LOOTING Looting is stealing.
It is as simple as that. It should be punished in keeping with our laws concerning theft.
I have never been able to understand how people seem to be so ready to pilfer when security measures fail. In the recent weeks of war in Iraq the populace seemed to feel free to take anything they could lay their hands on simply because it was no longer protected by physical obstructions such as windows, walls , locks and alarm systems. They
seemed to feel it was theirs if they could get away with it.
Looting is a criminal activity and should be treated as such. But ,what happens when there is no such governing authority functions at the moment? That's where we were in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities; that's where we were during the Watts riots in Los Angles and I dare say, during the Sept,11th events in New York City, if the truth be made known. Those people who have retained portions of the ill-fated Challenger debris as souvenirs are guilty ,as well.
That is when it calls for something in the very fiber of the individuals citizens of a nation to live by certain generally accepted standards of honesty and integrity which preclude such acts of vandalism.
We in the U.S have a rather unusual attitude toward such “petty theft.” We ofter view it as being humorous ..comic. Witness the popularity of “Hogan's hero's” on TV. Their “moonlight requisitioning””of almost an item was typical of so much of military life.
I remember one military Mess Sergeant telling me that he counted on a good one-quarter of his monthly supplies never making it to the mess hall tables. He requisitioned with that amount of “drift” in mind.
Just as long as the general public looks on looting as a minor form of pilfering, it will keep growing to become a major factor in health and stability of American life. It is highly contagious. In our educational system it is called cheating.
A.L.. January 11, 2006 [c346wds]
