The L.A. Times had another story today that reported that antiquities dealers were contacted BEFORE the war started about their interest in backroom Iraq antiquities trading. Indicated that 2000 antiquities were reported looted in the FIRST Gulf War, and only 2 recovered. Implied that most things were sold off before this war started.
Same paper, different stories.
That museum had only been open for the past six months after having been closed since the Gulf War. That is odd. I am suspicious about that. The past eleven plus years have given them plenty of time to shuffle the artifacts to any European country and I bet the French have received some. This museum was a part of the Saddam regime, therefore, all of its employees are suspect. It has been apparent to me for days that this looting was a cover for a theft that had already taken place.
I have a degree in Art History and love art and antiquities. I know that there is so much politics involved in gathering artifacts and when a regime is as corrupt as Saddam Hussein's there can be no confidance that the artifacts are authentic or were not taken by the regime for its own profit.
Hence, that is why the inventory has also gone missing. And the freepers here who fell for the hoax were so willing to jump to conclusions and blame the U.S. military. They have lost any credibility to me.