laying the groundwork?
Reader comment on item: [Looting:] An Iraqi Tragedy

Submitted by Greg White (Spain), Apr 23, 2003 at 04:23

Agreed. The US is not solely to blame for the sacking of Iraq's national patrimony. A(Although it is a shame that US forces didn't secure the national sites as quickly as it secured oil fields.)

But the BBC reports that Interpol is involved because most of the theft is said to be by organized international rings.

More than that, by blaming an intrinsic character fault in Iraqi culture/society, are you laying the intellectual groundwork for future explanations for Iraq's failure to become an electoral democracy? A condescending view of Iraqi culture/society may be politically correct in Washington policy circles (and the NY Post), but it goes far beyond the justifiable condemnation of Saddam Hussein and his regime.

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