U.S. troops accused of damaging Babylon’s ancient wonder

(CNN) — The U.S. military did major damage to the site of one of the wonders of the ancient world while converting it into a base, the United Nations said in a new report.

The site of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon was converted into Camp Alpha shortly after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003.

The troops and their contractors caused “major damage” by digging, cutting, scraping and leveling while they were revamping the site to meet military standards, the U.N. cultural agency, UNESCO, said in a report.

“Key structures that were damaged include the Ishtar Gate and the Processional Way,” the report added.

The Ishtar Gate, an entrance to the northern part of the city, is decorated with animals that portray the symbol of the god of the city of Babylon.

“Damage to the gate includes smashed bricks on nine of the bodies of the animals adorning the gate,” according to the report.

Love this reasoning

A military official said she had not seen the U.N. report, but added that one of the reasons troops set up a base at the site was to safeguard it.

“Coalition forces first occupied the Babylon site in April 2003 during the ground campaign of Operation Iraqi Freedom with a purpose, among others, of protecting the ruins from looting after the provincial museums in Babylon and Kufa were robbed of their entire contents,” said Lt. Col. Tamara Parker, a spokeswoman.

“U.S. forces respect historical sites in Iraq,” she added.

Reversal of Nov 3 verdict gets through Justice Dogar

ISLAMABAD: A recorded conversation of November 5, 2007 between a top legal aide and one of the key spymasters of Gen (retd) Musharraf has exposed how the reversal of historic November 3, 2007 decision of a seven-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, was manipulated.

The top legal eagle of the ousted dictator is heard telling the spymaster that the then PCO Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar had informed him about the existence of the formal and duly signed decision of the seven-member bench handed down on November 3, 2007 but that he (Dogar) had concealed it. Dogar, according to the legal aide, had also assured him that the next day ( i.e on Nov 6) he would get the Nov 3, SC order reversed by a bench comprising eight judges (one more than the earlier seven-member bench headed by CJ Iftikhar) and behold, the next day, things proceeded exactly according to plan as Dogar proved to be a ‘man of his words’. The eight-member Dogar court handed down a verdict that set aside the historic Nov 3 order of the seven-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

In the audio tape, Musharraf’s top legal aide is heard assuring the spymaster that Dogar is his man and would do everything as per their desire. It may be recalled that Dogar was approached in Court No 1 on Nov 5 with the query to clarify the standing of the Nov 3 order if any. Dogar was also asked if there existed any Nov 3 order of the seven-member bench. If yes, he was told to get it reversed through a judicial verdict.

At this point the legal eagle tells the spymaster that Dogar asked him (the legal aide) to come to his chamber where he was told that yes there was a Nov 3 decision duly signed by the judges. But then Dogar was quoted as saying that he had kept it to himself. Dogar was further quoted as saying, “It is a decision of the seven-member bench and we would get it reversed tomorrow by an eight-member bench.”

The legal aide, who is caught unguarded in the audio tape, when approached by The News admitted that on Nov 5 Dogar had told him in his chamber that the Nov 3 order would be overturned. He, however, said that he does not remember if he had talked to the spymaster.

For the moment the identities of the cited legal aide and the spymaster have been withheld by the Jang Group Editorial Board as further investigations are being carried out in the light of information revealed by the contents of the tape and once these investigations are concluded then the new information along with the identities of the two gentlemen shall be made public.

The Great American Bubble Machine

The first thing you need to know about Goldman Sachs is that it’s everywhere. The world’s most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money. In fact, the history of the recent financial crisis, which doubles as a history of the rapid decline and fall of the suddenly swindled dry American empire, reads like a Who’s Who of Goldman Sachs graduates.