[Ursus arctos horribilis]

The Iraqi people want to attack and destroy all even remotely associated with the hated Sadaminites, and I cheer the on at every level.

Let them have their pound of flesh after suffering so much for so long, I cannot blame them.

[MosesKnows]

Why? Who set these fires? For what insane purpose is this heritage being destroyed?

I will never be able to comprehend the mentality of those who celebrate the burning of books. Who would destroy the records of history so no one could read them? That is about as small minded as a human mind can descend.

[tet68]

Tsk, tsk, Fisk,
Robert, you just don't seem to grasp the historic nature of this operation, it has often been said to destroy a country you must first destroy it's history.
I call this a good start.

[Hoppean]

Fisk may have his political biases, but the identity of the author aside, it's quite sad news to read that these materials and relics have been destroyed. Things like this do happen in war, and it's a prime example of why war is horrible. The other posters are right--it's not the US's fault, or anyone else's, really--the books got caught in the crossfire, and when war is being fought all around, cultural relics aren't foremost on the combatants' minds. It's a fact of life that relics are often lost in wars; it's happened before.

If anything good is to come out of this, I hope that events like this inspire curators and scholars and librarians the world over to review the events and try to draw up some more effective procedures to follow when war seems to be on the horizon to get these kinds of materials to safe shelter.

[stripes1776]

You mean that 1400 years of the records of one oppresive, murderous regime after another has gone up in smoke? That sounds liberating to me as if the burden of centuries of repression is lifted from one's shoulders. Too bad it couldn't have been done symbolically, but maybe this is the only way to do it.

[fire_eye]

You know... I didn't think there was anything in the world that could cause me to rationalize the burning of a library.

But the image of Fisk silhouetted against the flames, howling dismally like a kicked dog over the loss of the sacred written treasures of his beloved Islam, is delectable enough to make me think it *might* be something for which it *would* be worth burning a library...

[ambrose]

Islamic Library Burned to the Ground

Waste of good toilet paper.

[SunkenCiv]

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