Dec 3, 2:49 PM EST
Baghdad Natural History Museum Reopens
By JIM KRANE
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- When U.S. troops strode into the Iraq Museum of Natural History in June, they found a scene of destruction: Wires and light fixtures torn out, display cases crushed, and stuffed wolves and jackals carted off.
"There was nothing but a sea of glass here in the courtyard," said U.S. Army Col. Pete Mansoor of the 1st Armored Division, describing the consequences of a looting frenzy that wrecked the museum.
Piecing the sanctuary back together became the six-month task of the U.S. Army's 16th Engineer Battalion, which presided over its reopening Wednesday.
After a flurry of speeches, a small crowd huddled around a shrouded pedestal. A quick tug, and the crowd erupted in applause and laughter. Unveiled was a stuffed mountain lion baring formidable teeth - and a hot pink tongue.
"They've done a great job bringing back a museum that was damaged not by the Americans, but by looters and thieves and by no-good Iraqis," said Joseph Ghougassian, a Coalition Provisional Authority education adviser and a former U.S. ambassador to Iraq.
Still, most of the museum's refurbished display cases remain empty. One held a few desiccated turtles. Another cradled a smashed plaster stump and a sign reading "red fox" in English and Arabic.
The looters left a few stuffed exhibits behind, including a towering camel, a ragged pair of striped hyenas - one with its missing ear lying on the floor - and a once-cherished sight: a white Arabian stallion that belonged to Saddam Hussein.
The destruction of the natural history museum received much less attention than the April looting of the Iraqi National Museum, which triggered sharp criticism of U.S. forces both in Iraq and abroad. Museum curators and archaeologists worldwide blamed the United States for not preventing the theft of thousands of treasures, some of them dating from the earliest days of human history.
Only about 2,000 of those 13,000 looted treasures have so far been recovered, and the National Museum remains closed and under Iraqi police guard.
By contrast, the pilfering of exhibits from the Natural History Museum - books, stuffed animals, skeletons - failed to spark outrage among the world's cultural elite.
As part of its recovery, the museum has established relations with the American and British natural history museums. Its curator, Hussein Abas Ali, announced that he will attend a related conference in Jordan this month.
The 16th Engineer Battalion also led renovations of several buildings on the surrounding Baghdad University campus, including a 20-seat Internet cafe expected to open Saturday.
The renovations are part of an ongoing revamping of Iraq's educational system being performed by the military and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Ghougassian, in a rambling speech that ran fluidly from Arabic into English, told Iraqis in the museum audience that the educational efforts were intended "to introduce you to the knowledge you were denied for the last 25 years."
Tasks range from renovations and new curricula for elementary schools, to teacher training programs. Also Wednesday, Ghougassian said 25 Iraqis had been selected to receive Fulbright grants for yearlong study at U.S. universities.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
