But you have to give Greg credit in seeing your agenda! :)

Looted booty - paintings, etc., - should be returned to its original owners when possible. As you say, if there's no compensation, then problems can fester.

However, I don't believe - in general - that an unconditional [link|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_of_return|"right of return"] should exist. Yes, people displaced in war should be able to return to their homes. But how many generations or decades should be allowed to elapse with it in effect? If my great-grandfather owned a farm in Russia that was taken by the Bolsheviks, should I be able to reclaim it? I don't think so. It's obviously especially problematic for Israel and Palestine. There comes a time when people must let the past be the past and move on, IMHO.

Paying limited compensation is a good idea. But deciding the level, who gets it, who pays it ("the USA of course!"), and how it is paid is a terrible Goridan knot - one that's not easily cut. Especially when many people regard land as something that can't be compensated.

Cheers,
Scott.

Post #263,415 by a6l6e6x 8/2/06 11:26:35 AM Reply	But you have to give Greg credit in seeing your agenda! :) If there is no compensation for confiscation, troubles never end. They can even get violent. Alex When fascism comes to America, it'll be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross. -- Sinclair Lewis
Post #263,422 by boxley 8/2/06 12:03:03 PM Reply	I was waiting for a HECK NO followed by WAIT A MINUTE :-) Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 50 years. meep
Post #263,427 by Another Scott 8/2/06 12:39:03 PM Reply	There should be limited compensation for confiscation. Looted booty - paintings, etc., - should be returned to its original owners when possible. As you say, if there's no compensation, then problems can fester. However, I don't believe - in general - that an unconditional [link\|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_of_return\|"right of return"] should exist. Yes, people displaced in war should be able to return to their homes. But how many generations or decades should be allowed to elapse with it in effect? If my great-grandfather owned a farm in Russia that was taken by the Bolsheviks, should I be able to reclaim it? I don't think so. It's obviously especially problematic for Israel and Palestine. There comes a time when people must let the past be the past and move on, IMHO. Paying limited compensation is a good idea. But deciding the level, who gets it, who pays it ("the USA of course!"), and how it is paid is a terrible Goridan knot - one that's not easily cut. Especially when many people regard land as something that can't be compensated. Cheers, Scott.

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