Anniversary

This is a version of a communication I just posted on IraqCrisis

As of this weekend the United States and the Coalition have been at war in Iraq for seven years.
Millions of people have been forced from their homes as refugees or internally displaced; hundreds of thousands have been killed and basic services remain unattainable for many. Hundreds of thousands of US soldiers have been sent to fight resulting in over 4,000 deaths and many more injured. In addition, the war has cost U.S. taxpayers at least $3 trillion that could have been spent on jobs, healthcare, and schools. There are no winners.

The Library of Congress has undertaken to archive web sites selected by subject specialists to represent web-based information on the Iraq War.

Iraq War, 2003 Web Archive

Scope: On March 20, 2003, the United States initiated offensive military action against Iraq for the stated purpose of deposing Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and preventing his use of suspected nuclear weapons (weapons of mass destruction.) British, Australian, Polish, and Danish forces participated in the invasion. U.S. led forces took control of Baghdad on April 9, 2003. There was both support and opposition to the war.

The war continued with the United States coalition forces facing increased insurgency from Shiite militants, Sunni militants, and terrorists aligned with Al Queda. The United States has had more than 150,000 troops deployed at any one time in Iraq. The Library continued with two more phases of web capturing from December, 2003 to the present. These last two phases are not yet available but will be in the future.

Included in the web archive are U.S. government sites, foreign government sites, public policy and political advocacy groups, educational organizations, religious organizations, support groups for military personnel, anti-war groups, sites that target children, and news sources.

This collection is part of a continuing effort by the Library of Congress to evaluate, select, collect, catalog, provide access to, and preserve digital materials for future generations of researchers.

Collection Period: The Iraq War Web-capture has three phases of collection. The first phase, a weekly capture, began on March 13, 2003 with the commencement of the war and ended June 30, 2003.

Phase 1 has been processed and is available from this site.

Phase 2 is a weekly capture and covers December 2003 to December 2004. Phase 3, also a weekly capture, was begun in January 2005 and is ongoing as of January, 2008. Phases 2 and 3 are not yet processed.

Number of Sites: 231 constituting Phase 1.

The Iraq War Web Archive includes two websites under the subject heading "cultural property"

1. Iraq -- The cradle of civilization at risk: H-Museum Current Focus
linking to http://h-net.msu.edu/~museum/iraq.html
2. LOST TREASURES FROM IRAQ
linking to http://www-oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IRAQ/iraq.html

Almost nothing else in the resource makes reference to archaeology, archaeological sites, museums, or libraries in Iraq. A search for the phrase "stuff happens" yields no results.

Fortunately two other sites remain online.

1. Francis Deblauwe's The Iraq War & Archaeology Blog
2. The IraqCrisis list Archive

I've asked that the Library of Congress include them in the next phases of the Iraq War Web Archive.