Posted on 04/18/2003 2:10:35 AM PDT by wideminded
A petty and fatal decision, no? Entirely the Iraqis' and far beyond the reasonably expected ken and reach of the military planners.
Imagine archeologists being criticized for overlooking a detail in the complex plan for an enormous military campaign!
It also borders on an asinine postulate.
The Dead Sea Scrolls are arguably no more important (in the larger scheme of things) and much more recent, and yet , in that instance, among the first tasks undertaken was the recording and storing in several diferent places throughout the world the raw material before any translation was undertaken.
Folks are STILL mourning the loss of the library of Alexandria. No matter who can be blamed, it's a great loss.
Possible culprits:Stupid people who have no regard for their own history, or theives who would profit by selling to wealthy private collectors who would hoard such treasures!
Still think that Saddam's henchman may have gotten much of the stuff long ago while the museum was closed and traded it for palaces, pools, wine, sex, gold, cars, Arabian horses, private zoos,bulging bank accounts, Oh Yeah...and weapons!
Lots and lots of weapons.
I don't see why this argument doesn't apply equally well to the Liberty Bell, the Declaration of Independence, or any other remains of our history. Or will they simply become failures when the U.S. falls, as it eventually will?
These part of the culture that didn't survive, these failed parts of that culture, although they satify the intellectual curiosity of people like you, are worth nothing in any practical sense.
Horse$4!#. Those antiquities were worth real money. But beyond rude lucre, there are few intellectual pursuits that are as practically valuable as the study of history.
This is one of the things that bugs me most about this debate. Freepers think that the primary issue here is not the wholesale destruction of OUR history, but the fact that the U.S. is being blamed for it. They say, "see, I told you it wasn't our fault," as if that settled the matter as being no tragedy at all.
Please show me one post I've made where I've said that the U.S. is primarily to blame for what happened. All of my posts have been to take exception with the many Freepers who have dismissed this atrocity as inconsequential. Some have even celebrated it. (Throughout all of this, too many Freepers have seemed bound and determined to live down to the canonical DU strawman of the hateful, xenophobic, uncultured, ignorant Freeper.)
And just because Iraqis are entirely to blame for putting the items at risk as well as for the looting, it doesn't mean that the U.S. doesn't deserve some criticism. If a building with no sprinklers burns down, and an arsonist is to blame, it doesn't mean that the fire department shouldn't be criticized for not showing up to put it out.
Nor do I . . . and I apologize if my posting implied as much. I was talking to the writer of the article. I'm sorry if I didn't make myself clear.
I guess insults are the last arrows in your quiver.
Well good grief!! You missed some of the best ones. Although I do see they're on reruns now and the first two seasons are out on DVD
As for the museum, I have to say I have no opinion at all. Personally, I think a lot of it was done before just recently. And as much as I love to read about history thousands of years ago and do care about historical artifacts, I do agree there's more going on that needs attention than just a ransacked museum
Nor do I . . . and I apologize if my posting implied as much.
No problem. I didn't take your comments personally and I knew you were just joking about the nitroglycerin. I was just trying to understand how my seemingly mild comments earlier had generated so much emotion and increased blood pressure in some other posters. If I really had been a leftist someone would have had a stroke.
Actually, LOL, I wasn't kidding about the nitro.
I don't think "your comments" are what generated the frustration. It's that the leftist media adamantly refuses to acknowledge that we -- GW's Administration and our warriors and those of us who support both -- are capable of doing GOOD DEEDS that has many, many conservatives upset. If there is A HUNDRED "good news" stories and one "supposed" bad news story to write about, you can bet Peter Jennings et al and The New York Slimes will devote their entire programs or newspapers to the bad story -- even when it's not based on fact. Then, when it's proven the bad news either wasn't our fault or wasn't as bad as they predicted, they never correct their original reports or stories.
It's the never-ending, liberal, blame-America yesterday, today, and forever-more jackasses that has us pissed off. For example, this museum looting business. Museum administrators admit they knew how to SECURE the artifacts with 24-hour notice. They either didn't or did and we're not hearing about it. Then there's stories that the looting wasn't as bad as the liberals screamed that it was. Then that So-Damn Insane and his henchmen looted the museum long ago and replaced the "priceless" items with copies. Then that the looting was organized and financed by "foreign" suspects. Then . . . See what I mean? There's a thousand follow-up stories that should be given the same level of attention as the original "cry me a river of tears" stories BUT THEY NEVER WILL BECAUSE THEY DON'T CONFORM TO THE LIBERAL AGENDA!!!!
THAT is why we're upset.
Well, let's see what you meant by it.
I said that preserving the Declaration was important. Only an imbecile would take that to mean that I value the sheet of paper more than the liberties that were claimed by it, but that's what you meant when you said "I guess you feel differently". Since you are evidently not profoundly retarded, you must have intended it as a deliberate mischaracterization of my position, either to anger me or to demonize me in the eyes of others. In other words, it was simply an insult.
No charge for the training. :-)
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