String pulling, American-style
Posted by unbrand on 25 May 2003 | 0 Comments
I used to work with a woman who had family members working in the federal government. She was a San Francisco leftie-liberal, but even she was so horrified by what her family members would tell her about what really goes on that I could tell that she felt she had gotten too close for comfort to The Truth. Do any of us really want to know about all of what creeps out from underneath the rock when we lift it up? What about some of the nasty things? Is that still too much?
It is deplorable that many of Iraq’s treasures from museums have recently been looted. Many people believe that this region was the birthplace of civilization and the artifacts stolen go back thousands of years. Who did the looting? Was it poor Iraqis trying to get something for themselves as a reminder of their newly liberated status? It looks like there was some kind of liberation going on, for sure:
US accused of plans to loot Iraqi antiques
From the article:
It has emerged that a coalition of antiquities collectors and arts lawyers, calling itself the American Council for Cultural Policy (ACCP), met with US defence and state department officials prior to the start of military action [in Iraq] to offer its assistance in preserving the country’s invaluable archaeological collections.
The group is known to consist of a number of influential dealers who favour a relaxation of Iraq’s tight restrictions on the ownership and export of antiquities. Its treasurer, William Pearlstein, has described Iraq’s laws as ‘retentionist’ and has said he would support a post-war government that would make it easier to have antiquities dispersed to the US.
So what actually happened when the museums were raided?
The Disappering Treasure of Iraq
“They’re not going to try to get this stuff out of the country right away. I think they’re going to sit on it until some of the pressure dies down,” said Robert Wittman, an FBI agent who has worked on several cases of art and antiquities theft and is headed to Iraq next week.
“But it will move eventually,” he said. “There are always collectors out there who want to have something that no one else can have, and they’re willing to pay to get it.”
Expert Thieves Took Artifacts, UNESCO Says
Museum officials in Baghdad told UNESCO that one group of thieves had keys to an underground vault where the most valuable artifacts were stored. The thefts were probably the work of international gangs who hired Iraqis for the job, and who have been active in recent years doing illegal excavations at Iraqi archaeological digs, according to archaeological experts working with UNESCO.
Matsuura said top museum officials tried to protect the institution, but the thieves may have succeeded in paying off guards or other low-ranking personnel. He said he doesn’t blame the U.S. military, even though UNESCO had urged the U.S. government before the war to safeguard it and other cultural sites.
FBI: Looted Iraqi antiquities surfacing
The sheer scale of the thefts has sparked unprecedented publicity that is already helping law enforcement officials investigate the case, Chaffinch said. The fact that the items date to civilization’s earliest times has led to worldwide interest in the case, she added.
“That’s the cradle of civilization,” she said. “It isn’t just Iraqi cultural heritage – it’s the world’s cultural heritage.”
So if the above is true, why would America allow it to happen? Easy.
- Friends of the government get paid
- Decimation of the conquered’s past pushes them down further (remember Animal Farm when history kept getting rewritten by the ruling pigs?)
- History is written by the winners. For a great book on how much of this issue plays out in our American educational system, check out History on Trial: Culture Wars and the Teaching of the Past
Spread the word. Liberation’s not just for people anymore. It’s for historical artifacts, and non-American cultural identity, too.