[California Tanker]

I think, then, we'll just agree to disagree.

Merely because one provides opportunity does not automatically make one cuplable. There's an old 'test' at Parris Island, wherein a recruit, ordinarily prohibited by order from using telephones, is told one night to clean the Drill Instructor's office. In it is a telephone. The D.I. has just provided the opportunity. The Recruit knows that telephone use is wrong. Is the D.I. to blame if the recruit uses the telephone?

I think the average Iraqi knows that taking artifacts from a museum is morally questionable. They make the conscious decision to break from integrity and take something, the fact that there's no security in place does not absolve them of that culpability. I flat do not accept that primary blame for this lies with the occupation forces. Indeed, I'd like to see someone try to use that sort of defense in a court. "M'lud, yes, it's true that I did something illegal and caused damage, but it's security's fault for not being there. They should pay the majority of the restitution..."

NTM