[wideminded]

I think it is generally acknowledged that The Washington Times is a conservative paper. Don't know if they are still owned by the Moonies.

[wideminded]

ping

[verity]

said an angry ORHA official, one of several who spoke to The Times on the condition of anonymity.

Typical REMF.

[kabar]

It is one thing to have an objective, but you also must have the capability to achieve it. Wihout knowing the exact timeline, I would suspect that our primary mission was to eliminate the hostile forces defending Baghdad. Once that is basically achieved, then you can move on to specific objectives. This story won't die because there is a political agenda behind it.

[kellynla]

Been kinda busy here but has anyone asked the question, "how do we know there were any artifacts in the museum to begin with." How do we know that Saddam Huseein didn't replace everything with fakes? hmmmmmmmmmmmmm This whole story about the museum has gotten very, very tired. Since when are people more interested in stuff than lives? How many lives did we save this day, week, month? Semper Fi

[DCPatriot]

Does the movie "3 Kings" mean anything around here?

That was the film starring George "Looney" Clooney, Mark Walhburg, and Iced Tea about American soldiers that raided the treasures of a Middle Eastern dictator.

Don't be fooled. Those treasures were not looted by Iraqi citizens, but probably by Museum staff.

[WellsFargo94]

These people that are upset about the "treasures" need to put things in perspective. Many Iraqi and American lives have been spared as a result of great planning and terrific execution of this war. Get over it already!

[latrans]

Did we not plan for the possibility that Saddam himself would loot this museum? Would he do that?

[RottiBiz]

It makes me very angry every time I hear the lefties moaning about how our troops didn't stop the looting; yet, no one, not even the interviewers, ever mentions this:

Marine killed: Despite the cries for a return to normalcy, an Army unit reported a sharp clash with Iraqi irregulars in the western part of Baghdad, in which officers said about 20 Iraqi militiamen were killed and no U.S. soldiers were lost. But a Marine guarding a hospital on the eastern side of the Tigris River was shot and killed when two Syrian men posing as gardeners sneaked up, pulled a concealed gun and opened fire at point-blank range.

From the "Wall Street Journal Sunday" 4/13/03. I can't post the URL because it is no longer working, but you can find the article at Google with "marine killed hospital looting."

I had heard it first reported on Fox News and went to Google for verification.

My heart is breaking for the Marine who was killed while guarding the hospital and for his family.

[mewzilla]

...told to guard treasures...

Guess human life doen't count...

[Redwood71]

"The Pentagon's Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA), led by retired Lt. Gen. Jay Garner, sent the five-page memo to senior commanders at the Coalition Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC)."

""We asked for just a few soldiers at each building, or if they feared snipers, then just one or two tanks," said an angry ORHA official, one of several who spoke to The Times on the condition of anonymity."
_________________________________________________________

When did this office suddenly gain control over central command. But I guess it would stand to reason that it is obviously wise to station "a few soldiers" at areas where they could easily be picked off by snipers, that are still in existance to this day and use hit and run tactics, to protect artifacts. And it will be easy to go out back to the tank tree and pick 32 of them off so they can guard the museums. It must be the soldier's duty to give up his/her life for country and a Van Gogh.

And isn't it always the way that someone had to open their mouth but require not to be identified. Perhaps he/she should go over there and guard these "treasures" and when they are shipped back in the body bag, we won't put their name on it.

[VOA]

"We asked for just a few soldiers at each building, or if they feared snipers,
then just one or two tanks," said an angry ORHA official, one of several
who spoke to The Times on the condition of anonymity.

I got to watch three antiquities poobahs on McLaughlin's "One-On-One" show
weep and gnash their teeth about the museum looting event.

As bummed as I feel about the loss of some of the items, it was interesting to
hear a few factoids slip from these folks...
...as in, there was a looting of items during the 1990-1991 Gulf War I time period.

And that most of the items had probably been removed from the museum prior to
the start of bombing about a month ago...and items were probably looted mostly from
these sites that no Coalition soldier could have hoped to locate except by accident.

AND THE COLLECTION THAT WAS LOOTED...was never extensively cataloged...
so we really don't know what percentage or how many specific items the museum
possessed...or were lost by looting/theft.

Also, a LOT of sites in Iraq have yet to be fully excavated, so Iraq may yet have
MANY more great finds available...to restock their shelves.

When one of these weeping antiquities experts produces a verifiable letter that they
sent to the Pentagon (or UK/Australian) military authorities BEGGING to
be embedded with troops in order to assist in the safeguarding of antiquities...
then I'll take these tenured folks seriously.