# Fifty Centuries of Human History... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 15, 2003, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifty-centuries-of-human-history/168771 "2003-04-15T00:43:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifty-centuries-of-human-history/168771/201 "2003-04-17T02:17:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Claptree \* > \*\*Actually, the museum opened to the public again in April 2000, after having been closed in 1991. Just a nitpick. \*\* You are correct, my mistake. The museum re-opened on April 28, 2000 (Saddam’s birthday). Many of the news articles reporting the looting fail to mention the “re-opened” part. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifty-centuries-of-human-history/168771/202 "2003-04-17T06:47:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ataraxy22 \* > \*\*What is the purpose of humanity if not to create things of beauty, of art, to project our frail mortality into the future by our proud creations? Surely the purpose of human life is beyond the consume, procreate, excrete existence of lower lifeforms on this planet. \*\* This was the concept that I was defending but couldn’t quite verbalize until ataraxy brought it up. We are mortal human beings. When we leave a painting, or a sculpture, or a scroll of papyrus behind us, we are leaving a piece of ourselves out for the ages. Humans, who live a fragile, mortal existance, can in a way defeat death by leaving some beauty of their own creation for the future to enjoy. Maybe I’m sounding too serious to some of you, but I think that destroying our own past is a crime against humanity. ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifty-centuries-of-human-history/168771/203 "2003-04-17T15:52:09Z")
> [@](#): > > That said, this is certainly an argument against the repatriation of cultural treasures to the Third World. If the British had swiped those items for the British Museum back in the day, they would not have been vulnerable to destruction by the vulgar mob. I can’t believe this gem by our friend \*\* Gobear \*\* has remained unanswered for the last 11 pages. Perhaps because I am from the third world I will answer it without caring of sparing our big furry as… I mean Bear friend. In short. FUCK YOU. Not 60 years ago the most horrendous crimes against our heritage were comitted in the first world. Soaring cathedrals, invaluable paintings, precious statues and priceless books (That have managed to survive WWI) were destroyed. Russians, Germans, English, Canadians and Americans stole many objects that have managed to survive the conflict. I can guarantee you that if in the future authority collapses in London or Paris, scenes like that will be seen in those capitals. Moreover the looters in Irak were following the ancient tradition of the British Museums. For example, the acropolis frescos that you can visit in London were stolen by an English ambassador last century. Finally, I can assure you that all mobs are vulgar. The iraki mob is no worst that argentinian football fans, than american rednecks watching indie and I can assure you that they are better than english hooligans. More than that, all those mobs, don’t even have the excuse of “recent liberation” (to borrow the lines of a great modern philosopher) to justify their behaviour. In the future please take your head out of your ass before typing, in that way you will have better arguments. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifty-centuries-of-human-history/168771/204 "2003-04-17T15:57:48Z")
Before anyone says something like “Hey you know your rant would better if you actually knew what is a fresco” let me assure you I used that word because of a lack of a better one. Unfortunatlely my vocabulary isn’t very good in technical stuff and a common dictionary can’t help me. ---
**Author:** ![Orual](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orual](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orual)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifty-centuries-of-human-history/168771/205 "2003-04-17T16:00:49Z")
**Estilicon** , the word you want is “frieze”. That’s what was stolen from the Acropolis. Just FYI. ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifty-centuries-of-human-history/168771/206 "2003-04-17T16:08:34Z")
Arisu, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifty-centuries-of-human-history/168771/207 "2003-04-17T17:49:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Protesilaus \* > \*\*Of course, when you’re talking about 5000 year old tablets, there’s the real possibility that we haven’t “got another one.” (Sadly, the Mesopotamians had the misfortune of living in the period of time before Xerox was founded.) \*\* Actually, I was (unclearly) directing my smart-ass remark to people who were talking about the U.S. Consititution as a document worth dying for. Sure, the _ideas_ may be worth dying for, but the original physical copy is a mere historical artifact and has only minor objective value. The guy presenting it to the original constitutional convention may as well have been reading off 3"x5" index cards; it doesn’t matter. Once the ideas were copied down, promulgated[sup]\*[/sup] and subsequently ratified, the original document became less important. In any event, were protecting the tablets worth killing people? In an otherwise quiet city, a museum gaurd might shoot a thief and that wouldn’t be a problem, but the whole “war zone” thing kinda shift priorities elsewhere. [sup]\*[/sup] I like saying “promulgated” a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Cobalt\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@Cobalt\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cobalt_Blue)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifty-centuries-of-human-history/168771/208 "2003-04-17T18:00:35Z")
(Long-time lurker, new poster, I beg the indulgence of all Dopers) Regarding the lesser importance of artifacts that have been documented and copied: Sometimes copies just won’t do for research. There are analysis techniques that require the original–and historians and archaeologist certainly haven’t learned all there is to know about most artifacts. When some of these items in the museum were first recognized as historically important, we couldn’t have even _conceived_ of the technologies used now to examine them. Think C-14 dating, think x-rays of paintings, think CT scans of unwrapped mummies. Count me in the heartsick-at-the-loss camp. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifty-centuries-of-human-history/168771/209 "2003-04-17T21:32:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cobalt Blue \* > \*\* > Sometimes copies just won’t do for research. There are analysis techniques that require the original–and historians and archaeologist certainly haven’t learned all there is to know about most artifacts. When some of these items in the museum were first recognized as historically important, we couldn’t have even _conceived_ of the technologies used now to examine them. Think C-14 dating, think x-rays of paintings, think CT scans of unwrapped mummies. > > Count me in the heartsick-at-the-loss camp. \*\* In written documents, expecially letters, the emotions of the writer can sometimes be discerned from how deeply the pen impressed upon the paper-- something which is very difficult to document. When it comes to metal artifacts, studying the composition of the material itself often gives valuable information about casting techniques, imputies in the metal (which can lead to point of origin) and other information. Stone and clay artifacts can give similar information, as well as telling scholars much about trade routes, exchange of methods, and where the material came from. Fabric artifacts hold a wealth of information. Weave, dyes, pollen trapped in the cloth, animal fibers (which can sometimes even be analyzed for DNA, or so I’ve heard) which can tell you the breed and species of the particular animal from which it came (and origin), as well as construction patterns also can tell a learned scholar much about the people who made this item. (Once I had the opprotunity to accompany a fabric specialist who studied a few artifacts in our museum. What he could tell us from studying one piece of cloth under a magnifying glass was astounding.) Wear patterns on tools, fingerprints on clay pots, chips on stone, and wood grain patterns can hold a wealth of information which is difficult to document fully. Many musuems have so many artifacts that it is difficult to fully document everything. (Some museums aren’t completely “professional” in their records, either.) Curators are not necessarily experts in every type of artifact in their collection, and unless an outside expert comes in and examines it and shares the information with the staff, often small nuances which make it truly special and extraordinary can be overlooked. I don’t know how deeply these artifacts were studied and documented. Considering the horrifying loss, I hope the records were excellent. Nevertheless, even careful documentation will never quite convey everything about the artifacts. If they weren’t documented extensively, the loss is even more staggering. A picture or brief description just won’t “do.” ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifty-centuries-of-human-history/168771/210 "2003-04-17T21:36:30Z")
Plus, sometimes it isn’t just gold and jewels that are valuable artifacts. When I was working at the Heinz, there was a collection of actual garbage discovered on the site of a new bus station. Glass shards, pottery, etc. From probably 18-19th centuries. There were pieces of mustard bottles, ink wells, lamps, vases, etc. All of it once garbage. But all of it very valuable to museums and historians. ---
**Author:** ![Scruff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Scruff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruff)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifty-centuries-of-human-history/168771/211 "2003-04-17T21:52:38Z")
Well, it seems as though (at least according to the letter of resignation) that some of the stuff had not yet been studied. Fuck. ([Reuters story here](http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=2586937) That’s a disaster, and it seems clear that the US soldiers were not tasked with protecting this museum. To quote from the article: > [@](#): > > “It didn’t have to happen,” Sullivan told Reuters. “In a pre-emptive war that’s the kind of thing you should have planned for.” Sullivan sent his letter of resignation earlier this week. Personally, I view this as a serious loss for the world, unlike some fuckwit back a page or so who talked about whether “Nostalgia” was worth dying for. (Hey fuckwit, “nostalgia” is you and your brother talking about how your Momma used to give you better blowjobs back when she had more teeth. This is not that case.) You know, we can always grow more soldiers. It seems to be something that humans have done successfully for thousands of years. But some of this stuff was literally irreplaceable. Were it my choice, I would have put soldiers in harm’s way to protect these treasures; it is probably worth human life to have saved them. I am appalled that the planning for this short, victorious war did not include such foresight. But I guess Halliburton doesn’t make museums, now does it? _And, for the hard of thinking, my beef here is with the Administration and Pentagon staff who fucked up the planning, not with the “sharp end” soldiers and marines who were on the streets (or in this case, on a different street) fulfilling a different mission._ ---
**Author:** ![Doc\_Nickel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5fc32e/32.png) [@Doc\_Nickel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doc_Nickel)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifty-centuries-of-human-history/168771/212 "2003-04-17T22:44:29Z")
Cut-and-paste from [opinionjournal.com](http://opinionjournal.com) (I don’t have a subscription to [WSJ.com](http://WSJ.com)): > [@](#): > > The Wall Street Journal (link requires [WSJ.com](http://WSJ.com) subscription) reports that the looting at Baghdad’s Iraq National Museum wasn’t as bad as early reports had it: > > Thanks to Iraqi preparations before the war, it seems the worst has been avoided. Donny George, the director-general of restoration at the Iraqi Antiquities Department, Wednesday said his staff had preserved the museum’s most important treasures, including the kings’ graves of Ur and the Assyrian bulls. These objects were hidden in vaults that haven’t been violated by looters. > > “Most of the things were removed. We knew a war was coming, so it was our duty to protect everything,” Mr. George said. “We thought there would be some sort of bombing at the museum. We never thought it could be looted.” > > And why didn’t America stop such looting as did take place? Lt. Col. Eric Schwartz of the U.S. Army’s Third Infantry Division “said he couldn’t move into the museum compound and protect it from looters last week because his soldiers were taking fire from the building–and were determined not to respond.” As it relates to this thread, there’s a couple of things to note here. (Also not that I am _NOT_ saying the looting and destruction was not a tragedy and a crime. Irreplaceable artifacts have still been irrevocably lost, and yes, there was still much we could have learned from them.) Anyway- apparently some vaults were not looted, and some artifacts were protected. That, to me, lends some minor credence to the possibility suggested earlier that professional thieves were in amongst the looters- if certain vaults were broken into but not others, one might assume at least some of the looters knew where to look. Second, and to me, in the context of this thread, more important: _The directors of the museum itself didn’t think the place would be looted._ Potentially bombed, yes, looted, no. If the Iraqui museum personel (is ‘Donny George’ an Iraqui name?) themselves didn’t think the place would be looted, why on earth is it seen as some huge, obvious and glaring oversight that the _US Military commanders in a war zone_ didn’t specifically plan on that and take steps to counteract it or otherwise secure the building? And third, it appears that soldiers _were_ in the area and made an attempt to get to the museum, but _people at the museum itself_ were shooting back. Two things here: Again, the museum was not, in any manner, a military objective. Schwartz would have been wasting manpower and pointlessly risking his troops’ lives in order to take and secure a building they didn’t “need”. Sure, it’s easy to write off Pvt. Smith and just “grow another soldier”, but thankfully, those who hold that sentiment are not military commanders. Second, depending on how determined the resistance from the compound was, “taking” it in order to secure it may well have done as much damage as the looters did. Artillery is somewhat indescriminate when enemy combatants are hiding behind or in the objects you wish to save. A 25mm DU round from a Bradley tends to go through Iraqui thugs and continue on with considerable force to destroy things behind him. Air strikes, as I’m sure you can picture, are somewhat worse. More to the point, all of the above may well have also breached the still-secure vaults as noted above. Yet again- I agree, the loss of the relics is a shame, and efforts should be made to recover anything that may have survived. But the fact of the matter is, it was a shitty tactical situation involving a militarily irrelevant objective in the middle of a war zone. Yes, it would have been nice had the situation turned out differently, but as long as we’re hypothesizing and wishing, it would have been nice had Hussein simply said “oh, sorry, I didn’t know that was wrong to let my kids run a man through a shredder. Let me have a sack of bullion and I’ll go to Argentina and promise never to hurt anyone again.” ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifty-centuries-of-human-history/168771/213 "2003-04-17T23:08:49Z")
It is insteresting to see such rabid fanaticism in the defense of the USA. “My country right or wrong”. It would not be so ridiculous if the defenders were not contradicting the US military themselves who have admitted they were warned repeatedly by some scientific organizations and they made the mistake of failing to heed the advice. The fact is the US army has secured every single building they wanted to secure and the reason they did not secure the Museum and Library is because they overlooked it. They have admitted as much so all those here making up stupid excuses just look like idiots. If the US had wanted to secure those buildings they could have done it with no problem. Some people just have trouble accepting anything other than their conception of what things should be like. In their world the US government is never negligent and never makes mistakes, even if the US government says they did. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifty-centuries-of-human-history/168771/214 "2003-04-17T23:50:03Z")
> [@](#): > > The Wall Street Journal (link requires [WSJ.com](http://WSJ.com) subscription) reports that the looting at Baghdad’s Iraq National Museum wasn’t as bad as early reports had it. I don’t necessarily believe this. The [BBC](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2950307.stm) is reporting that > [@](#): > > Experts estimate that thieves have taken more than 170,000 items from Baghdad’s main museum, with the museum in Mosul in the north undergoing a similar fate. [The Washington Post says:](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42416-2003Apr16.html) > [@](#): > > Citing “the wanton and preventable destruction” of Iraq’s National Museum of Antiquities, the chairman of the President’s Advisory Committee on Cultural Property has submitted his resignation to President Bush. > > Another of the committee’s nine members is also resigning over the issue. > > “While our military forces have displayed extraordinary precision and restraint in deploying arms – and apparently in securing the Oil Ministry and oil fields – they have been nothing short of impotent in failing to attend to the protection of [Iraq’s] cultural heritage,” Martin E. Sullivan wrote in the resignation letter that he sent Monday to the White House. > > \ > > “Officials at UNESCO estimate that about 150,000 items, with a total value in the billions of dollars, [already] have been taken,” Moe wrote. “Losses include 4,000-year-old Sumerian gold jewelry, 5,000-year-old tablets with some of the world’s earliest known writing, and thousands of other objects.” [Reuters](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030412/wl_nm/iraq_baghdad_museum_dc_4) is reporting [quote] Surveying the littered glass wreckage of display cases and pottery shards at the Iraqi National Museum on Saturday, deputy director Nabhal Amin wept and told Reuters: “They have looted or destroyed 170,000 items of antiquity dating back thousands of years…They were worth billions of dollars.” [The Christian Science Monitor](http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0414/p08s02-wome.html) says: > [@](#): > > . As hundreds of looters ran down the halls, stealing or smashing almost 70 percent of the repository’s valuable statues, carvings, and artifacts, Mr. Kadun, a 30-year museum employee, stood helpless at the gates, screaming. > > \ > > Kadun, and one lone guard watched as the thieves pried open the vaults, grabbing gold necklaces and precious stones. When those were gone, they fell upon the magnificent, inscribed carvings. With carts, cars, and blankets, they hauled off the treasures of seven millennia, taking with them the cultural memory of this already traumatized nation. Among the losses: two Babylonian lions, made of baked clay, a 4,000-year-old collection of tablets laying out exercises for schoolchildren, a 5,000-year-old statue of a bearded man holding a vase. This [Guardian](http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,11710,936561,00.html) describes the museum and its lost treasures. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifty-centuries-of-human-history/168771/215 "2003-04-18T00:34:35Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Scruff_ > Personally, I view this as a serious loss for the world, unlike some fuckwit back a page or so who talked about whether “Nostalgia” was worth dying for. (Hey fuckwit, “nostalgia” is you and your brother talking about how your Momma used to give you better blowjobs back when she had more teeth. This is not that case.) Hi. That was me. And leave my mother out of this, you fucking inhuman little piece of shit. “Grow more soldiers” my ass. Grow some fucking deceny, you goddamn animal. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifty-centuries-of-human-history/168771/216 "2003-04-18T02:17:29Z")
Good grief! Thank goodness this thread’s in The Pit! There’s so many asinine comments, assertions, and pipe-dreams here it’s ridiculous. The looters are the ones who looted. The United States military did not cause that at all. Actually, there was a good deal of restraint on the military’s part. Tell me, if y’all don’t mind, exactly how many of the looters were shot? “Posting a few Marines would’ve prevented it.” Bullshit. Pure and utter bullshit. Or are you not aware of the other recent story from Iraq where the US military got fired on from a crowd? Being into Linguistics like I am (it’s my major, after all), I’m appalled at the loss of some of the oldest writings on the planet. To me, writing is the penultimate achievement of the human race. Being into Comparative Religions like I am (it’s my hobby), I’m also appalled at the loss of the oldest copy of the Qu’ran. So, those of y’all who expected the military to protect these sites, I guess y’all have also forgotten the uproar when the US military approached a mosque in Iraq. What do you think would’ve happened if they’d’ve approached the most important book in the Islamic world? Feh. Go ahead. Be stupid: blame America. Be a jackass: blame America. Ignore facts: blame America. Just fucking quit blaming America for every fucking thing that’s going fucking wrong! ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifty-centuries-of-human-history/168771/217 "2003-04-18T02:58:06Z")
I normally choose to lurk here, but something about this topic and Scruff’s post in particular made me want to respond. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Scruff \* > \*\* But some of this stuff was literally irreplaceable. Were it my choice, I would have put soldiers in harm’s way to protect these treasures; it is probably worth human life to have saved them. I am appalled that the planning for this short, victorious war did not include such foresight. > \*\* Why are relics from the past more valuable than human life in the present? Whose life would be bettered if those artifacts had survived? Would they have taken over as parents to the children of the brave soldiers who lost their lives defending them? Would they help rebuild a country shattered after decades of rule by a ruthless, murderous, brutal dicator? No. They would continue to do what they’ve been doing for years - sitting in the ground or behind glass, entertaining for 15 minutes people who have nothing else to do with their Sunday afternoons. You’re a worthless piece of scum if you think forcing a soldier, who volunteered for the Army in order to defend the _ideas_ of democracy and freedom, to give their life in order to protect such artifacts is at all justified. Which is exactly what you wanted the “Administration” to do. Ideas are what survive us, not shards of clay. The Constitution is important because of the ideas it contains, and the contributions that those ideas made to world society. Physically, it’s a yellowing scrap of parchment and some ink. Instead of sitting on your ass whining about this on the 'Net, write to your Congressman. Ask him/her to take measures to guarantee that this won’t happen again. Form a group of volunteers willing to travel to foreign countries and protect priceless artifacts. Donate to an organization that already does so, if one exists. If one doesn’t, create one. But don’t ask the soldiers of the United States, who are in Iraq fighting (ostensibly) to prevent your death in a terrorist attack, to give their lives defending _your_ ideals. I dare you to try it. When you get killed, I’ll make sure to tell _your_ mother that she needs to start growing another son. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifty-centuries-of-human-history/168771/218 "2003-04-18T03:04:12Z")
I meant to say I dare you to “travel to foreign countries and protect priceless artifacts”, not ask soldiers to do it for you. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifty-centuries-of-human-history/168771/219 "2003-04-18T10:31:45Z")
I think Uday probably pre-looted most of it. ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifty-centuries-of-human-history/168771/220 "2003-04-18T13:48:09Z")
Mister V and Monty, those soldiers have the responsability of mantaining order in Irak, after all they destroyed the authority there. The simple fact is that the administration was warned several times that this could happen. We have all seen the reports and the warnings of several scientist. Monty asks what they could have done to prevent this disaster, simple. In the first place they chose to invade, there was another option but that point is abstract right now. The second choice could have been caring a little more of museums and hospitals, instead of worring so much about oil. It’s a known fact that the only building that was protected during the early days of the looting was the oil ministry. The americans (and British) had many choices, they chose not do anything and for that I blame them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifty-centuries-of-human-history/168771.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifty-centuries-of-human-history/168771.md?page=12)