Matthew Bogdanos, a colonel in the United States Marine Corps, led the investigation into the looting of the Iraqi National Museum while serving in Iraq in 2003 and wrote about his experiences in his book, “Thieves of Baghdad.” He talks to CNN about why the loss of these treasures, often to terrorists and insurgents, is a tragedy and why the trade should be better policed.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/07/07/iraq.looting.bogdanos/

 

One Response to Marine Colonel: Illegal antiquities trade funds terrorism

  1. Maybe Bogdanos might have a point about needing a Director General of UNESCO who is more focused on this issue, but UNESCO’s mandate is pretty broad to begin with & they’re pretty far from ground ops in Iraq. I would prefer to see the Iraqi and Jordanian security forces get more training & crackdown more on cross-border smuggling activity. Meanwhile, a few Western countries could do a couple high-profile raids on auction houses. I doubt the UN would be an effective body for genuine action or leadership on this.

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