Was Saddam Right? Are Americans the New Mongols of the Mideast? (UPDATE!)

Update: A November 8, 2005 Washington Post article by Guy Gugliotta reported that thousands of stolen artifacts in Iraq are still missing. Only 5,500 of 14,000 relics have been recovered according to a clearly frustrated Marine Corps Colonel Matthew Bogdanos. The most famous artifacts remain missing and there are fears that they have ended up in the international black market for stolen artwork and antiquities -- a black market controlled by the Russian-Ukrainian-Israeli Mafia (RUIM), a criminal syndicate with ties deep into the White House and Pentagon. Only fifteen of 40 notable relics from the National Museum have been recovered. The recovered items include Sumerian, Akkadian, and Assyrian relics. The missing items include the Sumerian black statue of Eannatum, the prince of Lagash; a gold and ivory plaque of a lion attacking a Nubian; and the copper bust of the Goddess of Victory. Bogdanos said that 8000 small artifacts were stolen from the locked basement of the National Museum in what the colonel described as an "inside job." No wonder Donald Rumsfeld said during the looting, "freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things." Yes, free to commit crimes especially if they have a wink and a nod from a cabal in the Pentagon and Vice President's office that has close links with the RUIM.

It is suspicious that the neo-cons, shortly after reports of museum looting in Iraq were aired around the world, claimed that most of the artifacts had been recovered. That was a lie and a very suspicious cover-up of the facts. Although the Post article claims that the stolen artifacts may eventually wind up in London, Tokyo, or New York through dealers in the Persian Gulf, no mention is made of Tel Aviv, Amsterdam, Antwerp, and Bangkok -- the same cities involved with blood diamond smuggling out of Africa and the same network of cities that would be involved in relic smuggling out of Iraq. Bogdanos told the Post that of the most valued artifacts, "you're never going to see these in a gallery . . . no art dealer would ever touch them, because they're just too well known. We're talking about a black market. These pieces will never see the light of day."

The Post also reports that archeological sites outside of Baghdad are being systematically looted to this day. "Before and after" satellite photos of the sites point out holes denser than Swiss cheese. Bogdanos lamented that at least Saddam had looters of Iraqi archeological sites shot. Bogdanos, a Manhattan prosecutor, is writing a book, The Thieves of Baghdad, about the looting. Bogdanos may or may not be aware that he will soon join the ranks of other whistleblowers and be on the receiving end of the wrath of the neo-cons that run the White House, State Department, and Pentagon.

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