It was entirely predictable that when the news of the looting of the National Museum of Iraq broke, the usual idiots would start making excuses for the coalition’s inaction. Let’s take a look at them.
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“The liberation of 24 million people is more important than guarding some pottery.“
It isn’t an either/or question. This socalled “liberation” does not require the destruction of musea. -
“It was a choice between guarding the museum and guarding the hospitals.“
They didn’t guard the hospitals either. Nor was Iraq’s main nuclear site. -
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There weren’t enough soldiers to stop the plundering, they were needed to deal with the last strongholds.
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But there were enough to guard the ministry of oil, the ministry of interior and irrigation. -
“We didn’t know this would happen.“
Au contraire. There were plenty of warnings. Even if there hadn’t been any warnings, anybody with half a brain should’ve realised that looting would followed the fall of Saddam’s regime, as surely as night follows day and planned for it. -
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Why aren’t you condemming the looters? It’s not the coalition’s fault they started plundering!
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The British encouraged looting
in Bashra. Neither they nor the Americans did anything to stop the looting before it was far too
late, even though they were begged to do so. Under the terms of the Geneva Convention, as Robert Fisk
points out, the coalition has the explicit responsibility to maintain order and prevent pillage. In other words, it is the coalition’s fault this happened. There’s no need to condemn the looters themselves, because all sane persons already agree that looting is bad. (Instapundit, on the other hand…) -
“Why aren’t you condemming Saddam?” Etc.
Perhaps because Bagdhad is under control of coalition force and the Ba’ath regime has been overthrown? -
“A bit of plundering is harmless, it shows that Saddam no longer is in charge.“
Actually, no. Plundering just means other bastards with guns are stealing the wealth of Iraq.
If you are looking for what archeological finds were lost in this war, an attempt at a comprehensive
survey is available here. It doesn’t
make for pleasant reading.