A Baghdad triptych. Reclaiming Iraq's past: life on the front lines.

814 When the Bush Administration was preparing to invade Iraq in March 2003, many archaeologists had a personal stake in trying to avert the conflict. They feared for the safety of their Iraqi colleagues and worried about the impact of modern warfare on the innumerable ancient sites that dot Mesopotamia’s landscape. The subsequent looting 1 year ago of cultural institutions such as the Iraq Museum and the continuing pillage of sites around the country confirmed their worst fears. Profoundly shocked, many scholars who study this region denounced the U.S.-led coalition forces for failing to control the looters. But after Saddam Hussein was toppled, archaeologists had to decide whether to make common cause with the very coalition forces they had criticized. Three researchers, including two U.S. archaeologists and one raised in Iraq but living in London, chose to plunge into the maelstrom of occupied Iraq. Each was skeptical about the rationale for the war, though all were critical of Saddam’s repressive regime. Now, with the aid of U.S. government funds, they are playing pivotal roles in rebuilding Iraq’s damaged universities and museums and are reconnecting their near-destitute colleagues with the international scientific community. It is no simple task. Going to work requires an armed guard, and their nights are punctuated by gunfire. But the three are betting that their efforts will benefit the next generation of Iraqi and foreign scholars.