BABYLON DAMAGED BY MILITARY CAMP: If this story is accurate, it's appalling.

U.S.-led forces damaged ancient Babylon
Sat Jan 15, 2005 01:44 PM GMT

By Kate Holton

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S.-led forces, using Iraq's ancient city of Babylon as a military base, have caused "substantial damage" to one of the world's most renowned archaeological treasures, a British Museum report says.

The report said U.S. and Polish military vehicles had crushed 2,600-year-old pavements in the city, a cradle of civilisation and home to one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Archaeological fragments were used to fill sand bags, it added.

[...]

However, the Polish military is denying that they damaged the site:

Polish military deny damaging Babylon
Sun Jan 16, 2005 12:53 PM GMT

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland's Defence Ministry has denied charges that Polish troops in Iraq had damaged the site of ancient Babylon, one of the world's most famous archaeological treasures, while using it as a military base.

"Neither Polish troops, nor any other troops under Polish command, ever carried out any projects violating historical monuments or causing their devastation," Defence Ministry spokesman Colonel Piotr Pertek said on Sunday.

"Our soldiers never engaged in any efforts to strengthen the security of Camp Babylon without consulting Iraq's monument preservation authorities."

So far, I can't find any response from the U.S. military. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Here's a brief response, quoted in the L.A. Times (requires free registration) via Archaeological News:

Lt. Col. Steven Boylan, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, said all engineering works were discussed with the head of the Babylon museum. "An archeologist examined every construction initiative for its impact on historical ruins," he said.

I think this needs to be addressed rather more thoroughly. Do they acknowledge that the damage happened? If so, how did it come about?