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This article is an overview of some of the foreign policies implemented regarding cultural heritage protection during wartimes, with specific focus on the Gulf Wars in Iraq and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. This article follows historical examples prior and post-World War II, noting pertinent international laws such as the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. The author also highlights current technological advances that are being implemented to help survey and better understand the destruction of cultural sites. This article argues for an increased focus on cultural heritage protection and preemptive measures that should be put in place by cultural institutions to protect their heritage. Information professionals are stewards of cultural heritage and part of their mission should be disaster-preparedness to best preserve artifacts and heritage sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The devastation of cultural heritage in the 2003 war, epitomised by the looting of the Iraq National Museum, was almost universal. Institutes of art, music, dance, theatre, folklore, crafts, etc., were looted as thoroughly as the museums in Baghdad, Mosul and Babylon. The minor effort at planning for heritage protection, carried out as part of the Future of Iraq Project in the US State Department, had little or no effect since all the efforts of the Project were ignored by the Pentagon. It is gradually being recognised that there was almost no planning of any kind beyond the invasion itself. One approach to the Pentagon resulted in the adding of thousands of archaeological sites and museums to the no-strike list, on which were already numerous mosques and standing monuments in cities, but the emphasis on protecting these places from indigenous looters was not part of the plans. Inadequate force levels dictated priorities for securing certain installations, such as oil-related industry, but even banks and ministries were allowed to be looted. Had scholars been able to get across the long-term central role of antiquities for Iraq's economic future, perhaps some protection might have been given. Culture was held in such disregard by American planners that it was subcontracted to the Italians, who did in fact make real efforts to halt looting in the Dhi Qar province. Meanwhile, the rest of the provinces in southern Iraq were being, and are being, looted on an industrial scale. Only the information that some parts of the resistance are being funded through sales of antiquities is making the occupying forces think about halting the looting or at least the chain of smuggling out of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the numerous responses to the looting of the Iraq Museum in April 2003, in the aftermath of the war on Iraq, was the creation of an online database at the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute of objects from the Iraq Museum that are presumed to be stolen. This article summarizes the layout and scope of this project and discusses the problems faced by archaeologists in building an archaeological database for a non- specialist audience. It raises the uncomfortable question to what degree museums around the world are prepared to face such disasters and strongly endorses the creation of "digital backups" of their collections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article will first introduce and sketch the history of the 2003 Iraq War & Archaeology website (http://cctr.umkc.ed u/user/fdeblauwe/iraq.html) which gathers, summarizes and annotates news and information. How did the idea for and structure of the site come about? How has the interaction with the different users (US and international; scholars, journalists, general public) been? What part do pictures play in the site? How about copyright issues? How does one deal with expiring web links and archiving? How does one remain neutral but engaged in the midst of a political minefield? In a second part, the different photo database initiatives that have been undertaken since the looting of the National Museum in Baghdad will be discussed. From spontaneous, private initiatives by magazines and academics through the official UNESCO/Interpol-sponsored ones, we will address the purpose and context as well as the problems and solutions facing the design and implementation of these visual resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last decades, archaeological site looting throughout Iraq has increased significantly up to a point where some of the most famous and relevant ancient Mesopotamian cities are currently threatened in their integrity. Several important archaeological monuments and artifacts have been destroyed, due to ISIL attacks and associated looting. Since 2016, the policies of the European Union have been increasingly harsh to condemn these atrocious acts of destruction. In such a scenario, the European Union Satellite Centre can be an invaluable instrument for the identification and assessment of the damage in areas occupied by ISIL. A detailed view of the damage suffered by the Nineveh and Nebi Yunus ancient sites, in Iraq, was assessed via visual inspection. The analysis was conducted considering the main events that occurred in the city of Mosul, between November 2013 and March 2018. More than 25 satellite images, new acquisitions and archived, supported by collateral data, allowed the detection and classification of the damage occurred over time. A description of the methodology and the classification of category and type of damage is presented. The results of the analysis confirm the dramatic levels of destruction that these two ancient sites have been suffering since 2013. The analysis reported in this paper is part of a wider study that the SatCen conducted in cooperation with the EU Counter-Terrorism Office and PRISM Office. The whole activity aimed at confirming to EU institutions the massive looting and trafficking operated in the area. The results have been provided to archaeologists in the field as well in support of local authorities who are trying to evaluate the current situation in the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]