Palmyra

[Khandro]

I feel bad enough, but I can't imagine how this man feels, and I hadn't realised the full extent of the destruction by the Islamic maniacs.

http://theartnewspaper.com/news/conservation/the-man-who-spent-40-years-preserving-palmyra-s-past/?utm_source=weekly_oct21_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email_weekly

[Orderlimit]

It really is incomprehensible and what a loss.

When Russian and Syrian troops reclaimed the site, it became clear that practically everything in the museum had been broken. They destroyed everything systematically, room by room, sculpture by sculpture, using hammers and other heavy tools.

[Khandro]

Yes, the stupidity is hard to comprehend. Also, I have always taken it that the missing features on the face of The Great Sphynx were caused by deterioration of the stone by the passage of time, but I only recently learnt that it was systematically defaced by a zealous Muslim madman in the 13th century. More recently we have had the Bamyan Buddhist sculptures completely destroyed too.
It is encouraging to hear that the fragments of the sculptures have been carefully gathered and may be re-constructed, but the two giant Bamyan figures were reduced to dust, by mortars.
Islam, - "the religion of peace", more, the religion of stupidity.

[Orderlimit]

Praising the “ruthless clarity” of Russian President Vladimir Putin in aiding the Syrian government's removal of “maniac” Islamic State jihadists from Palmyra, Johnson said that Moscow has made the West look “ineffective.”

“If reports are to be believed, the Russians have not only been engaged in airstrikes against Assad’s opponents, but have been seen on the ground as well. If Putin’s troops have helped winkle the maniacs from Palmyra, then (it pains me to admit) that is very much to the credit of the Russians. They have made the West look ineffective; and so now is the time for us to make amends, and to play to our strengths,” Johnson wrote in his column for the Telegraph.

Johnson went on to note the archaeological and historical significance of the city, much of which has been destroyed by Islamic State.

“The victory of Assad is a victory for archaeology, a victory for all those who care about the ancient monuments of one of the most amazing cultural sites on Earth,” Johnson wrote.

“The monsters of ISIL were not just content to murder anyone who refused to accept their barbaric version of Islam. They were so small, so narrow, so stunted in their understanding of the will of God that they regarded any pre-Islamic building or structure – no matter how beautiful – as being somehow a blasphemy. They have mined, bombed and demolished some of the most sublime buildings in the world,” he continued.

[Orderlimit]

Sorry, Khandro, part of my post seems missing, basically a bit odd that Russian military received no real praise from the West fro their complex role in Palmyra.

[naomi24]

This has been discussed here before. One suggestion was that 'buildings can be re-built'. :o/

See 'Related Questions'.

[Orderlimit]

Thank you Naomi24,

From UNESCO site: The site of Palmyra, An oasis in the Syrian desert, north-east of Damascus, Palmyra contains the monumental ruins of a great city that was one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world. From the 1st to the 2nd century, the art and architecture of Palmyra, standing at the crossroads of several civilizations, married Graeco-Roman techniques with local traditions and Persian influences.

Then viewed the related question's on AB. I really am gobsmacked reading the related question's, especially the first page of this thread

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/News/Question1440523.html

[naomi24]

Orderlimit, 'Gobsmacked' is a good word. We had a similar gem of wisdom from the same source a couple of days ago when the 'children' arriving here from the migrant camp in Calais were compared to those who were rescued from Nazi Germany in the late 1930s. I had something to say about that too. The ignorance of some people never ceases to astonish me.

[Orderlimit]

"The ignorance of some people never ceases to astonish me", the same here Naomi. The disgraceful statement regarding the Kindertransport, is certainly one of the most offensive, uneducated comments I've seen in 2016.

However, it does help us to understand how easily it is for people (especially on the Left) to be manipulated and brainwashed into talking/thinking such credulous nonsense and then used (and abused) as propagandists for seriously harmful causes they no next to nothing about. The term Useful Idiots, obviously springs to mind.

[naomi24]

Indeed.

[jourdain2]

Quite happy to go along with general thread of posts here.