On the Predictable Failure of Geneva III

Syria 360

Riyadh-backed Opposition Left Geneva Talks Due to Syrian Army’s Victories

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Al-Jaafari : The Syrian army will continue fighting terrorism regardless of the Geneva outcome

5 February، 2016
Geneva, SANA

Head of the delegation of the Syrian Arab Republic to the Syrian-Syrian dialogue in Geneva Bashar al-Jaafari said the track of political dialogue is one thing and combating terrorism is another thing.
Al-Jaafari told the BBC TV channel in an interview aired on Thursday that he told the UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura that the Syrian Arab Army, with the help of the friends and allies, is going ahead with fighting terrorism.
“This is our right according to the UN resolutions and the international law,” he said.
“We are not trying to cover one thing with another, as the war against terrorism is going on whether we come to Geneva or not,” al-Jaafari added.
He made it clear that the Syrian government is not using the Geneva platform as a means to cover for the army’s advance. “This advance doesn’t wait for the Geneva round,” added al-Jaafari.
He stressed that the Syrian Arab army has been fighting terrorism for five years and will continue to do so regardless of the Geneva track.
Earlier Wednesday, de Mistura announced suspending the Syrian-Syrian dialogue in Geneva until the 25th of February.
Commenting on de Mistura’s announcement , al-Jaafari said this matter is premature and the capitals concerned will assess what happened.
This date is not sacred, he said, adding “we will decide whether we will come back on the 25th or before or after that date through the diplomatic channels.”
He held the Riyadh opposition and the UN envoy responsible for what happened in Geneva.
“The special envoy, with his undue diplomacy, allowed the Riyadh delegation to manipulate his good intentions,” said al-Jaafari, calling for not repeating the mistakes that occurred during Geneva 2 conference in terms of the bad preparation and the imposing of one delegation out of a broad spectrum of opposition groups as a party to the dialogue.
H. Said

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Churkin: “Syrian Opposition” delegation came to Geneva to complain, not to hold dialogue

5 February، 2016
New York, SANA



Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vitaly Churkin said that the “Syrian Opposition” delegation came to Geneva to complain, not to hold dialogue, stressing that there mustn’t be preconditions for resuming the Geneva talks on Syria.

In a press conference following closed discussions at the Security Council regarding the report by UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, Churkin noted that de Mistura did not hold the Russian airstrikes responsible for suspending the talks in Geneva, in response to accusations to this effect made by Western and regional sides.

Russia’s Representative said the discussions with de Mistura were good, with the Envoy presenting his ideas in a diplomatic manner without directing any accusations or criticism towards Russia.

He also said that the airstrikes carried out by the Washington-led alliance in Syria are illegal, as the alliance didn’t receive approval from the Syrian government.

Churkin hoped that intra-Syrian dialogue in Geneva would be resumed before February 25th, which is the date set by de Mistura, adding that the “opposition” wasn’t represented in a sufficient manner that complies with the Vienna statements and resolution no.2254, and that Turkey undermined dialogue by refusing the participation of representatives of Kurds.
He stressed the need for more work to reach a better representation of the opposition, and the need to prevent repeating the negative Geneva 2 experience when they wanted to impose the “coalition” as the representative of all the opposition, noting that the Syrian Arab Republic delegation was ready for dialogue.

Churkin said that Russia will propose new ideas during the meeting of the international support group for Syria on February 11th in Munich, and that it will continue making efforts for events to run in the proper course in Syria, hoping that all partners would shoulder their responsibility.

Hazem Sabbagh

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UN doesn’t intend to send new invitations for Geneva talks

5 February، 2016
Geneva, SANA



Deputy of UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy, said the UN doesn’t intend to alter the invitations for the next round of intra-Syrian talks in Geneva which it hopes will begin on February 25th.

Ramzy told Reuters after a meeting with figures from the “Syrian opposition” that were invited to the Geneva talks as individuals, not as a group, that there will be no other invitations, nor will new invitations be issued in a different form.

Later, AFP quoted de Msitura as telling Italy’s la Repubblica newspaper that they are ready to resume intra-Syrian talk before February 25th, and that the goal of that is to reach a solution; not merely negotiate for negotiations’ sake.

De Mistura also said that during the upcoming meeting for the international support group for Syria in Munich, the UN will verify the participants’ desire to reach a political solution for the crisis in Syria, and at what pace they wish to pursue this course.

Hazem Sabbagh

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The West Intends to Destroy Russia Mentally

Posted on February 5, 2016

by Richard Edmondson

[Ed. note – Yesterday it was reported that Saudi Arabia would willingly send ground troops into Syria should it get the nod from the US. A Russian lawmakerhas now responded to that declaration by the Saudis, saying that such a ground incursion would in essence be a declaration of war. You might want to check that out as a context for the interview below published today by Pravda. ]

Geneva talks on the peaceful settlement of the conflict in Syria have been suspended. Obviously, Western leaders do not need peace – they need more bloodshed in the Middle East.

We spoke about the problems of world politics and the global war of the West against Russia with political scientist, historian, writer, Doctor of Political Sciences, MGIMO Professor and President of the International Institute of Scientific Cooperation, Elena Ponomareva.

“British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said that Russia’s and Iran’s participation in the talks on the Syrian problems would not bring any positive results, as Moscow and Tehran supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. He claimed that Russia was bombing civilians in Syria. Why did such harsh accusations appear prior to the talks in Geneva?”

“The pressure continues. This is a part of the informational war of the West against Russia. The more success Russia achieves both internationally and domestically, the tougher the West will react to our achievements. If Russia is successful in regulating certain conflicts, the West will not leave Russia alone – Western leaders will shower Russia with accusations. We have entered into a very long and difficult period of the informational, ideological, economic, political and psycho-historical war.

“It goes about the mental destruction of Russia as a subject of world politics. Churchill said during WWII that he was not fighting against Hitler – he was fighting against Schiller.

Churchill said that about the German nation. Nowadays, Western leaders are struggling not only against Putin as a symbol of Russia – they are trying to destroy the legacy of Tolstoy, Pushkin and Dostoevsky so that they never come back.

“The West is putting pressure on all of Russia’s initiatives. No reasonable arguments are given – there is no dialogue. Simply put, no matter what Russia may propose, Western politicians and media interpret it as something absurd, bad, evil, something aggressive and expansionist. Who is into expansionism here? There are thousands of army bases all over the world, transnational companies from the US and Western Europe control global economy – so who controls the world?

“The West sees Russia as a monster. Yet, I believe that there is nothing terrible there. It has always been like that: as soon as Russia appears as a strong power, the West tries to trash Russia. We could see that during the Crimean War, on the eve of the First and Second World Wars. Nevertheless, we must understand that the truth is on our side, as we are acting in the interests of our country. Politics is about defending interests, and Western leaders constantly reaffirm that.

“Russia protects its national interests, just like Western countries protect their own. We need to constantly remind the West of our interests and promote these interests no matter what. We should not succumb to pressure.

“When Russia is miserable, the West sees that as something normal. When Russia is rising, the West sees that as a threat. Yevgeny Primakov told me a story that literally shocked me. Andrei Kozyrev, when serving as foreign minister, told the Americans once that the Soviet Union was too much fixated on its national interests. Kozyrev told former US President Richard Nixon that the US could help us define our national interests. Can you imagine how low the then administration had fallen? That was the time when the West was happy to see Russia everywhere – in the G8, in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and so on.

“As soon as Russia realized that the so-called “universal values” were contrary to our national interests, that they infringed upon our sovereignty and brought chaos to the world, Russia took the position to protect its interests. In return, the West showed us its teeth ad claws. Our position must be clear and firm. We do not need to make excuses to anybody, we just need to do our job.”

“Why is the West demonizing Bashar al-Assad, comparing him to Hitler, calling him the butcher, who killed more than 200,000 Syrians?”

“We have seen examples like that in history before. Not that long ago, Western tabloids were calling Slobodan Milosevic the new Hitler too, the butcher of Belgrade. This resulted in the bombing and dismemberment of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia used to be a serious player in the region. Today, neither Serbia nor Montenegro have any significance in the region, let alone the narco-terrorist state – the so-called partially-recognized Republic of Kosovo. All this indirect evidence suggests that Milosevic was killed in the Hague prison. Today, multinational companies control the economic situation in these countries, starting from the banking sector and ending with the media and policy-makers.

“The same happened in Libya, where they demonized Gaddafi. Then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton screamed with happiness in the camera when she learned about the brutal murder of Gaddafi – that’s how her brain was twisted. There was also Saddam Hussein in Iraq, and now it’s Assad’s turn in Syria. The West is attacking Assad not just because he is a demon or something – the West needs to dismember Syria.

Syria is already in chaos. There are four zones in the country: the Syrian Republic, Kurdistan, ISIL-controlled territories and an uncontrolled zone. Bashar Assad is a symbolic obstacle on the way to the dismemberment of Syria. If Assad is toppled, Syria will be dismembered just like Iraq and Libya were. If the West is demonizing a political leader, it means that the West has a goal to destroy his state. This is a litmus test.”

“What can you say about the talks in Geneva?”

“Of course, negotiations are vital in the settlement of any crisis. As they say, while diplomats talk – guns are silent. Unfortunately, with regard to the Syrian crisis, gun continue shooting. The Geneva talks have not brought any change. They were shrouded in the spirit of confrontation from the start. Western partners are trying to bring together representatives of clearly radical and terrorist groups. Of course, one can not equally approach the positions of the United States and Russia. It is the leading players that should come to an agreement among themselves.

As soon as the Russian Federation and the United States, representatives of leading European states agreed on the Iranian nuclear program, it was resolved. It maybe a temporary solution, but it is a solution that appeared as a result of progress in negotiations. The same was about Ukraine.

“One needs to negotiate with puppeteers of the Syrian crisis – those who initiated and supported it – the United States. We need to convince the Americans that Russia will not pedal back.”

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Al-Moallem: Any Ground Intervention Is Aggression That Will Be Confronted

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem warned Saturday against any foreign ground intervention in its war after reports that Saudi Arabia and Turkey could send in troops.

"Any ground intervention on Syrian territory without government authorization would amount to an aggression that must be resisted," Moallem said at a news conference in Damascus.

"We assure you that any aggressor will return to his country in a wooden coffin."

Saudi Arabia, Moallem said, is implementing the US will, and “it seems that after Syrian army’s victories, the conspirators and funders have got fed up with their tools on the ground, and that they decided to get involved themselves.”

Moallem, however, ruled out such a move, but still recalled “their crazy decisions made not only against Yemen but also regarding other areas.”

Meanwhile, Moallem warned that “Everyone should realize, on top of all (UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan) de Mistura, that Syria is going for a Syrian- Syrian dialogue without any preconditions and will not comply with any precondition set by any party whatsoever.”

“The two Vienna Communiqués and the Security Council Resolution (2254) stress on the broadest representation of the opposition delegation” the Syrian FM said, adding “…We told them ‘do not repeat the mistakes of Geneva 2’.”

The top Syrian diplomat said that the Security Council resolution no. 2254 and the two Vienna Communiques state that the Syrian people alone have the right to determine their future and that dialogue should be a Syrian- led among the Syrians without foreign interference and without preconditions, while the statements of “Riyadh opposition” delegation, made even before the go to Geneva, were full of preconditions.

‘We asked the UN Special Envoy for Syria de Mistura to provide us with a list of  the names of those with whom we were going to have dialogue, because we wouldn’t hold dialogue with  ghosts,” the minister said.

Source: Agencies	06-02-2016 - 15:22 Last updated 06-02-2016 - 15:22

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River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

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Controlled Opposition and Jewish Dissent

February 04, 2016  /  Gilad Atzmon

The Goyim drift away,,,

In this NYC talk I suggest that Jewish dissent is, in practice, a controlled opposition apparatus. This talk will help you to connect the dots and to grasp your own responsibility.

https://youtu.be/tbx23Ygj3YM

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Washington Post Op-Ed Calls for "Safe Zones" in Syria

US Seeks to Turn Syria into the "Libya of the Levant." 

February 5, 2016 (Tony Cartalucci - LD) - As Aleppo is finally encircled and begins the process of liberation from NATO-backed terrorists who have besieged and occupied parts of the city since 2012, and as Syrian forces backed by its allies overwhelm enemy fronts across the rest of Syria, desperation across the West is palpable.

"Peace talks" in Geneva have all but collapsed with the West and its collection of terrorists and client political fronts coming to the negotiation table with absolutely nothing to bargain with. The political component of the West's proxy war has been ineffective and impotent almost from the beginning of the conflict in 2011. The militant component has been waning and upon Russia's entry into the conflict, folded over and sent on the run.

Image: NATO-armed and funded terrorists encircled, starved and besieged Libyan cities like Sirte and Bani Walid on the ground as NATO airpower pounded them from above. The result was not humanitarian salvation, but absolute and enduring devastation. 

This tenuous position has caused the West to once again dust-off its plans to invade and occupy Syrian territory along the Turkish-Syrian border - in the last remaining Islamic State-Al Qaeda supply corridor yet to be cut off by Syrian and Kurdish forces.

The call has manifested itself in both Turkish and Saudi military preparations, and now in an op-ed in the Washington Post.

Titled, "The diplomatic case for America to create a safe zone in Syria," Nicholas Burns - U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs from 2005 to 2008 - and James Jeffrey - U.S. ambassador to Iraq from 2010 to 2012 - proposed:

As the talks proceed, Obama and Kerry must also consider stronger measures to protect millions of civilians at risk, including establishing humanitarian corridors to reach those subjected to air assaults by the government and attacks by terrorist groups on the ground. Most important, we believe the Obama team will have to reconsider what it has rejected in the past: the creation of a safe zone in northern Syria to protect civilians, along with a no-fly zone to enforce it.

Of course, between this measure, and calls for the US to dump further resources into the defeated proxy terrorists on the ground in Syria, all Burns and Jeffery are proposing is the transformation of Syria into the "Libya of the Levant."

Readers should recall that precisely the same prescription was applied to Libya in 2011. "Moderate rebels" were also armed, funded, and given aircover amid a NATO-enforced no-fly zone in order to overthrow the government. What resulted was an orgy of genocidal mass murder and  then the subsequent fracturing and destruction of the nation-state that was Libya.


Today, the Islamic State has carved out a stronghold within Libyan territory, while two Frankenstein governments wage war against each other and a myriad of warlords across an apocalyptic, war-torn wasteland.

Images: Libya's so-called freedom-fighting "moderates" literally just repainted their trucks after NATO's 2011 intervention, becoming ISIS' Libyan branch. The US now finds itself justifying yet another military intervention in Libya to fight the very terrorists it helped arm and put into power in 2011. 

Far from protecting civilians or addressing humanitarian concerns, the United States' actions in Libya devastated an entire nation and has left it in what will likely be decades of deadly, disruptive conflict. So poor are the prospects of the Libyan people, many have fled to neighboring states as well as across the Mediterranean to Europe - hence a contributing factor to the ongoing "migrant crisis."

America's last option in Syria will likewise divide and destroy the country should it succeed. It will condemn tens of thousands of civilians to violent sectarian-driven deaths and drive hundreds of thousands more out of Syria into neighboring countries and onward to Europe to escape the predictable chaos.

The only "safe haven" that will exist will be for terrorist factions ranging from the "moderate" Al Qaeda groups the US and its allies openly back, to the Islamic State which the West more covertly backs. As Libya has been used to destabilize and launch operations against its neighbors, so too will Syria - being aimed at the remnants of the Iraqi government, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and of course Iran itself.

Image: For those complaining ceaselessly about the migrants produced from the West's global meddling and warmongering, now would be a good time to speak up against attempted intervention in Syria by the West in a last ditch effort to collapse the government in Damascus and create division and destruction that will turn a steady stream of refugees into a cataclysmic flood. 

For the US, in its attempts to sell intervention in Syria, we have Libya to serve as a showcase of what will result. With the US and its European allies poised to re-invade Libya to fight the various militant groups they themselves put into power in 2011, how could the world possibly stand by and allow this axis of aggression to do likewise in Syria?

For Syria and its allies, they are already bleeding upon the battlefield to prevent this fate from passing. For Europeans and North Americans wringing their hands over the ongoing migrant crisis, now is an opportunity to speak up before it is intentionally, premeditatively compounded further still. 

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Saudistan to Ask for Illegal Permission to Illegally Invade Syria

February 5, 2016

Miri Wood, RNc

Saudi occupied Arabia has announced it will seek the illegal authorization from the US to illegally invade the Syrian Arab Republic, at the upcoming Syrian-less meeting on Syria, in Brussels.  Saudistan has been a member of the war criminal coalition bombings of the Syrian people, since President Barack Obama made his terrible announcement on 10 September 2014, using the killing of an American, illegally in Syria, as cover story.   As the Saudis had asked permission of the US to launch their campaign of genocide against Yemen, there is the possibility that the upcoming request has already been asked and answered, and that the public one in the private meeting will be a formality.

White House-GCC meeting 14 May 2015

The Saudis, by the way, have failed so miserably in their attack on Yemen, to install a puppet regime, there, that they have had to commit to extreme domestic austerity, in order to fund their Decisive Storm operation.

It should be also noted that the Saudis have had ‘boots on the ground’ since the beginning of the Syrian crisis, except their troops have not been in uniform.

By mid-2015 the Saudis were executing at such a high rate that they had to hire 8 new beheaders, and it looked as though they might break their 1995 record of 195, in their death penalty.  They were short by 35 persons.  This is the tyrannical monarchy who asks US permission to commit mass foreign atrocities.

On 17 April 2012, the Saudi Wahhabi fiefdom gave legal immunity to 1,239 of its death row inmates, dispatching them to murder Syrians.

From Najd, the horn [also, “century”] of Satan will emerge.  — Prophet Mohammed, PBuH

On 29 August 2013, Mint Press reported interviews with terrorists of the FSA (before it sub-divided into separate gangs of mass-murderers) who lamented having killed many of their own with chemical weapons (most likely hydrogen cyanide, HCN), in al Ghouta, prompting them to rat out the Saudis as having provided the missiles.  Though Mint was the sole source of this information, the report rings true, as the FSA were not competent enough to have been given the  VX, used in the rabbit-killing video in the Turkish lab, with threats to unleash the neurotoxin on the Syrian people, and had only been ‘successful’ in using the primitive weapons-grade chlorine.*

Mint Press 29 August 2013

On 3 December 2013, Syria’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Bashar al Ja’afari — restrained by the US State Department to a 40km/25mi censorship —  announced that 300 Saudi terrorists had been arrested, in Syria, and that thousands of others had been killed.

In January 2014, it was reported that the Saudi population led in numbers of foreign terrorists, in Syria.

In July 2014, Nabeel Naiem, a high level al Qaeda operative, gave an in-depth interview, stated that, of course, Obama has always known the US was funding and arming the takfiri against Syria, and that the al Saud ‘royals’ were worried about being overthrownby them.

The Saudi occupiers of Arabia hate Syria with pathological venom.  They hate that Syria stands, despite being invaded by terrorists from 100 countries around the world, for almost 5 years.  They hate that Syria is civilization, thousands of years old, rich in culture, trade, beauty.  They hate that the Syrian people love their president, and continue to sing,  الله، سورية، بشار وبس .

President Assad and First Lady Asma Assad, Lady of Damascus Church. Photo credit: HO/AFP

Damascus has seen all that has ever occurred on earth, and still she lives.  She has looked upon the dry bones of a thousand empires, and will see the tombs of a thousand more before she dies. — Mark Twain

*

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River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Why Does ISIS Destroy Cultural Heritage? ‘Social Control’ Is Now Emerging as the Dominant Reason

Posted on February 5, 2016 

by Richard Edmondson

By Franklin Lamb

Damascus

It is widely recognized that the damage done to our cultural heritage in Syria and to the heritage of those who will follow us, cannot be calculated.  Untold quantities of archaeologically vital artifacts have been looted, sold, displaced and discarded through industry-like efforts. 

Citizens of Syria who are increasingly resisting the “IS Caliphate” and risking their own and their families lives to flee ISIS controlled areas in Syria are often willing to discuss their experiences and to offer instructive insights. 

Among these patriots are regular citizens as well as the stellar nationalist employees of Syria’s Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM) who this observer has interviewed extensively over the past nearly three years as they elucidate why ISIS destroys and loots our irreplaceable antiquities. This observer’s research has been augmented by other eyewitnesses, some who are themselves former jihadists or their victims, to ISIS looting and its distribution of franchises to sell off our shared cultural heritage give witness.

Heretofore, three varying but cogent explanations for ISIS’ rabid destruction of our shared cultural heritage have been commonplace. 

The first identified the well documented Islamic State iconoclastic antipathy towards their and our pre-Islamic past. The second is that the jihadists are generally considered to be profiting hugely from selling our looted antiquities. 

Thirdly there has been some evidence-but not compelling in this observers judgment, that jihadists are destroying our cultural heritage in Syria as ‘publicity stunts’ to get  attention on social media, with some motivated by profit and offering to sell Syrian artifacts via Facebook, WhatsApp, and Snapchat.  Meanwhile, according to a US Congressional staffer this week, leftover artifacts are currently being sold by IS to locals at public auctions including but not limited to Raqqa, Mari, Dura-Europos and Deir al Zor.

With respect to the first and second explanations, it is well documented that ISIS has ransacked thousands of artifacts from dozens of World Heritage and archaeological sites in  Syria and that the profits from flogging cheap our cultural heritage helps IS meet its monthly budgets, more than 50% of which goes to pay salaries and multiple relatively generous benefits to its fighters and their families.  

Yet research by this observer on this subject concludes that ISIS looting income, contrary to many claims including a recent one by  CBS News that  reported that ISIS generated “hundreds of millions of dollars” from antiquities transactions, although that figure—which rivals the annual haul of antiquities sold legally throughout the entire world, has not been backed up by probative, material data. 

One expert, Randall A. Hixenbaugh, Director of New York based Hixenbaugh Ancient Art, told a Manhattan conference recently, “We’re looking at objects that are worth hundreds of dollars here. When we say that these antiquities are worth millions of dollars, where is the evidence of this? I think that prompts people to pick up shovels in eastern Syria.       Are we not adding to the problem right now, by hyperbolic assessments of value?”

On May 15, 2015 a raid by American Special Forces on an ISIS safe house in a small village outside Deir ez-Zor killed ISIS leader Fathi Ben Awn Ben Jildi Murad al-Tunisi, better known by his nickname Abu Sayyaf who was in charge of  overseeing the excavation of our cultural heritage.    The raid also freed an 18-year old Yazidi slave woman, and captured a trove of documents that revealed far lower amounts from marketing cultural heritage artifacts than earlier estimated.  The raid also uncovered  many USB’s containing documents verifying that our cultural heritage artifacts are for ISIS just a natural resource to be extracted from the ground rather than as “ghanim” a.k.a looted items or spoils of war.

Selling plundered antiquities is frankly not strategic funding for IS compared to oil, banks, taxes and stolen goods. Far from the initial claims that ISIS was making tens of millions or more from stolen antiquities, the true figures are likely far lower. Some antiquities can indeed be sold to the final buyer in Europe, the United States or Asia for large amounts.   

          But most of the material coming out of the ground in ISIS areas on a daily basis, such as pottery, glassware, coins, and architectural fragments are worth, at most, several hundred dollars at the final point of sale.

The total annual income of ISIS from antiquities is currently calculated by this observer and others who are more expert, at only a few million dollars; compared to, say, oil revenue, which for 2014 was estimated to be between $100 million and $263 million. 

Admittedly hard data is tough to come by and while Archaeologists can no longer visit most of Syria, they do monitor cultural depredation in Syria from the secure vantage point of outer space. Employing pretty amazing high-resolution satellite imagery as Oxford University’s Institute of Digital Archaeology (IDA) is doing as it instructs us and gives us hope for restorations of our cultural heritage in Syria with its One Million Images project.

This observer submits that there is a fourth and even more sinister reason that has not been much considered with respect to the Islamic State brand, which admittedly is an ambitious and seductive vision that has proven to be a fairly major social media success. He posits for dear readers consideration that the destruction and looting of our heritage underpins an intricate scaffolding of intense micro-managed social control over its captive populations, a system that is designed to intensely regulate individual behavior. 

This even applies with respect to where and when to excavate and to loot our antiquities with maps and time and date-stamped permits in hand, at assigned archaeological sites thought worthwhile to excavate and to strip of anything guessed to be of some value.

Recently ISIS has introduced a highly organized control over looting of our cultural heritage which is evidenced by satellite photos revealing neat rows of looting holes on archaeological sites. As noted above, ISIS considers antiquities a natural resource such as oil or gas along with its large-scale operation of theft of personal and real property. Its Department of Precious Resources (Diwan al Rikaz) which controls mines and minerals also now oversees antiquities and issues excavation permits. Diwan al Rikaz demands on average 20% of objects excavated, it also applies a sales tax and uses social media to augment its marketing while relying mainly on obedient citizens to do the excavation work while its fighters perform their jihadist duties elsewhere. Unlike oil extraction, antiquities looting are not a major guaranteed stream of income in fact locally the activity is a bit of a gamble. As in a Los Vegas casino, many can wager but with only a long shot prospect of a high payoff. The vast majority of artifacts currently being unearthed at sites in Syria are of great archaeological importance but little value on the art market.

Increasing its social control by regulating the theft and destruction of our past is now part of a wider and expanding organizing frenzy of the IS.

The ISIS glossy propaganda magazine, now issued in 14 languages, ‘Dabiq,’ named after a key site in Muslim apocalypse mythology,  and which bills itself as a periodical magazine focusing on the issues of tawhid (unity), manhaj (truth-seeking), hijrah (migration), jihad (holy war) and jama’ah (community) frequently features ISIS attacks on Syria’s pre-Islamic heritage sites. 

             Typical of its taunting of those who value culture heritage is Dabiq’s recent comment:

 “Enemies of the Islamic State were furious at losing a ‘treasured heritage.’ The mujahidīn, however, were not the least bit concerned about the feelings and sentiments of the kuffar. (ed: ‘non-believers’). The kuffar had unearthed these statues and ruins in recent generations and attempted to portray them as part of a cultural heritage and identity     that the Muslims of Syria should embrace and be proud of. Yet this opposes the guidance of Allah and His Messenger and only serves a nationalist agenda.”  

 This sort of ISIS iconoclasm mirrors its other social control punishments. Dabiq recently featured a post-card size list of good citizen ‘reminders’ recommending that it be always carried by IS citizens:

            “Death for blasphemy against God, death for blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammad, death for apostasy against Islam, death to both the penetrator and receiver of gay sex, hand and leg amputations for theft, more than two dozen violations such as drinking wine earn 80 or more lashes, while “highway criminality” brings death by crucifixion.”

Another sign of intensifying social control by ISIS is found in recently issued laws on Hijab wearing in Syria. According to  conversations of this observer with recent women   escapees from IS areas in Syria, all women past the age of puberty must comply with the following social control  rules on Hijabs or face draconian punishments. Specifically, all women in Syria must wear Hijabs that are thick and not revealing. “It must be loose (not tight). It must cover all the body. It must not be attractive. It must not resemble the     clothes of unbelievers or men. It must not be decorative and eye-catching. It must not be perfumed.” 

In the south Beirut Hezbollah neighborhood of Dahiyeh, where this observer currently resides, Shia women are known and appreciated for their attractive often richly colored            head coverings and scarves/hijabs and for their special way of tying them to one side under their chin that is quite distinctive, attractive and often are conscious fashion statements.  

This is forbidden for all Muslims in IS areas of Syria, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere ISIS has control of populations on penalty of 80 lashes.

Further tightening social control is evidenced by ISIS which is currently introducing a higher organized and centralized control over looting of our cultural heritage which is evidenced by satellite photos revealing neat rows of looting holes on archaeological sites. 

ISIS considers antiquities a natural resource such as oil or gas along with its large-scale operation of theft of personal and real property. Its Department of Precious Resources  (Diwan al Rikaz) that controls mines and minerals also oversees antiquities and issues excavation permits, takes on average 20% of objects excavated, applies a sales tax and uses social media to augment its marketing which relies mainly on obedient citizens to do the work while its fighters perform their jihadist duties elsewhere.  Artifacts are now also       being sold, according to Syrian citizens who have fled, to locals at public auctions in Raqqa and Deir al Zor.

By controlling antiquities like other resources, ISIS inserts itself into countless holes in the ground. The real goal is not simply cash profit but rather it is psychological control over new ranges of behavior and thought of its subjects which is part of its totalitarian vision of absolute control. ISIS has transformed the pre-Islamic past of Syria into a forbidden zone, a mere natural resource to be exploited. But while the financial profits may be relatively small, more importantly it also offers ISIS yet another way to control the behavior and thoughts of its population, transforming them from captives into dependents of the “Caliphate.”  

Increasingly the Obama administration and its allies are frustrated regarding the subject of the need to protect and preserve Syria’s Endangered Heritage. They remain less than confident that ISIS plundering of our heritage in Syria as part of its intensifying social control in its “Caliphate” can be stopped anytime soon.

Yet at the urging of the White House, last week the Senate Foreign Relations Committee worked on  H.R. 1493, the Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act and  favorably reported the measure for full consideration by the Senate.

The original bill which passed in the House of Representative in June 2015 called for the appointment of an Assistant Secretary of State as the new United States Coordinator for International Cultural Property Protection, commonly referred to in Washington as a “Cultural Czar”.   The new language which was designed to obtain early passage, recommends “that the President should establish an inter-agency coordinating committee to coordinate and advance the efforts of the executive branch to protect and preserve international cultural property at risk.”  

The mandate of the new inter-agency committee, to be chaired by an Assistant Secretary of State, includes working to protect and preserve international cultural property in Syria while working to prevent and disrupt cultural heritage looting and trafficking in Syria.  

The legislation’s mandate also includes protecting sites of cultural and archaeological significance while seeking to provide for the lawful exchange of international cultural property from Syria.

Franklin Lamb’s recent book, Syria’s Endangered Heritage, An International Responsibility to Preserve and Protect, is available on Amazon/Kindle, Smashwords, and other ebook sites as well as in hard-copy in Arabic and English. Lamb is currently based in Beirut and Damascus and reachable c/o fplamb@gmail.com

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