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.