The world is said to have never been able to recover from the mysterious destruction of Bibliotheca Alexandrina or the Great Library of Alexandria. In its glory days, the library was a melting pot and depository of scholarship from differing cultures and religions. Above all, the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom reigned supreme.

There are some who believed that many of the mathematical and philosophical theories now attributed to Hellenistic civilisation would have been impossible if not for the exchanges and contributions from Arabic scholars that occurred in the hallowed halls of the Library, such as Euclid's theory of geometry.

Fast forward two millennia ahead and we are presented now with cursory sound-bites of the destruction in the cradle of civilisation. o­ne would not be off the mark to liken the current conquest of Iraq with the Tatar-Mongol's sack of Baghdad in 1258. The Mongols not o­nly occupied large tracts of land with ferocity and advanced weaponry of that time, they had often with deliberation, (as is with many subsequent wars fought until today) ransacked, burnt, looted venues which housed o­ne's cultural heritage and treasures to destroy the morale and identity of a people.

International convention

In recognition of the fact that there is more to loss of lives, liberty and civility in times of war, there exists an international convention known as the Hague Convention of 1954 that mandates the preservation and protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict. Iraq is among the 103 countries (as of April 9, 2002) that is party to the convention. In the most typical fashion, among the list of rogues who refused to sign o­n the dotted line, United States and the United Kingdom stands out.

The hawks of the US-led 'war of liberation' tried to feign ignorance and shed crocodile tears for destruction of the Baghdad Museum of Antiquities and the National Library, but this is another of their latest theatrical performance, considering just a stone's throw away, US Marines fervently guarded the Oil Ministry. There is even a sense of fanaticism, a religious zeal in the manner in which Kirkuk's oil wells have been prioritised, secured and protected by the US troops.

Despite the millions already pledged, no amount of American dollars or euros can bring back the immeasurable loss to the people of Iraq and the world over. The loss is more than just hundreds of thousands of priceless artifacts, books or scrolls; the symbolism invoked is o­ne in which another mighty victor can o­nce again be given a free hand in rewriting and perverting history.

It is not something new - o­ne would be able recall the flooding of anti-communist literature from the US during the Cold War in Southeast Asia which made its way into our libraries and bookstores; or the China's Cultural Revolution which sought to destroy alleged 'bourgeois' culture and recreate a 'proletariat' history.

Even here, for example, 'authoritative' texts o­n the Emergency Years in Malaya, are few, poor, reconstructed and revised testaments of what had actually happened.

However history is not the o­nly thing that will be revised in this instance. Already we have seen how international laws and norms have been discarded or rewritten by the Anglo-American forces so that they can lay siege o­n Iraq, and possibly Syria, North Korea etc. Concepts and perceptions of what 'democracy' and 'freedom' mean will now come with a Yankee flavour and its seal of approval.

A terrible by-product

For the millions glued to the televised war, 'democracy' and freedom has now been perverted to connote some if not all of the following: death and destruction; foreign powers o­n sovereign soil; unelected and unknown 'leaders' flown in to rule the country; looters o­n the streets; weakening public security and the rule of law; so o­n and so forth. US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld even had the cheek to say that freedom is untidy and "(F) ree people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes."

Who in their right mind would take liberty and democracy seriously if it means a loss of public security? Who would allow their capital cities to be sacked by invading forces? If democracy can o­nly come in the most horrific and violent means, then tyrants and authoritarian regimes still running many parts of the world will be quick to point this out as yet another terrible by-product.

After all, how many times have we heard the same tune here, of foreigners jealous of our success and wanting to control our country through 'human rights' and 'democracy'? The impact of this second Iraq war for those who struggle for human dignity and civil liberties is devastating and o­ne will forever be reminded of this ad nauseum while our rights and liberties whittle away.

Museums and national libraries were o­nce somewhat sacred sites where memories and bitter-sweet reminders of our extreme past reside. We are supposed to learn from history so as to not repeat the same mistakes over and over again, but it has never been the case.

So it begins, Year Zero in Iraq. Our collective history of mankind and civilisation lies in dust and dwells o­nly in our imagination. Just like the recreation of Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt will never come close to what it was 2,000 years ago, the reconstruction of Bagdad's museum and library will never be able to recover a monumental legacy and heritage that is now being erased from public memory.

ELIZABETH WONG is a human rights activist and a Fellow of the Carnegie Council for Ethics and International Relations 2002-2003.