Dr. Antje Vollmer, Berlin
Vice-President of the German Parliament
Dr. Antje Vollmer, Berlin
Vice-President of the German Parliament
Berlin/Washington (bpb) The Vice-President of the German Parliament, Dr. Antje Vollmer has underscored her NO against a war against Iraq on March 13, 2003, and in addition described such a military attack as "a crime against the priceless cultural heritage". A bombing of Iraq would not only be a great danger to the civilians, but it would also result in irreparable destruction of documents of the ancient oriental cultures of Mesopotamia and Babylon, declared the cultural-politican speaker of the parliamentary section Bündnis 90/Greens in an interview with "Prometheus".
In view of the imminent danger of war in Iraq, we must urgently warn people about the threatening destruction of the cultural heritage of mankind. "The cultural and commercial capital of the ancient Babylon lay only 90 kilometers (60 miles) south of today's Bagdad. Herodotus sang praises about this ancient city. Its 'Hanging Gardens' were one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient world", said Vollmer. The whole area has not yet been adequately researched archaeologically. Due to the "likely spreading of the war across the whole Middle East, in addition to bringing suffering to the people, the war will also cause the destruction of the last remaining traces of the origins of the Western culture", deplored Vollmer.
The German politician suspects that the USA will not attempt only a regime change in Iraq. On the South German Radio, Vollmer explained that she thinks that there is "a quite realistic danger" that the Bush government is planning to provoke such changes also in other countries, such as Syria and Iran. The basic idea of the "hawks in USA" is that one will "rain down Democracy with bombs". It is a mistake of German politics that it has not paid attention early enought to this "basic concept" of the Americans and has not pointed out the way to other, non-military solutions.
View on the remains of the royal palace of Kish, south of the today's capital Bagdad. The building is from the early Sumerian Dynasty, approximately 2,500 B.C.
Copyright 2003 West-Art, Prometheus 87, 2003