False choice. I haven't yet heard one person suggest that Iraq should not have been liberated because of the risk to the antiquities, just that the antiquities should have been protected in the process.
The cuneiform texts are valuable because people are valuable. They represent the last remaining testament of three or four great, lost civilizations: the last voice of millions upon millions of people. Is that not worth a small amount of effort and risk?
We are all discussing the open barn door long after the metaphorical horse has left.
So it is perfectly appropriate to point out that microfilming or photographing the material requires a trivial amount of effort and zero risk.
Why would anyone stare at the spilt milk and wring their hands at anything more complicated?