I showed some of the images from Sumeria in a class on the War about two weeks ago, including some exquisite vases that are beyond priceless -- I talked about my hope that they hadn't been bombed, it never occurred to me that, after all the effort that had gone into protecting them -- let me be clear, the American military went out of their way to protect these sites, they had extensive consultations with experts in archaelogy -- that they would be looted and smashed. I cannot understand why the military on the ground weren't briefed on this -- some of the most valuable things in the whole country. As Rick said, it is beyond words how tragic this is. I pray that the most important ones were somehow hidden still further away, though it sounds really bad. We are talking about things 5,000 years old, and completely irreplaceable. yours, Peter T.