Islamic State militants swept into the desert city of Palmyra in central Syria on Wednesday, and by evening were in control of it [...].
Palmyra has extra resonance, with its grand complex of 2,000-year-old colonnades and tombs, one of the world’s most magnificent remnants of antiquity [...] that has raised fears both locally and internationally that Palmyra, a United Nations world heritage site, could also suffer irrevocable damage.
— nytimes.com
12 Comments
My Syrian friends (in Syria) say this is not true. That ISIL tried to take Palmyra, but SAA (Syrian Army) and Hezbollah (working together) fought them off, preventing it and saving the ancient ruins from destruction. They say many other things besides, few of them flattering to USA entanglement with ISIL.
It's hard to tell what's true these days when it comes to this stuff. US media doesn't report anything about Syria's successes against ISIL, and reports US action against them wrong.
we all know the media can't be trusted but the first paragraph clearly reveals source of information gwharton -"BEIRUT, Lebanon — Islamic State militants swept into the historic desert city of Palmyra in central Syria on Wednesday, and by evening were in control of it, residents and the Syrian state news media said, a victory that gives them another strategically important prize five days after the group seized the Iraqi city of Ramadi." which suggests something quite different than what you propose in youe 2nd paragraph. you have an agenda? lets talk about architecture.
Look at the source, the NYT. I stopped reading that shit 20 years ago when a front page article stated something in historical context that I categorically knew was absolutely false. The whole premise of the article was based on a lie. Just like 99.999% of politics.
This is why control of the 'net is such a big thing, it's the last place where you can get a different point of view (not that it's any more verifiable, more accurate, less agenda driven, less manipulative, etc.).
I'm inclined to have far more faith in gwharton's second hand story than I am in any corporate media source, especially one as transparently propagandistic and jingoistic as the NYT (gotta get those WMDs!). Murdoch's NY Post is better because simply because it's not pretending to be anything other than what it is.
The likelihood that this site will be saved from systematic and deliberate destruction is slim. Even if it is not in the hands of ISIS it is on the front lines and is probably taking fire from both sides.
Let's try again to bring democracy to Iraq maybe the third time it will stick?
or we can face the facts that Syria Egypt Iraq Timbuktu and other wold heritage sites now in control of dictators and extremist will be lost and there is nothing we can do about it.
The Pyramids are being looted as we speak, the national museums in Cairo and Alexandria were looted a few months ago. coincidentally international auction houses have some interesting Egyptian and Syrian artifacts for sale.
Over and OUT
Peter N
gwharton, maybe you talked to your friend before it got bad?
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32837336
^ The UN, though not present in Palmyra, cited "credible sources".
Like the US State Department?
miles it clearly says the source is the state run media of Syria....its a 2nd hand story....in this case US media is being informed supposedly by the Syria state media......so neither gwharton nor your post indicates you read much of anything.......so why does being accurate matter if everyone has their agenda already?
No, it says the UN, with no presence, is citing unnamed sources. In other words somebody who's not there is supposedly telling you what someone they won't name said.
Why would anyone waste their time reading this bullshit?
i am talking about the nytimes article....nevermind i qouted it....cant do bold or italics on phone....syrian state media told nytimes is what it clearly reads.
Look at the bright side... maybe they'll spare Palmyra and distract themselves by setting people on fire!
...or destroy it and use the rubble for public stoning.
Everything seems to be going according to plan: US armed and funded ISIS is slowly taking down the Syrian government, which Vlad stopped the US from doing when he brokered the deal to 86 Syria's chemical weapons reserve. Damn Russians!
You gotta wonder why it's not OK for Syria to have chemicals and Iran to have nukes but it is OK for Israel to have both.
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