BAGHDAD (AP) — Images posted online show that Islamic extremists have destroyed at least 10 ancient shrines and Shiite mosques in territory they have seized in northern Iraq in recent weeks.
The photographs, on a website that frequently carries official statements from the Islamic State extremist group, document the destruction in the city of Mosul and the town of Tal Afar.
Some of the photos show bulldozers plowing through walls, while others show explosives demolishing the buildings in a cloud of smoke and rubble.
Residents from both Mosul and Tal Afar confirmed the destruction of the sites.
Sunni extremists consider Shiites Muslims heretics, and the veneration of saints apostasy.
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I wonder which countries are funding these despicable religious bigots?
These folks seem are not simply uncivilized barbarians but worse than pigs. I guess their faith, their families, their schools and their clergy have taught them that hate, terrorism and the murder of women, children and men of other faiths is a virtue.
This represents a complete failure of multiple cultural and social institutions and loss of fundamental human values. I wonder whether the polygamy, misogyny, cousin-cousin inter-marriages and sexual repression of these people is a cultural predisposing factor for these animal like behaviors.
Talk about an engraved invitation to which Iran will definitely RSVP.
We can be damn proud that such things have never happened in white European cultures.
…'cause we have the Exceptional™ gene,
Looby
Its very sad to see historical places destroyed out of hate. I remember the disbelief when the taliban destroyed the ancient shrine carved into the cliffs in Afghanistan. Antiquities simply cannot be replaced. These are crimes against everyone who appreciates history and beauty…across religious lines. When these things are gone, they are lost forever.
Well, of course Europeans have done similar things, but I don’t think that means nobody of white European background can say a word about this, or the Buddhas of Bamiyan, or any other desecration. I’ve personally never looted a cathedral or burned a synagogue, so I’m going to go ahead and suggest it’s wrong, unfortunate and unhelpful when anyone does this kind of thing, regardless of their own background.