[MrsEmmaPeel]

The british deserve credit for their discoveries and maintaining these treasures for the world.

Ha! Do you know how those precious marbles got to England in thge first place? They were hacked up to fit inside the crates... Then 23 crates sunk to the bottom of the sea where they remained for 2 years, while for 16 years the entire lot of them were sitting on the grounds in a damp north english climate while Lord Elgin is trying to haggle a price. Then after they were "sold" (note committee of 1816 recognized that they were stolen property), they had to be subjected to an acid bath... etc etc ...

If the Brits just left the marbles alone they would have been in a far better shape today.

So your argument is thievery justifies anything - even the myth of "protection".

[RightWhale]

If the Brits just left the marbles alone they would have been in a far better shape today.

They would be etched smooth by now.

[Cronos]

So your argument is thievery justifies anything - even the myth of "protection".

Nope, my argument is that if the Brits can be placated, they might be in a better mood to return the 'ahem' stolen property to their reightful owners. However, the problem with that is that the brits would have a heck of a lot to return to the countries they stole stuff from: Egypt, Greece, the Middle East, India, S. Africa etc. etc. etc.