US Unveils Iraq Culture Aid
WASHINGTON (AFP) – US First Lady Laura Bush visited Baghdad’s embassy in Washington on Thursday to unveil a 14-million-dollar US campaign to rebuild Iraq’s cultural heritage and safeguard its treasures.
Bush blamed “travel restrictions, diminished resources, and violence under Saddam Hussein’s regime” for crippling Iraq once-great institutions — omitting explicit mention of the March 2003 US-led invasion as a possible factor.
“Recent security gains and increased stability have set the stage now for a more vigorous effort to promote Iraq’s cultural history,” the first lady said in public remarks at the diplomatic mission.
The US Embassy in Baghdad will provide nearly 13 million dollars to the project, while the US State Department’s bureau of educational and cultural affairs will contribute another one million dollars.
“This project will build the capacity of Iraq’s museums and other cultural institutions to overcome the decades of conflict and isolation,” in partnership with the US government’s National Park Service and private groups.
The money will go to a new conservation and historic preservations institute in Irbil city to train professionals to preserve artifacts and protect more than 12,000 registered archeological sites in Iraq.
The funds will also help create a two-year education program for Iraqi preservationists at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History, in collaboration with the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, she said.
Finally, the project will help upgrade Iraq’s National Museum, which closed permanently in 2006, and “hasten the day” when it reopens its doors.
“Americans understand the importance of preserving cultural heritage,” she said. “Preservation efforts are even more important in a country like Iraq, where many citizens cannot remember a time when their nation was free from conflict.”
