Sunday 6 December 2015

US Calls on Others to do Their Work for them


Missing the blinding obvious in the US Department of State:



We all see the calls from other people in the US (the 'Witschonke premise') saying 'we should not help those who fail to stop the looting and smuggling' (they are dealers and collectors of course). Well, let us turn their argument against them, why should we help the US protect the heritage of citizens of their country when they cannot take the basic step which everybody else does of making the material in question subject to export licensing procedure? If they were, any recently exported items on sale in foreign markets could immediately be challenged if not accompanied by the required paperwork - which would be pretty clear-cut grounds for the repatriation of the items. Why on earth have they not done this? Why?

On what legal grounds are they expecting foreign governments to act on their behalf when they cannot apply this one, simple and tried and tested model of activity to protect their country's cultural heritage ("sacred" or not) from illicit trafficking? What makes them feel that they and their peoples should be treated in any way as an exception?  Pathetic. The state should do its job and protect the interests of its citizens, even if they are "only Native Americans". 

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