From Reuters.com comes a story about illicit trade in ancient art and artifacts. Stolen treasure plundered by terrorists makes its way to rich people - who certainly love a bargain!
Some folks say these "conflict bargains" support and fund terrorists like ISIS - those beheaders, killers, and sex traffickers of women, boys and girls.
But, when such rare value is available at deep discounts, it's just business, right?
And if you get caught making a bargain? Well, there's got to be a reliable apologist for hire somewhere who explains the nuances of greater good. Say it's kind of Keynesian.
Or, just blame it on Bush, or Israel. That seems to work well for 'smart' folks with diplomas as well as rich folks. Or, if you feel kind of funny having to blame someone else, call it portfolio diversification. PB
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“Many antique collectors unwillingly support terrorists like Islamic State, ” Michel van Rijn, one of the most successful smugglers of antique artifacts in the past century, told German broadcaster Das Erste this month.
And smuggling is booming in Iraq and Syria right now.
In Iraq, 4,500 archaeological sites, some of them UNESCO World Heritage sites, are reportedly controlled by Islamic State and are exposed to looting.
Iraqi intelligence claim that Islamic State alone has collected as much as $36 million from the sales of artifacts, some of them thousands of years old.
The accounts data have not been released for verification but, whatever the exact number is, the sale of conflict antiquities to fund military and paramilitary activity is real and systematic...
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Link: http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2014/10/27/how-the-west-buys-conflict-antiquities-from-iraq-and-syria-and-funds-terror/
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