WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon is sending another deck of playing cards to troops in Iraq, this time
showing some of the country's most precious archeological sites instead of the most-wanted people. Some
40,000 new decks of playing cards will be sent to troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Laurie Rush, an archeologist at Fort Drum in New York, says it's part of an awareness program to encourage
troops to help preserve the heritage of those countries. It's aimed at making troops aware they shouldn't pick
up and bring home artifacts and also to avoid causing damage to sites. In one incident after the 2003 invasion
of Iraq, U.S. troops built a helicopter pad on the ruins of Babylon and filled their sandbags with archeological
fragments from the ancient city.
Each card in the deck shows an artifact or site or gives a tip on how to help preserve antiquities.
"Drive around, not over, archeological sites," says the five of clubs."This site has survived 17
centuries. Will it and others survive you?" asks the seven of clubs, which pictures Ctesiphon Arch in Iraq.
The majority of cards are about Iraq, but some shows sites in Afghanistan. The king of diamonds shows
Buddha statuary at Hadda. In another program, U.S. pilots have received training in recognizing and identifying
ruins, cemeteries and other sites so they don't accidentally bomb them. In another, soldiers are simulating
incidents such as practising what they would do if they were taking hostile fire from within an archeological ruin.
"Obviously we have to put our soldiers safety first," Rush said. But they would consider whether there might be
a way to return fire without harming the site. The military sent a 55-card deck to troops Iraq in 2003 with
pictures and information about the most-wanted former senior government officials, distributing them to
thousands of U.S. troops in the field to help them recognize and find the officials.
The Archaeological Institute of America reported on the program in the July-August issue of its magazine.
