Posted on 01/16/2007 9:45:04 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Donny George, man of history, had vowed never to leave Baghdad, where he was the keeper of the keys to the looted Iraqi National Museum. Then his teenage son opened a letter with a bullet inside and a threat to cut off his head because his father "worked for the Americans." An estimated 1.8 million Iraqis have fled their country since the U.S. invasion, but George, an archaeologist, along with his wife, Najat, and 17-year-old son, Martin, are some of the very few -- only 500 a year -- who've been granted a visa to live in the U.S... His older children, Marian, 21, a medical student, and Steven, 23, a computer scientist, couldn't get papers. They remain in Damascus... Meanwhile, the Iranians, he says, have already penetrated Iraq. He heard that Farsi is heard in the markets of Basra as often as Arabic. Before he left, there were rumors he was going to be replaced by a Muslim at the museum. The church where he and his wife were married has been blown up. Still, he is convinced they'll go home someday. "Listen, we know history. We are the people of archaeology. We know it is impossible for it to stay like this."
(Excerpt) Read more at aina.org ...
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
