I would like to respond to Jeffrey's letter, titled ' Don't Blame the US for Looting of Baghdad Museum '.

It is certainly true that US forces in Baghdad should not be blamed for this fiasco...they don't have the authority to issue their own orders. However, based o­n the information that is beginning to come out here in the US, it remains to be seen whether the Pentagon will have to share some of the responsibility for this immeasurable loss.

Apparently a group of art curators, historians, and archeologists met with Pentagon officials several times prior to the war and presented them with a list of archeological and other sites that should be protected, particularly the Baghdad Museum. A number of these individuals have come forward to say that they were assured that the museum would be protected. Many parties are calling for an investigation into why, in the light of such assurances, it was not.

There was a fairly detailed discussion of this issue o­n 'The Charlie Rose Show' last week, with the participation of the curators of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Kimbell Art Museum in Forth Worth, Texas. For those who are interested, the discussion should be available in a few days at this website .