Looted Museum Artifacts Found in Hands of Insurgents

When the Baghdad Museum was looted more than two years ago following the Coalition invasion of Iraq, conventional wisdom held that common thieves had made off with the priceless exhibits. Now the American Forces Press Service reports that at least some of the artifacts have been in the hands of the terrorist insurgency.

On the Kharkh peninsula, a joint Iraqi-U.S. raid early June 3 recovered more than 30 artifacts that had gone missing following the initial liberation of Iraq in 2003, as well as five suspected terrorists, according to Multinational Force Iraq officials.

In other news from Operation Lightning, Iraq's major security crackdown, information from Iraqi citizens and detainees has lead to the capture of many terrorist suspects and large caches of ammunition and materièl.

The largest of the caches was found in an insurgent hideaway in an old rock quarry north of Karmah, officials said. There, a complex of underground bunkers contained four fully furnished living spaces, a kitchen with fresh food, two shower facilities and a working air conditioner. Officials said other rooms within the complex were filled with weapons, ammunition, black uniforms, ski masks, compasses, log books, night-vision goggles and fully charged cell phones.

Mainstream news organizations have been hard-pressed to report any of this news due to the necessity of providing 24-hour Quran-tinkling updates. The Dread Pundit Bluto is happy to step in and help.