Selling off Saddams stuff

Recently some soldiers who were involved in guarding Sadaams palace in Tikrit have set in motion plans to sell personal artifacts formerly belonging to Sadaam that were "liberated" from his Tikrit palace.

Is this legal? We are talking, uniforms, medals, and other personal artifacts from his bedroom and closets.

Would these soldiers get in trouble if this stuff started appearing on Ebay?

From the lack of comments then, nobody cares if Saddam's stuff gets auctioned off? It's ok because it is the spoils of war and all that stuff.

I must assume that this is of course against the law. I think that this is one of the stupidest things I've heard in a while relating to soldiers. Even stealing from their attackers and selling their belongings on Ebay after their death should be against the law. But to possess Saddam's belongings, who still remains as a very prominent figure in the world, and one of the centers of several countries' attention, is just plain stupid. I wouldn't be surprised if this made national news if his objects began to appear on Ebay...

Thanks for your reply Omniscient. That is what I was thinking, but since the beginning of warfare, soldiers have been bringing home souveniers. I can remember one of my uncles who served in WW2 having a German Mauser rifle in his collection of war booty. Do you think that is the same thing, or is it different?

Hm. Well, that's actually pretty hard for me to answer. I guess it's partially better than what we are talking about here, because the former owners of those souveneirs are probably dead. In this case, the owner of the objects in question is quite alive, and, as I said earlier, a big center of media attention around the world.

Items from his palaces and such have been seen on ebay for over two years this is nothing new.

Saddam curios for sale online

Soldiers put Iraq 'war trophies' on eBay

I know that is some cases such as one item purported to be from the statue in the center of Baghdad were believed to be fake and ebay ordered them removed.

I also recall some mention a while back from the US where they stated they had taken action to recover stolen artifacts that were allegedly removed by US forces, which once recovered were then returned to Iraq.

I am sure this is not considered legal however you have to keep in mind that the Iraqis themselves did a lot of looting of palaces also and then sold those items for profit to US forces. Under those conditions one could assume they would have to determine who took the items in the first place.
The second source indicates it is unlawful to bring back stolen items however it is legal to bring back items that were purchased.

Both Cramer and Dearinger said the items they're now selling were declared and cleared by U.S. Customs upon their return home.

"They didn't say anything bad about taking the rugs home, or artifacts. They considered them war trophies," Dearinger said.

But Cmdr. Dan Gage, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said soldiers are not allowed to bring back "war trophies" -- only legally purchased souvenirs.
Soldiers put Iraq 'war trophies' on eBay

Thanks Omniscient, and thanks to you to shots. I appreciate the linkage.