Looting in Iraq
Ever since Iraq cities such as Basra and Baghdad have been abandoned by the Saddam regime's secret police, looting has occurred of palaces, ministry buildings, museums and homes of the regime's elite. Political pundits have blamed the US military for failing to create civil order in these cities. I beg to differ. Civil order or disorder is a function of the citizens living in a city. No military or police force can control looting short of "shoot to kill" policies that I doubt anyone following the war would accept or condone. If one needs an example closer to home, I present the looting that occurred in New York city in the 1980s when one night a power failure occurred. Under the cover of darkness, citizens took everything not nailed down and even a trained police force, as has New York, could not control it. It stopped at daylight.
The same is true for Iraqi cities. Once the regime's security police force abandoned the city, some saw their chance to loot whatever they could get their hands on. A US military force, concerned with snipers and suicide bombings aimed at them alone, were not in a position to stop looting. An emphasis on stopping looting would most likely have resulted in more soldiers deaths and injuries since one can only deal with snipers or looters, not both at the same time. Besides, where exactly would US troops put looters caught, certainly not amongst POWs.
Looting within Baghdad and other Iraqi cities, though regrettable, was not due to US forces' short-comings, but of a citizenry unaccustomed to personal freedom and the personal responsibility that entails. For all the looting, it is the Iraqis themselves that will be the poorer - both from the antiquities stolen and the image of them seen around the world of their actions.
04/15/03 ( 531 )
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