So Much for the ‘Looted Sites’ - WSJ.com

A recent mission to Iraq headed by top archaeologists from the U.S. and U.K. who specialize in Mesopotamia found that, contrary to received wisdom, southern Iraq’s most important historic sites — eight of them — had neither been seriously damaged nor looted after the American invasion. This, according to a report by staff writer Martin Bailey in the July issue of the Art Newspaper. The article has caused confusion, not to say consternation, among archaeologists and has been largely ignored by the mainstream press. Not surprising perhaps, since reports by experts blaming the U.S. for the postinvasion destruction of Iraq’s heritage have been regular fixtures of the news.

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Neither the British Museum pair nor Prof. Stone responded to my calls seeking comment.

I remember all the wailing and gnashing of teeth by the loony left over the priceless antiquities that had been lost in the fog of war. I doubt I’ll ever see a single acknowledgement of their utter wrongness, much less an apology for their boneheaded value system where a flower pot is more important than a human.

Footnote: many more of these stories to come in the next few years, as Iraq becomes the higher-functioning, democratic nation-state that was intended from the git-go.

Via John Weidner…