Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Muted Response to Russian Bombing Attack Near Palmyra's Ancient Citadel

The archaeological blogosphere has had a muted response to a Russian attack on ISIS positions near the ancient citadel of Palmyra.  Last month, Assad's director of antiquities reacted favorably to other such reports.  CPO wonders if the response would be as muted if US warplanes conducted similar attacks on archaeologically significant areas.
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4 comments:

  1. kyriNovember 4, 2015 at 8:35 AM

    i saw a news report by a respected award winning australian newscaster saying that when ISIS attacked palmyra they were in a "convoy of at least 60 vehicles, the US didnt bomb the convoy because it was attacking an area held by Assad forces".until the US decides ISIS is the real problem in syria, they might as well stop bombing all together and let the rusians get on with it.i agree with Dave welsh on this,i wish the "west" had a leader half as strong as Putin.
    kyri.

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  2. Cultural Property ObserverNovember 4, 2015 at 9:46 AM

    I'll agree with you that the US response to ISIS has been "muddled" at best. I would also note that the US has apparently decided against using force to protect archaeological sites like Palmyra because of fears that it would allow ISIS to claim that the US is only interested in protecting old buildings not people. I disagree with that and think more can and should have been done, i.e., dropping air borne mines onto the site to discourage ISIS from entering it.

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  3. Duncan FinchNovember 5, 2015 at 1:10 AM

    " dropping air borne mines onto the site to discourage ISIS from entering it." Great idea!! Wow! And then the ISIS people will simply round up all the Kurds, Christians, Yazidis, Shiites etc. they've captured and force them to walk all over the site to set off those mines and make the place safe for them. GET A GRIP!!!

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  4. Cultural Property ObserverNovember 5, 2015 at 2:21 AM

    Oh well, it was a thought....not that the Kurds etc have much good to look forward to if they are captured.

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