More than 4,000 years old and already considered one of the world's Seven Wonders during antiquity, Babylon lies 90 kilometers south of Baghdad. Soon after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, the site became military "Camp Alpha." The UNESCO report presented Thursday says American troops and contractors dug trenches several hundred yards long through the vestiges, leveled hilltops and drove heavy vehicles over the fragile paving of once-sacred procession pathways.
- Alan A. Lew