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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Neeka who wrote (93086)	4/13/2003 2:20:26 AM
From: KLP	Respond to of 281500

Where is James Bond...He could figure out why and how and who knew what treasures were in the museum, that the real valuables had been taken to the safe, and where the safe was...All the while the museum employees just stood there... hummmmmmmmmmmmmm And IF the US would have wanted to destroy it, they would have. What an outrageous suggestion of some people to suggest the US should have done more. here's a piece of that article...maybe the employees knew more than we think.... Here's a piece of that article...maybe the employees knew more than they are letting on....Also, maybe the journalists who were there could identify the 5 men who came in to "protect" the museum.... PS....If the museum employees were as concerned as they should have been, they would have taken the very valuables OUT of the museum before the war started. They certainly had LOTS of advance warning! Where was/is the Director of the Museum. ???? That should have been his JOB #1.... >>>>>>>>>>>The governments of Russia, Jordan and Greece also voiced deep concern about the looting. Jordan urged the United Nations to take steps to protect Iraq's historic sites, a "national treasure for the Iraqi people and an invaluable heritage for the Arab and Islamic worlds." Some blamed the U.S. military, though coalition forces say they have taken great pains to avoid damage to cultural and historical sites. A museum employee, reduced to tears after coming to the museum Saturday and finding her office and all administrative offices trashed by looters, said: "It is all the fault of the Americans. This is Iraq's civilization. And it's all gone now." She refused to give her name. McGuire Gibson, a University of Chicago professor and president of the American Association for Research in Baghdad, was infuriated. He said he had been in frequent and frantic touch with U.S. military officials since Wednesday, imploring them to send troops "in there and protect that building." The Americans could have prevented the looting, agreed Patty Gerstenblith, a professor at DePaul School of Law in Chicago who helped circulate a petition before the war, urging that care be taken to protect Iraqi antiquities. "It was completely inexcusable and avoidable," she said. The museum itself was battered. Its marble staircase was chipped, likely by looters using pushcarts or heavy slabs of wood to carry booty down from the second floor. The museum is in the Al-Salhiya neighborhood of Baghdad, with its back to a poor neighborhood. Early Saturday, five armed men showed up at the gate: One was armed with a Kalashnikov, three carried pistols, one wielded an iron bar. The man with the assault rifle walked into the museum, accused journalists there of stealing artifacts and ordered them to leave. He claimed to be there to protect the museum from plundering. One of the men said he was a member of the feared Fedayeen Saddam militia. "You think Saddam is now gone, so you can do what you like," he raged. <<<<<<<<

To: Neeka who wrote (93086)	4/13/2003 9:35:23 AM
From: Nadine Carroll	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Oh heck Dennis, Saddam and his group probably made off with the most important antiques years ago for displays in their palaces. I'm sure there was a lot of stuff left in the Museum, even after Saddam and his cronies made free with it. The Marines really should have secured the damn museum. Who expects looters to distinguish between the museum and other government offices, particularly when Saddam didn't even bother to keep the museum open?

To: Neeka who wrote (93086)	4/13/2003 9:58:20 AM
From: BubbaFred	Respond to of 281500

Not much of any value for today's and future generations. Nothing at all. They are reminders of past tyrants. Onward and forward to the future and to the 21st century and beyond, to the American and western world society and humanity. What could be better than to discard all past despots and tyrants that made their marks in history. Here is one instance where the people want to erase their centuries of abominable tyrranical past and look toward to the future of unilaterism and anarchy.