Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : NNBM - SI Branch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Clappy who wrote (25037)	3/29/2003 2:26:11 PM
From: abuelita	Respond to of 104197

clappy- nothing escapes the ravages of war. here is a fairly long but interesting read on iraq - the cradle of civilization: globeandmail.ca Rocking the cradle What's at risk when bunker busters and patriot missiles rain down on the birthplace of modern civilization? From his vantage point in the heart of stricken Baghdad, PAUL WILLIAM ROBERTS recalls Iraq's glorious past and predicts the nation will rise again, as he watches the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates reduced to rubble one more time By PAUL WILLIAM ROBERTS UPDATED AT 2:22 PM EST Saturday, Mar. 29, 2003 I recall, while studying Latin at school back in the last millennium, reading a letter by Pliny (the Elder, I think) written during the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius that buried the Roman town of Pompeii. Pliny watched the spectacular cataclysm from across the bay in what is now Naples, and the immediacy of his account thrilled me. History came to life and it stayed that way, in the sense that, as I later came to embellish the idea, all of human consciousness was a continuous moment, causes inextricably linked to effects, stretching backward and forward in an unbroken chain from Beginning to End. The past literally is the present. Don't think I haven't wondered how dumb the concept is, too, because I have. It is. But I still like it. Besides, it has never seemed more viable than it does now. As I write, Baghdad lies in ruins around me. Not the ruins it was in last week, last year, a decade, or even 30 decades ago. These are new ruins and they've pushed Baghdad into the critical mass of ruin: more of it is now ruined than isn't. No longer a city with ruins, it's a ruined city in which even the intact buildings partake of desolation, silence and despair. It's empty, abandoned, but the people have not yet gone. Nature eyes it up and down. Creepers seem to grow and strangle as you watch them. The owls and hawks have divided up the night between them, hooting and chattering from statuary that now exists solely for their pleasure. A reddish-orange fog, aftermath of the sandstorm, also hangs in the air mingling with cordite, sewage, burning oil and fear. Every few minutes, there are bomb blasts, the graceful double-thump of anti-aircraft batteries, and the proletarian thud of mortar shells. Twice hit by U.S. missiles in the past 24 hours, Iraqi Television is back on the air, broadcasting a call to arms for the tribes of Arabia to rise up in jihad, holy war, to help Saddam Hussein repel the invaders. The sword-dancing and rifle-rutting that are part of this call become intermingled with scenes of military tumescence ranging from the Akkadian to the British empires. Apart from the glitter and brashness of technology, we could be at almost any time in Baghdad's very long history. And since history in a nutshell is rarely more than a compendium of crises and brutal transitions, we are at any time. Everyman at Anytime. A powerful enemy is at the gates. You cannot hold the hordes off forever. So it is just a matter of time before you will capitulate and embrace the blood-stained foreigner, who is now, in victory, more like an anxious suitor vying for your favours. This is the history of Baghdad. No other place on Earth has been more involved for longer in civilization's history than the area now roughly encompassed by Iraq. When I first came to Baghdad, back in the spring of 1990 when the Iraqi dinar was worth more than the dollar and Saddam still considered himself America's good friend, the first sight that impressed itself upon me was a 50-foot banner draped across the arrivals hall reading: "Welcome to the cradle of civilization." .... open the link for the rest of the article. rose