Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Today
Iraq's Treasures: Some Journalists, Troops Accused of Looting
Aired April 24, 2003 - 11:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Federal authorities are taking a hard line with Americans who are trying to bring home war trophies from Iraq.
Our Justice Department correspondent Kelli Arena is standing by in Washington. She's got more on this story.
Hello -- Kelli. What's the word?
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Leon, the first trickle of stolen goods has indeed been confiscated. Now, these are not items from Iraq's National Museum, but instead from various palaces. And what some may have thought of as souvenirs or war trophies, the government is calling stolen goods, and it is promising legal action.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA (voice-over): There were paintings, gold plated AK-47s and other items that officials say were all illegally taken out of Iraq, mostly by journalists.
MICHAEL DOUGHERTY, BUREAU OF IMMIGRATION AND ENFORCEMENT: For decades, the Iraqi people have suffered at the hands of a brutal regime, and now tragically, they're being victimized again.
ARENA: The only charges filed so far are against Benjamin James Johnson, a 27-year-old former Fox News engineer. CNN caught up with him outside his home, but he refused to comment. Officials say he smuggled 12 paintings out of Iraq and about 40 Iraqi bonds, all allegedly taken from one of Uday Hussein's residences. Fox fired Johnson after learning of the charges against him.
DOUGHERTY: Information we uncovered during that investigation led to the subsequent recovery of two additional paintings smuggled into the country by members of the media returning from Iraq.
ARENA: One of those paintings was allegedly smuggled out of Iraq by Jules Crittenden, a reporter for the "Boston Herald." CNN has learned he will not be charged.
In all, officials say, there were five airport seizures involving members of the media.
MARVIN KALB, SHORENSTEIN CENTER ON THE PRESS: If one, two or five end up, out of 700 who were embedded, to have engaged in filching something they shouldn't have taken, that's just the act of a small number of people. It is their personal ethical standards that have collapsed, but not the standards of journalism.
ARENA: There is also one member of the military being investigated for allegedly trying to send gold-plated AK-47s to an Army base in Georgia.
None of the items came, though, from Iraq's National Museum, according to officials, and the search continues.
DAVID SHILLINGFORD, ART LOSS REGISTER: It is a case of first working out what was there, both in terms of any documentation that may still be in the museum, although I understand some was destroyed. Because of the importance of the collection, there is documentation elsewhere in the world that can be used as part of the effort to work out what was there.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA: Both FBI and Customs agents are currently involved in trying to put together an inventory list, one which they can distribute, so that law enforcement knows what it's looking for -- Leon.
HARRIS: But, Kelli, getting back to whom they may be looking for. You know, the reports that first came out about the raid there by those looters at the Museum of Antiquities was that this was not done by some amateurs. There were professionals involved in that because of equipment that was used and then some of the sheer size of some of the pieces that were taken out of there that couldn't have been taken out by somebody, you know, walking down the street with a horse cart.
ARENA: That's right.
HARRIS: Are authorities there in Washington any closer to coming up with an idea, maybe pinning down even, exactly who it is that may have been behind this?
ARENA: Well, obviously there are agents on the ground in Baghdad, and they are conducting interviews with museum employees and with other people. We do know that, in fact, some of what was thought to be looted is actually being brought back by some Iraqi citizens now, who saw looting going on and actually tried to safeguard some of the items and are now bringing those back to the museum.
But the one clue, the best clue that they have was that the artwork that was first taken, Leon, was the most valuable, the most prized possessions. These people knew what they were looking for. And so, there is an on-the-ground investigation going on. Of course, the largest purchaser of illegal, and legal art for that matter, is the United States. Second then is Japan and Europe.
So all of those agencies -- Interpol, of course, alerted as well -- all of those agencies are working together, because the recipients obviously would not be in Iraq, and that merchandise has to trade hands pretty quickly -- Leon.
HARRIS: I just want to know how you get a 7,000-pound stone head into this country anyway. That to me, it just boggles the mind.
Thanks, Kelli.
ARENA: Not on an airplane, that's for sure.
HARRIS: Exactly, exactly. All right, we'll let you get back on that one, and you get back to us if you hear something.
ARENA: I will.
HARRIS: Kelly Arena in Washington.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Looting>
Aired April 24, 2003 - 11:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Federal authorities are taking a hard line with Americans who are trying to bring home war trophies from Iraq.
Our Justice Department correspondent Kelli Arena is standing by in Washington. She's got more on this story.
Hello -- Kelli. What's the word?
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Leon, the first trickle of stolen goods has indeed been confiscated. Now, these are not items from Iraq's National Museum, but instead from various palaces. And what some may have thought of as souvenirs or war trophies, the government is calling stolen goods, and it is promising legal action.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA (voice-over): There were paintings, gold plated AK-47s and other items that officials say were all illegally taken out of Iraq, mostly by journalists.
MICHAEL DOUGHERTY, BUREAU OF IMMIGRATION AND ENFORCEMENT: For decades, the Iraqi people have suffered at the hands of a brutal regime, and now tragically, they're being victimized again.
ARENA: The only charges filed so far are against Benjamin James Johnson, a 27-year-old former Fox News engineer. CNN caught up with him outside his home, but he refused to comment. Officials say he smuggled 12 paintings out of Iraq and about 40 Iraqi bonds, all allegedly taken from one of Uday Hussein's residences. Fox fired Johnson after learning of the charges against him.
DOUGHERTY: Information we uncovered during that investigation led to the subsequent recovery of two additional paintings smuggled into the country by members of the media returning from Iraq.
ARENA: One of those paintings was allegedly smuggled out of Iraq by Jules Crittenden, a reporter for the "Boston Herald." CNN has learned he will not be charged.
In all, officials say, there were five airport seizures involving members of the media.
MARVIN KALB, SHORENSTEIN CENTER ON THE PRESS: If one, two or five end up, out of 700 who were embedded, to have engaged in filching something they shouldn't have taken, that's just the act of a small number of people. It is their personal ethical standards that have collapsed, but not the standards of journalism.
ARENA: There is also one member of the military being investigated for allegedly trying to send gold-plated AK-47s to an Army base in Georgia.
None of the items came, though, from Iraq's National Museum, according to officials, and the search continues.
DAVID SHILLINGFORD, ART LOSS REGISTER: It is a case of first working out what was there, both in terms of any documentation that may still be in the museum, although I understand some was destroyed. Because of the importance of the collection, there is documentation elsewhere in the world that can be used as part of the effort to work out what was there.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA: Both FBI and Customs agents are currently involved in trying to put together an inventory list, one which they can distribute, so that law enforcement knows what it's looking for -- Leon.
HARRIS: But, Kelli, getting back to whom they may be looking for. You know, the reports that first came out about the raid there by those looters at the Museum of Antiquities was that this was not done by some amateurs. There were professionals involved in that because of equipment that was used and then some of the sheer size of some of the pieces that were taken out of there that couldn't have been taken out by somebody, you know, walking down the street with a horse cart.
ARENA: That's right.
HARRIS: Are authorities there in Washington any closer to coming up with an idea, maybe pinning down even, exactly who it is that may have been behind this?
ARENA: Well, obviously there are agents on the ground in Baghdad, and they are conducting interviews with museum employees and with other people. We do know that, in fact, some of what was thought to be looted is actually being brought back by some Iraqi citizens now, who saw looting going on and actually tried to safeguard some of the items and are now bringing those back to the museum.
But the one clue, the best clue that they have was that the artwork that was first taken, Leon, was the most valuable, the most prized possessions. These people knew what they were looking for. And so, there is an on-the-ground investigation going on. Of course, the largest purchaser of illegal, and legal art for that matter, is the United States. Second then is Japan and Europe.
So all of those agencies -- Interpol, of course, alerted as well -- all of those agencies are working together, because the recipients obviously would not be in Iraq, and that merchandise has to trade hands pretty quickly -- Leon.
HARRIS: I just want to know how you get a 7,000-pound stone head into this country anyway. That to me, it just boggles the mind.
Thanks, Kelli.
ARENA: Not on an airplane, that's for sure.
HARRIS: Exactly, exactly. All right, we'll let you get back on that one, and you get back to us if you hear something.
ARENA: I will.
HARRIS: Kelly Arena in Washington.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Looting>
