Op-Ed: Should Cambodian 'blood antiquities' be returned?

CNN | OPINION

By Mark V. Vlasic

This kneeling figure at the Metropolitan Museum of Art 

was estimated to have been carved around 921 to 945

The last time most New Yorkers focused on pillaged antiquities from Cambodia was likely after the release of the Angelina Jolie film "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider," which featured the heroine's adventures through the country's famous archaeological wonder, Angkor Wat. But according to a recent New York Times story, Cambodia has now set its sights on another Manhattan institution: the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Indeed, if there is to be any real progress, both sides of the issue will likley have to make concessions. They can treat Cambodia's requests as obstacles, or recognize them as the opportunities they are to right past wrongs and set the moral standard for the entire field. [link]