Antiquities or children: Hugh Hewitt rips on Robert Scheer for contrived hysteria over looting

WorldNetDaily.com ^ | Wednesday, April 16, 2003 | Hugh Hewitt

[Lauratealeaf]

I just cannot imagine Saddam leaving priceless art in a public place-anything of value was probably in his Palaces or sold off, for his own enrichment.Mark Rich was known to broker shady deals in the Mideast, wonder if he dabbled in art?

That is a very interesting question. We know from the reports of the troops who have seen the palaces that Saddam and sons had worse taste than Sanford and Son so it is doubtful that the Husseins would have had any sentimental regard for anything truly historic. Therefore, the money trail (if any) is what should be followed.

[RonDog]

Robert Scheer didn't have a problem with mayhem and looting in Los Angeles in 1992.

LOL! What happened in L.A. was an "uprising" - remember? < /sarcasm >

[lonewacko_dot_com]

OK, OK, I admit my error. There were never any antiquities, ancient manuscripts, or secret police files available to be saved. Everything about the war was done 100% correctly, and any critical discussion of our effort is a Scheer/Fisk plot.

[AnAmericanMother]

Precisely. My undergrad degree was in history but I had a minor concentration in Classical Archaeology. My take on this is exactly the same as yours.

The key was when it was reported that (1) the vaults were opened (not broken into) and (2) the museum's records were missing.

The antiquities world (even the collectors, but especially the museums) lives and dies on provenance.

It looks to me like this was not just an inside job - it was the proverbial fire to cover up the burglary. The corrupt regime had probably been selling these items ever since Gulf War I and replacing them with fakes or not replacing them at all. Sold with fake provenances certified by an employee of the museum. When they realized the chickens were about to come home to roost, they destroyed the records so that there won't be two provenances on the same object and the artifacts already in collectors' and museums' hands won't be exposed as stolen.

[Utah Girl]

Ping

[Lauratealeaf]

It looks to me like this was not just an inside job - it was the proverbial fire to cover up the burglary. The corrupt regime had probably been selling these items ever since Gulf War I and replacing them with fakes or not replacing them at all. Sold with fake provenances certified by an employee of the museum. When they realized the chickens were about to come home to roost, they destroyed the records so that there won't be two provenances on the same object and the artifacts already in collectors' and museums' hands won't be exposed as stolen.

This theory makes much more sense when you consider that the initial report claimed that 170,000 artifacts disappeared within two days. That defies common sense.

[AnAmericanMother]

People don't understand just how big a number 170,000 IS.

Take a professional football field, 300 feet by 160 feet. Divide it up into 1-foot squares, and place an artifact in each one.

You would fill up THREE entire football fields (144,000 square feet) and almost fill half of a fourth one, to get to 170,000.

And that was carried off in a day or two. Yeah right.

This story is like Topsy - "Somebody ain't tellin' all they knows."

[Billthedrill]

I'm not sure, with respect, that the ease with which Fisk claims to have run through the streets of Baghdad on occupation day is any reliable indication that these were safe. In fact, they were not. A whole bunch of people were shot on those streets, that day and since, and not a few were ours.

But it isn't really germane. What is germane is the strange belief that we were somehow obligated to shift our efforts in the middle of a shooting war to turning combat troops into museum guards. I'm sorry, I love ancient history, but that simply strikes me as a very unrealistic demand.

[stands2reason]

Damn, if the L. A. Times is reporting this, it's gotta be true...I'm serious here---this makes Bush look good, and they would hardly lie to make Bush look good....

[stands2reason]

That museum had only been open for the past six months after having been closed since the Gulf War.

I did not know that. That is rather strange--opening "just in time" for war...that plus the looting in GWI (when we weren't even in Baghdad) makes that museum smell worse than five-day-old menudo....

[stands2reason]

But why do you suppose the Iraqis burned their own library? Weird, huh?

I'm guessing it is easier to "burn" books and mss. than to "loot" them. I have a feeling the valuable items are already safely on their way to their new owners.

[stands2reason]

Are you an antiques dealer, or do you have a degree in art history? You seem to be very sure that those pieces in the museums were authentic...I've read many links to articles stating that people in the know, dealers, etc, did not trust Saddam's government museum's collection to be completely authentic. Also they did not trust those chosen by Saddam to run the museum.

But let's just say, fr'instance, that everything was authentic. The curators trustworthy, the artifacts the real deal. Why would they choose to reopen the museum when they knew that war was imminent, six months ago? Also, why where 4000 antiquities stolen during the first Gulf War, when there was no "Battle of Baghdad"? If you have more information, I'd like to hear it. But the points that Lauratealeaf makes are quite compelling.

[Poincare]

It is, or should be, fairly well known that Saddam destroyed the ancient Assyrian architectural treasures and used the stones to build his palaces. Also he grabbed and melted down as much gold as he could using the war with Iran as a premise, but actually keeping most of it, having it recast for his family.

[lonewacko_dot_com]

"Why would they choose to reopen the museum when they knew that war was imminent, six months ago?"

Who cares? Let's say we know that Baathists are going to shoot a group of civilians, and that we might be able to stop it. Does the fact that some group of Iraqis are going to shoot another group of Iraqis somehow absolve us from not getting involved? It's the Iraqis doing the shooting, not us, right?

So, knowing everything that the war planners knew, there was probably someone there who knew that looting of not just antiquities but also intelligence information would take place. If we didn't guard these buildings because it would have been too dangerous, that's one thing. However, if we didn't guard the buildings because we didn't think about it or didn't care, that's another thing entirely.

[Victoria Delsoul]

The left is defeated and its American members know it. And they are bitter. And increasingly alone.

I couldn't agree more.

[rhema]

Iraq Museum looting called a planned theft: Mob got office furniture; artifacts stolen by knowledgeable thieves