THE EDITOR, Sir:
IT IS disgraceful the level of chaos and lawlessness that has taken place in Iraq, but even more disgraceful and tragic is the looting in the city's capital resulting in the theft of invaluable artefacts which give us a clue of how civilisation started. That Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator is impatient of debate; however, the Blair and Bush administrations must be held accountable for the confusion which is now common place, resulting in the theft of extraordinary Babylonian, Sumerian, and Assyrian collections and rare Islamic texts.
We in Jamaica are painfully reaping the rewards of our inability to safeguard and preserve our culture, identity and history. More is known about Halloween, Thanksgiving and 4th of July than about Paul Bogle or Nanny of the Maroons. Many values and attitudes are now discarded, resulting in a country and region caught up in the waves of globalisation without any cultural or historic anchor or reference point.
It is pointless and foolish to 'liberate' a people without safeguarding its treasures and history. While military actions may over the short to medium term restore order, it will be almost impossible to restore the void that is now created in the story of the genesis of civilisation.
One wonders if this is certainly not paving the way for a new world order and the Bush Doctrine. Records from 10,000 years of civilisation could well give us an idea of how we could apply wisdom in order to advance another 10,000 instead of the quick use of force to destroy ourselves and create untold suffering on mankind.
If and when the dust of this epoch is settled, we shall all be losers.
I am, etc.,
MARK McKENZIE
Kingston 20
