American Troops Destroyed World History

A war photo a day #4

American Troops Destroyed World History American Troops Destroyed World History

Uncategorized August 5, 2013

David Axe photo American Troops Destroyed World History A war photo a day #4 Eight years. Seven wars. More death and destruction than I... American Troops Destroyed World History
David Axe photo

American Troops Destroyed World History

A war photo a day #4

Eight years. Seven wars. More death and destruction than I care to recount. I’ve been covering armed conflict since 2005. Every battlefield has its stories … and its unforgettable images. Follow me through my career at war, one jarring, haunting or sublime photo a day until I run out.

The cost of America’s wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere is usually measured in lives and dollars. But even our history suffers. In 2005 I met this man — Shaeda Mohammed Ameen, director of the Kirkuk Museum — at an American base in northern Iraq.

He was near tears, and holding something in his hands: pottery shards dating back 5,000 years — remnants of Iraq’s ancient civilization. When the U.S. military moved into Kirkuk, it installed its radars atop the highest hills, pictured, unaware that the hills were actually tells—accumulated piles of ancient construction rubble covered in dirt.

With their equipment and fortifications, the Americans were destroying world history.

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