Protesters have formed a human shield to protect the Antiquities Museum from being looted.

[hlthe2b]

A tweet from the Toronto Star http://livenews.thestar.com/Event/Protests_in_Egypt


I post this to counter the impression posted on other threads that the Egyptian people are ready to loot or destroy their own antiquities, as happened in Iraq. Egyptians prize their history. They know that their incredible wealth of history and antiquities are THEIR OIL.


I have come to tremendously admire the Egyptian people from my time living and working in the Region. I just caution against the stereotypes some are using to judge them or to predict what will happen.

[WinkyDink]

1. IMO, the Iraqi looting was a pre-planned grand theft by certain wealthy men. IOW: they put in orders

[Poll_Blind]

7. I closely followed that event at the time and I will go to my grave believing it was...

...one of many, major, inside jobs carried out by the extremely wealthy.

Not by the people.

Shit, I even recall that in the earliest stages of the looting the thieves has lists of specific items which were removed almost immediately. And that it was quite a while before actual, textbook "looters" came into play.

PB

[Rex]

14. No doubt. Remember the pallet loads and pallet loads of US currency

we saw unloaded and sent off to unaccountable places we will never hear from in Iraq. IMO, Gulf War II is the crime of the century.

[earth mom]

15. I look at it all as ENDLESS CRIME fueled by 9/11 MIHOP/LIHOP and financed by U.S. taxpayer dollars.

The wars, Wall Street bankster gangsters, the massive mortgage theft and now the bastards are coming for our Social Security.

And there is NO end in sight. :grr:

[musette_sf]

16. + 1K

[Kennah]

2. When the U.S. reaches this point ...

... I wonder what will be the equivalent of an Antiquities Museum.

[DJ13]

3. The Smithsonian

[NYC Liberal]

6. And the LoC, although thankfully a ton of that material has

been digitized.

[TruthTeller]

13. Agree! nt

[Drale]

8. If it ever reaches that point here and I say IF

they rich will being running for their lives not caring about looting the smithsonian. The reason museums in the middle east are always targets is because the illegal antiquities market is the second largest illegal market behind guns and most of the shops that sell illegal antiquities are in the middle east.

[Fumesucker]

11. Given that cannabis is the largest cash crop in the USA..

I find it hard to believe that antiquities is the second largest illegal market..

I would guess third after drugs and guns, and I'm not sure which of those is first.

[Fumesucker]

5. Branson, Missouri..

[Raster]

10. Please, take it!

:rofl:

[uppityperson]

4. Egypt state TV says the army has secured the Egyptian Museum, where we had heard youth activists had

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/01/201112523026521335.html
Egypt state TV says the army has secured the Egyptian Museum, where we had heard youth activists had first gone to protect it.

[Dappleganger]

9. Those antiquities are worth saving.

This is absolutely incredible that people would give their lives to guard objects (brings new meaning to the term 'sacred').

[Hannah Bell]

12. iraqis in general didn't loot their museums.

[Kablooie]

17. Zahi Hawass will be relieved.

[Le Taz Hot]

18. You mean the protesters

aren't heading toward the museum with torches in hand, hellbent on burning down their own artifacts? You mean the media lied to me? I'm shocked! Shocked, I tell you!