More plunder and loot. A week ago or so ago, as I was following the reports on the destruction and pillaging of Iraqi antiquities, I concluded that it would be a while before we had any solid information from which to draw conclusions on crime and culpability here. More reports are coming out, but facts are still sketchy and it remains to be seen what's rumor and what's real. I'm impressed by various* experts I've come across, who from early days had very strong opinions about who was and was not negligent, based, I assume, on expertise in logistics and superior insider information on what was and was not goin' down in Baghdad at the time of the looting. (I mock, but I have to admit that I put my toe the merest smidgen of a tad over the line in somebody else's comments last week. I quickly thought better of it, but my speculating beyond the evidence, alas, remains enpixelated. No, I won't tell you where.)

At any rate, the always informative Cronaca has several posts on the issue, with lots of links and updates, and no doubt more to come.

*Link not in ref to Andrew's post, of course, but one or two of the earnest commentadores. (Worth reading, because it's the only way to get to a classic poorman-ism on the subject of not dissing pots.)

UPDATE: Jim Miller blogged on this yesterday.

UPDATE II: And the observations of Colby Cosh are worth your perusal. I should re-edit my original post to avoid the appearance of ignorant bozosity; he correctly points out that we are talking about Mesopotamian, not Iraqi artifacts. (Unless you're counting those priceless portraits of Sadaam rescued at the Jordanian border.)

UPDATE III: Thomas Nephew has a very good, extensive post on the subject here.

Posted by Moira Breen at April 21, 2003 09:44 AM