One of the untold stories of the Iraq war was the looting of historical Iraqi treasures, Donny George Youkhanna, former director of the National Museum in Baghdad, said Thursday. Now, with many artifacts still missing, he’s trying to make sure that story is heard.
Youkhanna said that on the morning of April 8, 2003, he woke to the sounds of tanks and heavy artillery fire.
"This sound started coming closer to the museum, and we started having shooting from the other side of the museum," Youkhanna said. "Around 11 in the morning we started hearing Apache fighter helicopters on top of us."
Despite hearing fighting outside, Youkhanna said he didn’t expect the fighting to reach the museum.
"All this was happening and we were confident that these Americans would not hit the museum because they should know this is a museum," he said.
As the fighting continued, Youkhanna said he noticed Iraqi soldiers in the museum’s courtyard. He said that it was then he realized the museum was caught in the crossfire and was a target.
"It was at that moment, when Dr. Jabar Khali, the chairman of the board, decided that we should leave the building, because it was very, very dangerous," Youkhanna said. "We went out with the intention that we would come back as soon as the war, or the battle, would stop in the museum area."
Youkhanna and Khali then decided to personally appeal to the U.S. for help to protect the museum.
"I decided that I would go to the headquarters of the Marines in Baghdad, because we learned that they had their central command headquarters in the Palestine Hotel," he said. "I decided to go there and to seek any kind of help to protect the museum."
When he and his companions left the museum to ask for help, it became an easy prey for looters, Youkhanna said.
"It looked as if a hurricane had hit the building from the inside," he said. "And when we went into the museum and started checking, we immediately learned that some very important pieces that were… in the galleries, were taken away."
Days later, he heard the news and eventually learned that approximately 15,000 items had been taken and others had been smashed.
"The looters left glasscutters behind and didn’t touch many replicas, which leads us to believe that they came prepared and knew what they were doing," he said.
Over 3,000 pieces have been returned by good Samaritans, Youkhanna said. Although he no longer works at the museum, he is still working to find missing items. He said they should be returned to their rightful home, so they can be viewed by the whole world.
