archaeological loot
From New Scientist

The museum's curators have criticised US troops for failing to protect the museum, despite repeated requests for help. Tanks were posted outside the museum only briefly on Friday. The US has been accused of violating the 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.

Archaeologists had warned of such destruction. In an article published in the journal Science on 21 March, experts from six nations said Iraq's heritage was so great that war threatened "irreparable losses both to local communities and to all humanity".

As noted previously, the coalition found it necessary to guard the ministries of oil and interior but not the museum. Their spin now is that they did not know despite the stream of warnings from scientists.