Iraq's Most Wanted Cards

The playing cards issued to service members in Iraq, with the pictures of the baddest of Ba'athist bad men, have been something of a joke since their introduction. But here's someone that's found a good way to use a silly idea: playing cards with pictures of looted museum pieces. One of the big problems in recovering the material stolen from Iraqi museums has been that few outside of Iraq know what these works look like--as noted last week, law enforcement in the US doesn't know what to look for, auction houses don't know what to look for, customs doesn't know what to look for. Doc Searls' "barnraising" is a great idea, but in the meantime, any way that information about these pieces can get out into the public is good. From the website, it appears that they will be selling these cards, as soon as they can get enough images.

After you've had a look, you can visit an Iraqi National Museum website, which doesn't appear to be an official site, but rather the work of a devoted museum fan (apparently an Austrian one). Another good look at the works now slipping out of public grasp forever...

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