Looters are criminals. Period...I witnessed them first-hand in the Rodney King Riots in LA....
I remember those riots - I was only 12-13 at the time, it actually scared me even at that young age at how quickly society can disintegrate, I believe that no excessive use of police force (in reference to the terrible thing that happened to Rodney King), hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes etc. - none of them can bring a civilization down, the destruction of Pompeii did not bring down Rome (it lasted another 400 years in fact), it is the crumbling social structures from within a society that can do that - seeing what I saw on TV all week, Western Civilization has only a few decades to go....
Sorry for getting a bit heavy there, ladies!!