The Nation - Iraq's Ruined Library Soldiers On

Iraq's Ruined Library Soldiers On: "The brutalities of the Iraq war accumulate so fast it is difficult to keep track. But in this season of fifth-year anniversaries, one largely forgotten crime demands to be recalled, in part because it relates directly to the politics of memory itself. Five years ago this week, US troops stood by as looters sacked the Iraq National Library and Archives (INLA)--one of the oldest and most used in the world. In Arab countries the old expression was 'Cairo writes, Beirut publishes, and Baghdad reads.'"