I heard a report on the radio that this museum had been closed for a couple of years. Ordinary Iraqis were not allowed to go in it. Does anyone know for sure?
I also heard that the employees of the museum had done the looting themselves.
I'm not sure what some half-starved Shiites are going to do with a bunch of artifacts. The only people who'd bother are those with connections to black market for these sort of items.