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April 8, 2008
Raiders of the Lost Art
Letters to the Editor
In the Raiders of the Lost Art outreach program, students wrote the following letters to the editor of the Christian Science Monitor in response to the news article about the April 2003 looting:
Dear Editor:
Although I strongly believe that stealing the priceless artifacts in the museum was wrong, I’d have to argue with you that we did nothing to stop it. We were in a war, people shooting from all around, armies bleeding because we are defending our country, our people. We came to help, to defend people, and you say we messed up because we didn’t stop materials from being stolen? We have other things we need to do, and although these are indeed priceless, they are not as valuable as a human life. I agree with you that the looting was terrible, but we can’t defend both civilians and a museum. What were we to do? Bomb the museum to stop the smugglers? We can’t very well do that, because the items would still be ruined. The smugglers should be stoppped, but have our first priority to protect humans, then once they are protected, we can move on to materialistic things.
Sincerely,
Colonel Matthew Bogdanos
US Marine Corps
Assistant District Attorney, New York
Dear Editor:
I think that looting is only immoral when it is done for money. But when it is done to protect or to sell for a good reason, it is better. Still not good, but better. Museum director Dr. Al-Mutawalli said, “I’m frightened of the war. But I’m really frightened about the looting and the damage that might occur.” Several objects were looted to protect them and keep them safe from others. The army made efforts to protect the museum. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld said, “Stuff happens” when asked about the looting. Obviously, the American army did not take the looting seriously.
Sincerely,
Zaid Muhammad
Looter
Dear Editor:
I was horrified to find that the Iraqi Museum had been looted while I was heading to work. Our once beautiful museum was now wrecked, papers were everywhere, cases were broken, and pots were sitting on the floor smashed to pieces. I immediately went for help but the U.S. soldiers couldn’t help. We were number two on their list of priorities. Why didn’t the American Soldiers help us? Do they not care?
I believe that American soldiers could have done a better job of protecting the museum and the artifacts. They had two months warning that the looting would happen. They didn’t even try to help us. They could have stood guard, or at least checked every few hours to make sure that the artifacts were safe. Sure it was important to protect human life but not a single U.S. soldier showed up.
As a museum staff member I want to see all of the artifacts returned. Especially a 5,000 year-old clay tablet that contains the worlds first known written words, and a life-sized statue of the Sumerian King Entemena just to mention a few. If the museum doesn’t recover the looted treasures, I will feel like a part of my soul has been stolen. Some artifacts have been returned but there are still 10,471 missing. If you see anything suspicious please notify someone, these artifacts are very important to Iraq’s history and the world’s.
Sincerely,
Aadila Abqurah
Iraq Museum Staff Member
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