th century and, so it was said, the Tigris river ran black with the ink of books. Yesterday, the black ashes of thousands of ancient documents filled the skies of Iraq. Why?
Purposefully forgetting looting, destroying the past, as if by that there were any possibility of remaking this country anew - according to what? To whose ideas?
Comments
Why indeed!! Destroying literature is a crime against humanity! Think of all the knowledge that was lost when the Romans burned the library at Alexandria! It's terrbile! :(
Posted by: Maria | April 16, 2003 1:29 PM
I suspect the new powers taking over realize it's much easier to mold a society into one under their control if they can erase history, rewrite it, etc. It's right out of the 1984 playbook.
Posted by: George | April 17, 2003 9:50 AM