Parthian Stronghold Hatra Destroyed

[guy]

 

 

 

 

Iraqi officials in the northern city of Mosul said Saturday that militants with the Islamic State group have begun demolishing the ancient archaeological site of Hatra in northern Iraq in a push to rid its territory of symbols it says promote idolatry.

 

An official with the ministry of tourism and antiquities' archaeological division in Mosul told The Associated Press that multiple residents living near Hatra heard two large explosions this morning, then reported seeing bulldozers begin demolishing the site. He spoke anonymously for fear of reprisal.

 

http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/news/story/1.2985789

 

 

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

 

 

Hatra became an important fortified frontier city and withstood repeated attacks by the Roman Empire, and played an important role in the Second Parthian War. It repulsed the sieges of both Trajan (116/117) and Septimius Severus (198/199).

 

guy also known as gaius

[Viggen]

...yeah its such a shame, a very sad time for human kind

[Onasander]

It's going to get much worst here after Mosul is recovered by the Iraqi Army.

 

I track this war via just under two dozen websites, and am fairly convinced Jazira Canton will be quickly overrun very shortly after in retaliation.... but ISIS will lack much ability to push into other lands.

 

Reason why is, Al Nursa is in discussions with Qatar about breaking off from Al Qaida, and is already aligned in areas (not all) with the Free Syrian Army. They are doing this to get funds and weapons. Likewise, the Free Syrian Army is training 5,000 guys a year in turkey, but it will be several years (several) before it can take Raqqa in Syria, ISIS Head Quarters.

 

Assad has open access to Russia, and Russia has farming/irrigation land development leases in the northeast of Syria, as well as oil tapping rights from Assad, and ISIS knows this. They'll want to spoil it as much as possible for the Russians as payback.

 

Turkey has the three Kurdish cantons under a very strict embargo, and the one bridge in Jazira Canton linking to Iraq has a bunch of pissed off Kurdish refugees on the otherwise digging hugh trenches against their fellow Syrian Kurds due to failing to win the political power struggle between them. The Iraqi Peshmerga advance on Mosul is tied up in mission creep, as its too large of an area to secure for a force stretched so thin, as their trying to blockade and maneuver at the same time.... which works so well against guerilla lines of communications (sarcasm).

 

Basically, short of the Iraqi Army pushing up the Euphrates to Qaim and then taking the border roads up to the west of Mosul, cutting off a ISIS retreat, most ISIS forces will just pull out. The coalition will bomb some, but most will make it back. Kobani was a relatively small area to retake, it was easy to concentrate coalition air power in such a small area, and mech infantry had a easy job taking a few passes and urban/hilltop strong points. I don't think that strategy will work as good in Jazira. The Kurds would have to pull east hard, and all their western forces would thin, making very easy gains by ISIS.

 

But I don't see ISIS having any success after this. They will eventually be whittled down, someday Raqqa will be taken, but that is a long way off. Aleppo is likely the higher priority in the short term for the FSA.

 

This means ISIS has all the time in the world to decapitate and light people on fire, and desecrate every ancient sight in the region for years to come.

 

I doubt given the trouble the Iraqi Army has had around Haditha Dam that their about to suddenly go on the offensive. I hold out hope that the Pentagon is just cleverly manipulating the data to make them look inept prior to a lightening strike campaign, but I'm not really holding out much hope. After all, his many times have they taken Tikrit? Fallujah was a nightmare, Ramadi was constantly being flanked. Not to mention the severe distrust of the Iranian influence in the Shia militias.

 

Think this war is gonna drag out. Longer it takes, and more cities ISIS loses = more churches and archeological sites destroyed, for no reason other than revenge. It boosts serotonin gained from indulging in resentment, which is a (pathetic) substitute for that feeling of victory. We can pretty much kiss most sites goodbye.

 

Unless of course the US and Turkey sends in Special Forces units for small team kills in Syria and Iraq. The attrition would bleed ISIS very quick, especially if targeted strategically. Turkey making a final peace with Ocalan, opening up trade with the Kurdish cantons would rapidly lead to ISIS demise. Turkey claims to be in talks, but President Erdogan also appears to be a paranoid schizophrenic at times, while in others appears competent. It would also mean a massive increase in YPG/YPJ recruitment of western soldiers (they claim about 100 foreign fighters), but a peace between them and Turkey would change it from a company to a battalion of NATO trained veterans very quick.

 

But that's unlikely to happen. Expect rather that they all die later this year late fall to middle winter. After that, all our archeological sites.