Posted on Jul 6, 2017
Hobby Lobby Agrees to Forfeit 5,500 Artifacts Smuggled Out of Iraq
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Caught with their hand in the cookie jar
Hobby Lobby Agrees to Forfeit 5,500 Artifacts Smuggled Out of Iraq
Posted from mobile.nytimes.com
Crime
Iraq
Justice
Posted 7 y ago
Responses: 3
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According to the article itself, Hobby Lobby may have failed to properly determine the heritage of some of the artifacts it purchased from the owner in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). If any smuggling out of Iraq occurred, Hobby Lobby did not do it. As NYT has been looking for any sin to pin on Hobby Lobby since it's victory in the supreme court case, I'm underwhelmed that this is the best NYT could do.
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Capt Gregory Prickett
Col Joseph Lenertz - Yeah, I'm underwhelmed that they were advised by their legal expert that the artifacts could be looted and that failing to verify where the artifacts came from could violate the law. You hire an expert, he warns you to do your due diligence and you ignore him, and then it turns out that he was right.
Whether or not Hobby Lobby smuggled the artifacts out of Iraq themselves is not relevant to the violation. Hobby Lobby does not have clean hands in this matter.
Whether or not Hobby Lobby smuggled the artifacts out of Iraq themselves is not relevant to the violation. Hobby Lobby does not have clean hands in this matter.
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Col Joseph Lenertz
Capt Gregory Prickett - Your characterization in your first paragraph is accurate. The article's headline is not. All of us who have been to that part of the world recognize the rules there are very different. Graft is a way of life, the norm. If you needed to get your team through a pass controlled by a provincial chieftain, you paid your graft to get through. Agree Hobby Lobby is not lilly-white here, but the headline declares H-L guilty of smuggling 5,500 articles out of Iraq, which is simply false.
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CW4 Guy Butler
Ought to point out that the Justice Department action specified the articles were smuggled and that Hobby Lobby knowingly participated.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/united-states-files-civil-action-forfeit-thousands-ancient-iraqi-artifacts-imported
https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/united-states-files-civil-action-forfeit-thousands-ancient-iraqi-artifacts-imported
United States Files Civil Action To Forfeit Thousands Of Ancient Iraqi Artifacts Imported By...
Earlier today, the United States filed a civil complaint to forfeit thousands of cuneiform tablets and clay bullae. As alleged in the complaint, these ancient clay artifacts originated in the area of modern-day Iraq and were smuggled into the United States through the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel, contrary to federal law. Packages containing the artifacts were shipped to Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. (“Hobby Lobby”), a nationwide...
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Given how religious the owners of hobby lobby are it may be possible that they wanted the artifacts to protect them. Doing the wrong thing for the right reason has happened before. Not saying they shouldn't be punished for it just giving a possible motive.
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1stSgt Nelson Kerr
Stealuing thing to protect them from the rightful owners has a specific legal name:" Theft.
People who do so are thieves
People who do so are thieves
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They were warned by their own people that they could be breaking the law. As the article said, there were many red flags. They should have known better.
My only question is, as a company with evangelical leanings, why would they be interested in artifacts that predate Christianity by thousands of years? From an area that has never been a haven for Christianity? I find their interest in such things dubious, at best.
My only question is, as a company with evangelical leanings, why would they be interested in artifacts that predate Christianity by thousands of years? From an area that has never been a haven for Christianity? I find their interest in such things dubious, at best.
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SGT Edward Wilcox
MSgt Robert C Aldi - One of my regrets from serving in Iraq was not being able to visit the Ziggurat at Ur, rumored to be the birthplace of Abraham, who is held to be the Father of Judaism. I am very familiar with the history of the area. However, some of the artifacts they bought predated even Abraham, and had little to do with anything that could be described as religious. So still have a hard time understanding what they wanted with these artifacts.
I did, however, make it to Babylon. That was cool, and definitely the highlight of my tour.
I did, however, make it to Babylon. That was cool, and definitely the highlight of my tour.
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