I seriously doubt if it's the Marines' fault. I was hoping that someone would bring it up, but I did not think it would be you.
I did some thinking last night about the theft of the artifacts from the Baghdad Museum. I checked the news services this morning for any information, but it is sketchy. I saw images on television last night of what appeared to be the main floor of the museum.
I'd like to address your assertion that Marines "ignored" the "destruction" from "a hundred yards away". I have no way of verifying if there were Marines in the area, and if there were, how far they were, but here's what I can deduce:
The images I saw of the museum after the theft tell me that everything of value was taken. Nothing was left behind. I assume that an inspection was done of the entire museum, and that the entire museum was empty. The Baghdad Museum contained literally tons of stuff. Although I have no way of saying how much, I would assume that there was enough stuff in the museum to fill several very large trucks.
The antiquities are of value to a very small number of people. They are stolen, and they are all cataloged and famous, so any buyer (final destination buyer) would have to be a wealthy criminal that had a personal interest in such material.
Any such buyers would, by definition, be aware of the potential for stealing the antiquities as soon as the United States announced the probability of an armed action in Iraq. Let's call this buyer or group of buyers the "Bad Dog".
Here is what I think happened: the Bad Dog realizes that there is a reasonable potential for a perfect crime. If he can arrange to have some professional thieves time the theft correctly, the thieves could probably get into the museum, steal everything, and get out, without getting caught. Arranging that would require two things: the perfect moment, and as much assurance as possible that the theft would not be seen or interrupted by anyone with weapons. If the theft occurred before the coalition had gained some control over Baghdad, the thieves would likely be caught by the regime. If the theft occurred after the coalition took control of the entire city, the coalition would be in control of the museum and the theft would be very difficult.
The only sensible time to pull it off would be just when or just after the regime had moved out, and before the coalition had moved in. This fits with what actually happened.
Now, as to who exactly entered the museum and took the material: the Bad Dog would want to cover his ass as well as he could. He would not want any guns going off anywhere near the museum while the material was being taken. He would want as few civilian witnesses as possible.
If the Bad Dog contacted someone in the regime with an offer of cash, at the right time, both problems would be solved at the same time. The regime falls, and the regime leaders need to get out of Dodge. Someone high in the regime would collect cash, which could then be used to get out of Iraq, and that regime official could then arrange for a small group of (paid) armed underlings to keep a lookout while the actual theft was taking place. This same small group of lookouts could even arrange a diversion, so in the event there were any coalition forces in the immediate area, they would be totally occupied and their attention would be taken off the museum.
The best time would probably have been after midnight, when the locals were asleep, probably on the night before all the regime leaders suddenly disappeared. It would have taken a couple of hours, three or four trucks, and not a large group of professional and experienced thieves. The Bad Dog gives the cash to the regime leader, he distributes some of it to the lookouts and the thieves, and the contents of the museum is moved to some prearranged place and then out of Iraq.
What happens to the stolen material? If it appears on the black market, it can be traced, so that's not an option. It's possible that some of the less valuable stuff will appear, but I believe that would only be diversionary. The really valuable stuff stays in private hands, and perhaps gets distributed amongst a small group of interested collectors.
This small group of interested and wealthy collectors would have to be known to museum officials and/or employees all over the world. This is a very small number of people. Just as in the art world in general, I suspect there is a "sub-culture" of nefarious art buyers that know who each other are. The only way these artifacts will ever see the light of day is if a corrupt museum official or employee has a change of heart and blows the whistle on the thieves and/or the Bad Dog.
As to your assertion that the United States Marines were somehow responsible, I can only say this: it appears that nobody in the media has bothered to note that the museum did not get hit by bombs in the first place. It could be assumed therefore that the coalition did not see the Baghdad Museum as a target or potential target...and in fact it was not, there were no arms stored there.
If it were known beforehand by the regime that the museum was not targeted (which I assume is true, since the regime stored weapons in schools, mosques, and other civilian buildings) then I find it telling that there were no weapons at the museum. That fact suggests the possibility that although the regime knew the museum was not a target, it did not want any weapons stored there. I doubt if it was because the regime thought the weapons might blow up and destroy the art works. I think it is more possible that someone in the regime had a prearranged plan to sell the artifacts to the Bad Dog in the event he (the regime official) had to get out of town in a hurry. If the coalition fails to take Baghdad, no problem, if the coalition takes over, the regime official gets his cash and the Bad Dog gets away with the perfect crime. The coalition is busy shooting at hostiles for three or four hours one night, and nobody is the wiser. It could be a Hollywood movie.
I believe the theft occurred between midnight and dawn on the night before the Minister of Disinformation failed to show up at the Palestine Hotel. I believe that the antiquities were out of the country in less than 48 hours, and my guess as to the thieves is a combination of Fedayeen and Russian mafia...but that's just a guess. I have no idea who the Bad Dog is, because I have absolutely no expertise in the area of stolen artworks.
Make sense to you? |
