Your point being? This hardly qualifies as looting and happened before the invasion.

Liberation, American-style:

General Tommy Franks is threatened with a Belgian war crimes trial alleging US troops failed to prevent looting in Iraq. BBC News Online uncovers evidence suggesting his soldiers even egged on some looters.

Studies at Nasiriya's Technical Institute are on hold. With the city struggling to find its feet after the war, college is the last thing on people's mind ...

Ali Thowani, 27, a pharmacist and former student of the institute, also tried reasoning with the Americans in English.

"I spoke to the Americans and they refused to protect the institution. 'We're not police and that's not our job,' they said."

More worrying still are the accounts of two eyewitnesses who claim to have seen the Americans encouraging the looters.

Troops 'waved' looters on

Rasool Abdul-Husayn , an unemployed school teacher, says he saw one American signalling the crowd to move in, with a repeated wave of the arm. Another eyewitness, Kareem Khattar, who works in a bread shop across the road from the college, saw the same thing.

"I saw with my own eyes the Americans signal the people to move in and the looters started clapping," says Mr Khattar.


Air conditioners proved popular with looters
"The Americans waved bye-bye and the looters were clapping. They started looting quickly and when one man came out with an air conditioner an American said to him 'Good, very good'."

Before the war, Nasiriya's technical institute had 2,500 students and taught community health, mechanical and electrical engineering and computing, among other subjects.

Every bit of hard work that went into building up the college, which opened in the early 1980s, was swiftly destroyed. About 100 air conditioning units and 100 computers were stolen. Rooms were torched; the science laboratories wrecked; the main lecture hall looks like a hurricane has passed through it.

A campus wrecked

In the old administrative block, ring binders lie on the floor, next to shards of broken glass, buckled filing cabinets and broken plant pots. Everything, even the light switches, was taken or destroyed, and it is the same in every one of the campus buildings.

In a statement to BBC News Online, Centcom, the United States Central Command in Doha, Qatar, refused to accept responsibility for the event.


The institute stands empty
"The fact that the looting is happening in Nasiriya is a sad event. However, coalition forces are not a police force. Coalition forces have no orders to protect universities. They have orders to protect places of interest such as hospitals, museums and banks.

"Iraqis need to protect their own cities; coalition forces will help the Iraqi people police themselves. For example, in Al Kut - where people are cooperating with coalition forces - they have stood up a city police force. The coalition has even provided arms for the local police force. Iraqis will run Iraq and they will govern themselves. "

It seems plain to me that the US allowing the looting to take place is no coincidence.

At the lower grunt level, I could believe that some of them would sincerely encourage the looting, but not as looting, but as justice. Perhaps if they saw how ordinary citizenry were living deprived under Saddam, I could see soldiers being sympathetic. On top of that, they don't have orders otherwise.

Which brings me to my next point. Why weren't there orders?
To be fair, perhaps the military doesn't want to devote its "limited resources" to defending a school here a musuem there when there is no "strategic" ie cash, practical value that say, the communications center and oil ministry possess.
The more cynical view is that the US wants a severely weakened Iraq. It wants to see as much of it destroyed. That way, it can bring in more contracts from the US to "rebuild" the country. Or they are just plain insensitive or ignorant how this policy could be a PR nightmare.
And not to rag on just the US, hell the British are there too. haven't heard about them on this issue either way. Which surprises me since the Brits are famous for looting art treasures and taking them home back in the day. you'd think instead of allowing others to loot art, the brits would just take them home for "safekeeping" (which is actually plausible...you think those elgin marbles would have lasted this long in Greece?)

Looted Iraqi Antiquities For Sale In Taiwan!

Through my extensive contacts with corrupt, art hating officials in the US government and military, I am able to offer (for the FIRST TIME!), one of a kind antiquities and art works from Iraq.

The 6,000 year old "Mask of Hedra" (only $250,000US). Note the mysterious cuniform inscription.



The 3,000 year old solid ivory "Throne of Nebuchadnezzar" (buy now and receive "The Hairbrush of Ishtar", "The Razor of Occam" and "The Toothbrush of Frank" all for the low, low price of $1,000,000US).



The silver encrusted 4,200 year old "Scepter of Kuul". At only $175,000US, it truly is a "steal"!



And FINALLY, straight from Saddam Hussein's private bedroom in one of his 73 palaces, a solid gold air conditioner! Yes, own a piece of history! This air conditioner includes chemical/nuclear/biological filters good for all WMD. And for only $75,000US, I'll throw in the remote.



Give me a call at 1-800-555-LOOTERSRUS and make an appointment for a private viewing. Cash only.

That's my Air-Con, give it back!

Blueface: That was hysterical and just the kind of humor that is needed to remind us to celebrate that the Iraqi Information Minister LIVES!!! Hope to see him coming to a cable channel "near you."

It would be great to see justice done and the likes of Tommy franks sent down for war crimes:

US troops 'encouraged' Iraqi looters

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3003393.stm

It's very ironic to me that Centcom included the protection of musuems in its statement after all that's happened.

Not being police is no excuse. This seems to me a deliberate policy.

Good one, Blueface! (Hairbrush of Ishtar )

"We are in an assessment phase right now."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 11,00.html