Should The Destruction Of Ancient Monuments Be Considered A War Crime?

The Islamic State's continuing destruction of ancient monuments has sparked a call for changing the legal definition of war crimes.

In the past several months, in addition to continuing an ethnic cleansing of the Assyrian populations of Iraq and Syria, ISIS has burned down Iraq's Mosul library, which housed more than 8,000 rare old books and manuscripts; burned churches and Muslim shrines; and, most recently, destroyed ancient Mesopotamian sculptures in Iraq's Mosul Museum, including winged bull deities from the ninth century B.C. that once guarded the Assyrian king's palace. The vandals, who released a video of their pillaging online, claim these ancient works promote idolatry.

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