The 2008 election exit polls unsurprisingly revealed that in the end, it was the economy that determined the victory for Barack Obama. But, as we also know, the election primary campaign, at least in the beginning was about policy differences over our own exit strategies in the war in Iraq.

When A2ethics.org invited Katharyn Hanson of the University of Chicago to talk with us about her work in mounting the special exhibit on the 2003 looting of the Iraq museum(www.oi.uchicago.edu/museum/special/catastrophe/) after the fall of the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein, and the entry of American troops into Baghdad, we had two important reasons.

The first is that we are committed to showcasing people in their 20s and 30s going about their daily work with an eye on the ethical implications of what they do.

The second reason is we wanted to talk about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in a way that would highlight the sorrow and loss precipitated by wars or even natural disasters, when they lead to breakdowns in civil authority.

We wanted to get the facts in order to pose some questions. Among these questions:

What should the role of a military force be in protecting cultural sites when there is a breakdown of civil authority? How should military personnel be trained to know about these sites? And what should the role of academics be in helping to teach the military? What should we take away from the 2003 looting of the Baghdad museum in order to prevent it from happening elsewhere?

What about those people, especially those who stand to gain most from the spoils of war, such as dealers, collectors and museums? What should their obligations be in helping to create and enforce incentives against the stealing of cultural treasures during times of chaos?

This is not a Donald Rumsfeld-like "stuff happens" in war lecture. Katharyn Hanson's talk is about what has happened to the most prized stuff of the Iraqi people, the sculptures, cylinder seals and the vases that tell their stories. Ultimately, it is about what has happened to everyone's story and heritage of our own past, as these treasures in the Baghdad museum are no ordinary treasures. They are the keepsakes of the oldest civilizations on earth.