David, For once I disagree with you. I did not consider the Nightline message we received yesterday as spam but more of an FYI. As a result, I did watch the program tho' usually I switch off before it airs. Considering how the tempers flew in this space with the first discussion started, I felt it important to get an update on what has happened since April. As Ted Koppel stated at the beginning of the program, the disadvantage of being a news organization with daily deadlines is that there is rarely the time to get a full perspective of an event. Followup is not only useful but essential. Had I not had the note, I probably would not have caught the show. Thanks Bess. Mary Kirby Historic Upshur Museum On Wed, 11 Jun 2003 00:25:27 EDT "David E. Haberstich" <[log in to unmask]> writes: > In a message dated 6/10/2003 3:45:34 PM Eastern Daylight Time, > [log in to unmask] writes: > > << It was seen as one of the first major failures of the U.S. rule > of > post-Saddam Iraq. In the wave of looting that engulfed Baghdad after > Saddam fell, the > museums were supposed to have been badly hit. Remember, Iraq is the > home of > Babylon, the cradle of civilization. Thousands of priceless > antiquities were > supposed to have been lost while American troops stood by and did > nothing. It > was all over the press, Nightline included. Now it's an old cliché > that truth is > the first casualty in war. And as ABC News correspondent Hillary > Brown will > report from Baghdad tonight, the truth behind this story is somewhat > different. > It turns out that almost all of the pieces are safe.. >> > > I read this too late to watch the show, so I don't know if the > following > question was answered. I've seen the recent newspaper accounts > about the good > news that far fewer artifacts were stolen than originally reported, > but nowhere > in them or in the above message have I seen an assessment of what > was > vandalized or destroyed. Yet the news photographs which were > distributed after the > raids on the museum showed horrendous scenes of destruction with > objects which > had been on display apparently having suffered severe damage. What > was the > damage toll? Why hasn't this been reported in detail? Surely these > were not all > replicas? While there was understandable confusion about how many > items were > actually stolen, given the complexities of the situation and > uncertainty about > what was truly missing vs. hidden elsewhere, it seems to me that it > would be > much easier to compile a listing of the damaged artifacts. Why has > there been > so much emphasis on theft with so little attention to vandalism? It > seems to > me that something still doesn't add up. > > And another question: since this message advertises a TV program, > why should > it not be considered thinly disguised spam? > > David Haberstich > > ========================================================= > Important Subscriber Information: > > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at > http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed > information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail > message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message > should read "help" (without the quotes). > > If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail > message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message > should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). > ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).