Rebels, Syrian government work together to protect antiquities

[Sally]

Sometimes you will see strange bedfellows helping out together for a common cause.


Rebels, Syrian government work together to protect antiquities
Riham Kusa, Special for USA TODAY3:38 p.m. EDT June 22, 2015

(Photo: Ghaith Omran, AFP/Getty Images)

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Despite a raging four-year civil war, rebel factions and Syrian officials are working together to protect the country's rich heritage sites from each other's bombs — and the Islamic State.

Across the country, irreplaceable artifacts have been under siege since 2011, when fighting erupted between the Syrian government and rebels seeking to overthrow President Bashar Assad.

"Archaeologists from the two conflicting sides are calling upon fighters not to use archaeological sites as battlefields and guard them from looting and destruction," said Maamoun Abdulkarim, head of Syria's Directorate General of Antiques and Museums, which oversees ancient sites and archaeological digs.

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Rebels Syrian government work together to protect antiquities

 

[waltky]

Turkey and Syria also plundering valuable relics...

Study: Islamic State not only group looting antiquities in Syria
Updated Oct. 21, 2015 - The Turkish YPG and the Syrian regime are also responsible for plundering valuable materials, the study says.

The war-related looting of Syrian antiquities is typically blamed on the Islamic State, but other regional players are equally guilty, a scholarly study indicates. An analysis by Dartmouth University scholars, published in the academic journal Near Eastern Archeology, reveals the Kurdish militant group YPG, the Syrian regime and other rebel organizations share responsibility for the pillaging of antiquities. Using research satellite imagery of nearly 1,300 archeological sites in Syria, the study, led by Dartmouth anthropology professor Jesse Casana, says more than 26 percent of areas held by Kurdish group YPG have experienced damage and looting since the civil war began in 2011.

Islamic State supporters posted photos of the destruction of the ancient temple of Baal Shamin, or "Lord of the Heavens," in Palmyra, Syria, earlier this year. A new study suggests the Islamic State isn't the only group responsible for looting antiquities since the start of the country's civil war.​

That's more than the amount of looted sites held by IS -- also identified as Daesh, ISIS and ISIL -- at 21.4 percent, and the Syrian regime, at 16.5 percent. "Most media attention has focused on the spectacles of destruction that ISIS has orchestrated and posted online, and this has led to a widespread misunderstanding that ISIS is the main culprit when it comes to looting of archaeological sites and damage to monuments. Using satellite imagery, our research is able to demonstrate that looting is actually very common across all parts of Syria, and that instances of severe, state-sanctioned looting are occurring in both ISIS-held and Syrian regime areas," Casana said.

The study suggests the plundering of antiquities, the value of which leads to their overseas sale and to funding for political and military causes, is most prevalent where centralized authority is weakest, particularly in regions of Syria held by the YPG or other rebel groups. A total of 25 percent of archaeological sites in Syria have been looted since 2011. The removal of antiquities has been illegal in Syria since prior to the civil war, but current methods involve the use of bulldozers and other heavy machinery. The study noted the most extreme phase of plundering at Apamea, a massive Roman-era city in western Syria looted beginning in early 2012, came after the area was secured by Syrian military forces.

Study: Islamic State not only group looting antiquities in Syria

 

[Bleipriester]

So the "Regime" plunders its own stuff? How ridiculous! The terrorists of the many groups sell their loot to Turkey.

Syria accuses Turkey of ’facilitating’ smuggling of antiquities across border

 

[waltky]

Antiquities rescuer wins TED Prize...

Real-life ‘Indiana Jones’ wins coveted TED Prize
Wed, Nov 11, 2015 - ‘POIGNANT’: Sarah Parcak bemoaned the extensive looting at sites that she has mapped using a method that she has created for processing satellite images

A technology-wielding archeologist billed as a modern-world “Indiana Jones” on Monday won a coveted US$1 million TED prize for her work tracking antiquities and their looting. Sarah Parcak was named winner of a 2016 TED Prize that provides US$1 million to kickstart a big-vision “wish,” and opens a door to call on the nonprofit organization’s innovative, influential and ingenious community of “tedsters.” Parcak is to reveal her wish at an annual TED Conference in Vancouver in February. “I am honored to receive the TED Prize, but it’s not about me; it’s about our field — and the thousands of men and women around the world, particularly in the Middle East, who are defending and protecting sites,” Parcak said. “The last four-and-a-half years have been horrific for archeology.”

Parcak bemoaned extensive looting and destruction at archeological sites that she has mapped using a method she created for processing satellite images. The archeologist she said she would use the TED Prize to rally the world to find and protect such treasures. “At a moment when so many ancient sites are under threat — and being destroyed — it feels particularly poignant that we are awarding the TED Prize to a brilliant mind, committed to finding, sharing and protecting these gems,” TED Prize director Anna Verghese said. Parcak was introduced to aerial photography through her grandfather’s use of it in forestry work.

She was studying Egyptology at Yale University when she began exploring the potential for using more modern tools to apply her grandfather’s approach to archeology, according to TED. Parcak was pursuing an advanced degree at Cambridge University when she created a technique for processing infrared imagery from satellites that helped her detect undiscovered archeological sites in Egypt. She has since turned to mapping looting. “TED is committed to the ancient tradition of storytelling and making it relevant to a modern, global audience,” Verghese said. “Sarah’s work honors that — she uses 21st-century technology to make the world’s ancient, invisible history visible once again.” Parcak is a professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she founded the Laboratory for Global Observation.

She has won attention for her work satellite-mapping Egypt and uncovering hidden pyramids, tombs and settlements. Parcak and her team have been credited with also discovering ancient sites in Europe, the Mediterranean and North America as well as extensively mapping looting in Egypt. The annual TED Prize has grown from US$100,000 to US$1 million since it was first awarded in the year 2005, to U2 band leader Bono and his vision of fighting poverty and disease. The list of previous winners includes oceans defender Sylvia Earle and StoryCorps founder Dave Isay, whose wish was to use smartphone applications to archive the spoken wisdom of humanity. The TED community includes scientists, celebrities, politicians, artists and entrepreneurs. Since being born in California in 1984, the gathering has grown into a global forum for “ideas worth spreading.”

Real-life ‘Indiana Jones’ wins coveted TED Prize - Taipei Times

 

[aris2chat]

Russia/Putin is not restricted by moral constraints like not negotiating with terrorist or fears about international courts or human rights. Russia might be Signator but would thumb their nose at being taken to court.
If Russia can bring results, no one will object.
Russia can talk, coordinate and negotiate with christian, kurd and sunni anti assad groups as well as ISIS. The sooner he can end this mess the sooner he can build his bases and satisfy the Russians that they have nothing to fear from groups like ISIS.
He can sweep or dismiss the downed plane or any attempted attacks against russia and russians.

When you in a position of strength and power, you can get results.

Obama was weak, didn't really want to get involved and through money would bring results. Wrong on all counts.
How we spend money has to be accountable to the people, not some executive pen. Expensive programs need to find the plan with the lowest cost. Sometimes we don't need all the bells and whistles, but rather something that gets us from point a to b for the lowest cost and the least effort.

Sometimes an old beat up pickup is better than a million dollar tank. Less conspicuous, can move over terrain quickly with less noise, can take a beating, no one cares if it gets destroyed. Clean shiny white trucks with identification painted on the side make it a target.

Fancy and expensive is not always better. Stealth, low key, individuals getting intel is so much more valuable than fancy planes and tanks. Some areas don't need armies that march in step, but soldiers than can blend in and hide.

You don't need thousands of troops and a base if you have a few really good men and basic equipment to train locals. If and when they prove themselves, you add more equipment and more training. First, you have to teach them self assurance and pride in their country and cause. They can use sticks and stones if they believe in what they are doing. Any weapons will do. We have seen that enough. Teach them to make weapons, use local materials, how to communicate without traceable radios. Back to basics so to speak. Use their heads and hearts.

Anyone can be taught to pull a trigger or push a button. If you don't believe in yourself and what you are doing, the tools are useless.

Teach them about running their own local government or organization. They have to have a idea of what their country will look like afterward. They have to want that and understand how it will benefit everyone.

No fancy classrooms with bright paint and electronic visuals. No well pressed uniforms. They don't need luxury trainers or building with AC and central heat to sleep in. Most are probably used to mats on the floor in mud or cinder block one or two room huts with animals right outside the door. That is how they will live when foreign troops are gone.

Keep it simple and stress the intelligence. Knowledge is power. Know your enemy and his every movement. You have to learn to think like them, not some massive, organized, tech heavy super nation with deep pockets.

 

[Bleipriester]

Boo fucking hoo...