LOOTING UPDATE! LAST WEEK I WROTE:

So how come the ever-so-inquisitive Big Media folks in Baghdad didn’t even mention the possibility that something like this was going on in their [looting] reports? Perhaps CENTCOM should check their luggage as they leave town. . .

Today, we read this:

WASHINGTON — A television news engineer faces smuggling charges after attempting to bring into the United States 12 stolen Iraqi paintings, monetary bonds and other items, federal officials said Wednesday.

Advantage: Oh, hell, you know the routine.

UPDATE: Mark Steyn has more.

And more priceless cultural treasures have just turned up!

ANOTHER UPDATE: Then there’s this:

Of interest to Customs agents was a 5-foot painting that was rolled up in a tube, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Ornamental kitchen items were also confiscated. Crittenden told the agents he got the painting from a building on the grounds of one of Saddam Hussein’s presidential palaces.

The painting was examined by authenticators, but the value was deemed to be under the $15,000 level that would merit prosecution under Customs laws, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The souvenirs will not be returned to Crittenden, and eventually will be transferred back to Iraq, officials said.

And here’s my favorite part:

”He didn’t think it was a big deal,” the official said of Crittenden. ”He said all the embedded reporters were doing it.”

Heh. And I wonder how many of them wrote stories denouncing the looting?

(Via Romenesko).