Tuesday, February 16, 2010

War Theivery

The fact of the matter is: war is war. Nothing is pleasant about it. And some times the things we enjoy most get completely and utterly demolished throughout the course of war. I don't believe anything from a country should be deliberately destroyed out of hatred towards the country, but I know it probably happens. We can't go out of our way during a time of war to protect "things" when people and country's lives are at stake. People always take preeminence over objects. The living is more important than art. The worst thing though, is when people from your own country destroy the things important to your nation. I think the people who have looted ancient artwork and antiquities during the Iraq War have a very twisted moral compass.
Protecting art from being destroyed or stolen during peace time is one thing, but a whole different challenge during war time. It would take a considerable amount of money to build a structure (in conjunction with the museum in which the art is stored) to quickly move the artwork to. You could always build a bomb safe bunker underneath your museum, but its not in our nature to think of that when we're making blueprints. And since museums are generally bought with tax dollars, I think the general public would want a good explanation as to why this was being built. I mean, its not an everyday occurrence that your city is being bombed or raided. But, the way things have been going in the middle east, it could be money well spent.

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