New IS video shows militants smashing ancient Iraq artifacts

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

BAGHDAD (AP) — The Islamic State group has released a video purportedly showing militants using sledgehammers to smash ancient artifacts in Iraq's northern city of Mosul.

The five-minute video shows a group of bearded men in a museum using hammers and drills to destroy several large statues, including one depicting a winged-bull Assyrian protective deity that dates back to the 9th century B.C.

The extremist group has destroyed a number of shrines -- including Muslim holy sites -- in order to eliminate what it views as heresy. The militants are also believed to have sold ancient artifacts on the black market in order to finance their bloody campaign across the region.

The video bore the logo of the IS group's media arm and was posted on a Twitter account used by the group.

Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20150226/ml-islamic-state-destroying-artifacts-ce5421555a.html

[Diclotican]

1. Omaha Steve

Omaha Steve

BARBARS - wel, not even the BARBARS was that devestating - horrible.. I just want to cry....

Diclotican

[CountAllVotes]

51. Hang in there Diclotican!!!

We know how you feel and you are not alone! This is a horrific crisis and a terrible loss! Please don't cry!

[RKP5637]

2. There people are the personification of pure evilness! n/t

[blackspade]

3. Not remotely shocked

These are the same people who cut people's heads off with a knife, sell girls into sexual slavery, and wipe out whole ethnic groups after all.

Being an archaeologist, I'm appalled, but compared to some of the other shit these assholes do, this while a crime against history, pales in the face of the suffering caused to those alive today.

I thought anonymous was shutting these assholes down anyway? They need to get to fucking work!

[billhicks76]

5. Anonymous?

I would wager the CIA wants ISIS to rise as a counterbalance to the Shia and probably are preventing anyone stopping their promotional videos.

[Fred Sanders]

7. No one has prevented the American media from broadcasting the propaganda videos repeatedly.

[pasto76]

38. wow thats some fringe thinking there bubba

"a counterbalance" to "the shia"

iraqi shia? Shia in general? Are you insinuating that IS could somehow help keep Iran in check?

"the shia" in iraq have been pretty docile so far. Why would the CIA need them "counterbalanced"?

[billhicks76]

47. Divide And Conquor

It's a policy if destabilization. Just like when we supported both sides of the Iran/Iraq War. That way no one group can assert power.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

33. ^

Human evil....

[Bosonic]

4. 3000 year appointment with Jihadi agents of entropy

[Fred Sanders]

6. Destroying Qurans and ancient Muslim artifacts and priceless texts...not Muslim, just pure evil.

What "Christian" would destroy and burn and desecrate thier own religions sacred texts and Holy Book?

It is like the KKK having a Bible and Church burning and still calling themselves "Christians".

They are because they say the are? Never mind their deeds?

Blowing up the Mosul Public Library...an act of epic criminality.

This has to have folks who may have thought that way doing some long needed rethinking - ISIS is the enemy of all mankind, they kill and kidnap anyone of any religion not in total agreement with their fucked up evil.

They have killed, kidnapped or enslaved anyone not wearing identical black hats. They have enslaved ?Mosul, a city of 1.4 million Muslims....and are about to be booted out soon by....Muslims.

What more evidence do you need...Christians, Muslims, Yazidis, everyone is a target..... ISIS is a one stop shop of hate.

Mosul Public Library...before....

[Gore1FL]

8. It's evil from the manipulation of religon

It's both evil and Muslim. The KKK is evil and Christian.

[Fred Sanders]

9. So..why are the KKK not burning Bibles - in the name of "Christianity"? Did I miss something there?

Just a better class of evil, are they?

[riderinthestorm]

11. Because Christians don't have sects that revere Bibles

Or who believe a certain type of Bible is heresy.

Islam does obviously. This sect does.

[Fred Sanders]

16. No Christian sect "reveres" the Bible? Really........again, I must be missing something.

[riderinthestorm]

19. You are. You asked why isn't the KKK burning Bibles.

I answered that there aren't any Christian sects that would find a non-conforming Bible to be heretical (and thus needing to be burnt), because there aren't any Christians who revere Bibles (like Muslims revere Qurans).

I don't see though that ISIS is burning Qurans. That's what has sparked mass rioting in the past.

[karynnj]

31. I think most Christian religions revere the Bible

In addition, there is a difference between the Catholic Bible and the Protestant Bible in terms of what old testament books are included. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/asktheexpert/jun01.html

In addition, there are some differences between the various translations of the Bible.

Yet, differences aside - I have never heard of the KKK, which was anti Catholic - ever rounding up Catholic Bibles and destroying them.

The destruction of the works of art and the library itself attacks culture and history itself. The Taliban destroyed some giant Buddhas in Afghanistan in early 2001.

(Here's an article that is fascinating given that it was pre 911 and that among other things it spoke of the sanctions then in place and their affect. I had goggled to make sure of the time frame, but think this fascinating - though completely OT for this thread. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/19/world/19TALI.html )

[riderinthestorm]

34. Christians have reverence for the Bible but don't go apeshit if one is destroyed

They understand that a singular copy of that book being destroyed doesn't diminish the Bible per se.

[Calista241]

53. Christians revere the meaning and text of the bible.

Not the physical book itself. In addition, the idea of a book burning causes a very negative reaction in many Americans.

[Bluenorthwest]

13. Since when is 'evil' a word meaning 'one who burns Bibles'? The KKK lynched human beings. Evil.

Burning books is not the only manifestation of 'evil', one can not say 'well, if they don't burn Bibles they are not evil'. They killed people, burned churches, torched towns. How is that 'better' than burning books? What the fuck are you trying to say here?

[Gore1FL]

15. I am not sure burning bibles is evil,

Regardless, it is safe to assume they oxidized a few when they burned down black churches.

[Fred Sanders]

17. Burning Churches, burning Mosques. Same evil, same devils. What religion worships devilry?

[Gore1FL]

30. All of them.

Religions are man-made institutions of manipulation. They are, therefore, inherently evil.

[LanternWaste]

41. Burning bibles seems almost as bad as burning crosses...

Burning bibles in the name of "Christianity" seems almost as bad as burning crosses in the name of "Christianity"...

Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

[Coventina]

20. Throughout history MANY Christians have destroyed books and art in the name of Christianity.

Two very famous instances: The Byzantine Iconoclasm and the Protestant Iconoclasm.

Many Muslims throughout history have practiced iconoclasm as well, believing that images and even display of opulence is anti-Muslim.

Destruction and the Abrahamic faiths go hand-in-hand. The Hebrew scriptures call for the breaking of any idols. This is often interpreted to mean any image, whether part of the faith or not.

Claiming devotion to the faith while destroying artifacts of it is NOT contradictory to this tradition.

[Fred Sanders]

25. It is not a "tradition"......it is evil. Is there nuance to pure evil I am not getting?

[Coventina]

27. Some traditions are evil. n/t

[BlancheSplanchnik]

32. human history is full of evil

Destruction of beauty and culture that went before....always makes me really sad.

[snagglepuss]

48. I'm fed up with whataboutery. Exactly how many hundreds ago did those events happen?

Thanks to the Enlightenment the West put Christianity in its place and we have been free from that form of destruction. I don't disagree with you about the Abrahamic faiths but of them Islam is the worst because of the belief that the Koran is word for word dictated by god and the duty of humans is to submit to that word not come up with subjective interpretations.

[Coventina]

49. I was in no way trying to say, "What about Christianity?"

My point was that people who are trying to claim that "No true Muslim" would do these things are wrong.

I was merely expanding that to include all the Abrahamic faiths. True Jews, Christians, and Muslims have always destroyed things in the names of their religions.

I am totally pro-Enlightenment and always try to point out that it's secularism, not some magical maturation process of Christianity, that provided us with the liberal-democratic world we enjoy.

[Turbineguy]

10. Who needs the past

when you have no future?

[Bluenorthwest]

14. Who needs TV when you have T-Rex?

nt

[Grins]

12. Hckofajob...!

Mr. Bush and Mr. Rumsfeld. Never would have happened without 'ya!

[ReRe]

26. Rumsfeld said something like...

... "Shit happens" when the Iraqis were pillaging the Antiquities when we invaded Baghdad, and our soldiers just sat in their vehicles and watched them, not attempting to save anything.

[jwirr]

18. I would think that this will merely make other Muslims more angry at them.

[Fred Sanders]

21. Yes, after the thousands of "other Muslims" they have already killed and enslaved this should do it..??

[jwirr]

23. Just another nail. And I do not know why the Muslim countries are holding back. Maybe the rulers

are afraid to create a large military force that may after getting rid of ISIS will then turn against them? Who knows?

[Fred Sanders]

24. There are 50 Muslims nations in the coalition...Jordan, Iran, Turkey are most active...and who do

you think, what religion, is fighting and dying in the hundreds on the ground?

Not to mention these countries have a tiny fraction of the military might of one certain military Goliath.

It is not a black hat/ white hat world of simplicity.

[barbtries]

22. fucking cavemen.

this will not advance their cause.

[ReRe]

28. I think they are Taliban...

... with a new name. Remember, they didn't like relics either.

Somebody answer me this: Why is it we have the biggest baddest military, the NS effing A, the CIA and God knows what else at our fingertips, yet we can't wipe these Evil medievals off the face of the earth?

Is it because we created them over the last 15 years? Or the previous 50 years?

The destruction of ancient manuscripts and those statues from the 9th century, et al, rips my heart out. Then, of course, you have all the corpses in the path behind them.

I'm out of here for a while. Depression is setting in.

[One_Life_To_Give]

37. Collateral Damage

Sure a Minuteman 3 could wipe them out. But it is going to take alot of innocent people out in the process. Separating out the Jihadists from the rest of the civilians in not something our big military is especially good at. Tanks and missiles are not particularly good at telling people apart. We could put a couple divisions of ground troops in there. And it would look alot like turning on the lights in a room full of cockroaches.

Ultimately the real work has to be done by the locals who are going to live and work there. It can't really be imposed by a foreign power thousands of miles and culturally even further away.

[ReRe]

50. Thank you for your remarks

You're right. They need to learn how to fight their own wars over there. They know who is who allot easier than us. To us, they all look alike. To them, we can't be trusted since we have killed so many of their innocents.

[closeupready]

29. This is sad, but the Saudis destroyed many of their own historical artifacts, and

continue to do so, yet, we read very little about it in the US media ... I guess because they're rich?

http://uscar.usc.edu/?p=1123

[packman]

35. Romans - the barbarians - burnt the library of Alexandria

Holding the writings and the history of the ancient world from such writers as Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Homer and Plato - a loss to humanity and containing the works of:

"mothers and fathers of mathematics, astronomy, physics, geometry, engineering, geography, physiology and medicine. These included notable thinkers such as Euclid, Archimedes, Eratosthenes, Herophilus, Erasistratus, Hipparchus, Aedesia, Pappus, Theon, Hypatia, and Aristarchus of Samos.[5]

" at its height, the library was said to possess nearly half a million scrolls, and, although historians debate the precise number, the highest estimates claim 400,000 scrolls while the most conservative estimates are as low as 40,000, which is still an enormous collection that required vast storage space. This library, with the largest holdings of the age, acquired its collection by laborious copying of originals. Galen spoke of how all ships visiting the city were obliged to surrender their books for immediate copying. The owners received a copy while the pharaohs kept the originals in the library within their museum"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Alexandria

[NuclearDem]

45. One of the worst losses in human history.

There's also the Mongol destruction of the Library of Baghdad, and the destruction of countless Greco-Roman works during the sack of Rome (including 75% of one of most comprehensive histories of Rome).

[eissa]

36. Not since the Mongols of Tamerlane

has a group spread as much death and destruction in that region as these barbarians. This is genocide, plain and simple. Genocide is not just limited to wiping out people, but erasing their history. And that is exactly what these savages are doing; murdering Assyrian Christians in areas they control (they currently hold over 200 Assyrian hostages from the Khabour region of Syria) to now wiping out their history in Mosul. When will this madness end?

http://www.aawsat.net/2015/02/article55341853/274-assyrian-christian-captives-awaiting-isis-trial

[lutefisk]

39. George W. Bush, the gift that keeps on giving...nt

[sulphurdunn]

40. They're worse than the ancient Hebrews,

and that's saying a lot.

[MisterP]

42. remember when everyone was demanding a "Muslim Reformation"? this IS it!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beeldenstorm

[blkmusclmachine]

43. Sounds like ISIS is getting funded through American Evangelical groups.

[NuclearDem]

44. Fucking monsters.

[Alameda]

46. From Ahmed Rehad's public post on Facebook

"So ISIS destroys 3,000 year old statues with "Allahu Akbar." Another video is made and spread widely. Once again, Muslims are made to look like barbaric fools by ISIS inc., or at least are supposed to feel that way and be seen that way.
Except I feel as far removed from ISIS as I do from the Narcotics Mafia.
Destruction of history is not in my Islamic legacy. Last I checked the Sphinx is still standing despite 14 centuries of Islam in Egypt that started with no less than the Sahaba (companions of the Prophet). In fact, the only injury that befell the Sphinx was at the hands of a Frenchman, Napoleon, who reportedly canon balled his nose off. Similarly, most of the lands where Islam spread around the time of the Sahaba or thereafter are lands in which their pre-Islamic monuments are among the best-preserved world-wide.
Which begs the question, from where does ISIS really get its inspiration, seeing as even the Sahaba are not Muslim enough for ISIS inc?
In any case, that is all ISIS is good for: destruction. They destroy but never build. They kill but never nurture. Build and nurture is what a state is supposed to do. Well, they are not a state and never intended to be, they are a death and destruction squad serving a mixture of their own goals and that of their allies of convenience. (Google "Death Squads" for the history).
Their only net gain to date: well death and destruction (of mostly Muslims and Islamic sites), but furthermore, the anti-Muslim sentiments ISIS has bred in the world is worse now than that at the apex of the aftermath of 9/11.
Isn't it interesting that when the fabled Islamic state (supposedly) finally materialized after a century of idealistic aspiration by so-called Islamists, it ended up looking very similar - if not identical - to an Islamphobe's conceptualization of what that would be and nothing like the legacy of the many historic (so-called) Islamic states as Muslims have known them from India to China to Turkey to Egypt to Morocco to Spain to Timbuktu to you name it - not to mention Syria or Iraq themselves (both of whom were resplendent seats of Islamic civilization).
And yet some still call it the "Islamic State" and attack us if we object. It's like they sorta kinda want it to be. The question is: why?"

[Nihil]

52. Thank you for re-posting that.

(ETA: Not sarcastic - I'm not a Facebook person but that was a good response
and I'm glad I had chance to read it here.)