I'm certainly no expert in international law (and this thread is the
first I've heard of a 1935 Treaty of Washington or the Lieber Code), but
my reading of the documents is:

Section Three of the Fourth Hague Convention, 1907, applies to
"military authority over the territory of the hostile state"--Article 42
states explicitly that "territory" refers to an area that is actually
under the authority of the hostile state.  In terms of the current
discussion, it would be when the Americans had secured Bagdad (or at
least the areas around the museum, hospitals, etc.), and were in a
position to impose order in the vacuum created by the withdrawal of the
Iraqi civil authorities.

The Roerich pact appears to have no force in this case, as it is a
treaty "between the United States and the other American republics."
The signatories are the United States, and the nations of Central and
South America; I don't see how this could have any legal bearing in
Iraq.

Article 35 of the Lieber Code reads in full, "Classical works of art,
libraries, scientific collections, or precious instruments, such as
astronomical telescopes, as well as hospitals, must be secured against
all avoidable injury, even when they are contained in fortified places
whilst besieged or bombarded."  There appears to be a fine line
here--this could be interpreted as these resources must be secured
against injury by U.S. forces, or could be interpreted as U.S. forces
having the responsibility to secure such resources against ALL avoidable
injury (ie., use force against looters and vandals, as these are clearly
an injury as envisioned by Article 35).  However, if the spirit of the
Roerich Pact was applied, all cultural property is to be considered
neutral in the conflict, "and as such respected and protected by
belligerents."  If U.S. forces had the ability to protect the Bagdad
Museum's collections and failed to do so, both the spirit of the Roerich
Pact and the liberal interpretation of the Lieber Code were violated.
As to Jay's question of when the Roerich Pact and Lieber Code come into
effect, it appears that they are always in effect, even "whilst [hostile
territories are] besieged or bombarded."  The Lieber Code, in
particular, to a U.S. serviceman would be like the Criminal Code of
Canada is to me--I'm always subject to it.

The question about the effectiveness of the M.F.A & A Officers in WWII
is one that has occurred to me as well.  Certainly, there were examples
of looting from both German and Soviet armies, but I can't say I've
heard anything about widespread U.S. troops looting in the wake of
D-Day, or of the French looting their museums, churches, etc. in the
retreat of the Germans.  Both Harry's and Patrick's recent posts have
indicated that the M.F.A & A worked very well--at least well enough to
consider that similar program might have been called for in Iraq.

My $0.02--on a very thought-provoking thread.  I tried to keep it
neutral and academic--my apologies if my use of examples from the
current Iraqi conflict were misconstrued as supporting one political
agenda over another.





------------------------------------------------------------
Tim McShane, Assistant--Cultural History
Medicine Hat Museum and Art Gallery
1302 Bomford Crescent S.W.
Medicine Hat, AB   T1A 5E6
(403) 502-8587

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