Radio Free Iraq and others are quoting local witnesses saying ISIL has attacked the ancient site of Ashur near Tikrit. As far as I have heard, there are few statues displayed there, and most of the above-ground remains are reconstruction. The report has been going the rounds for three days now, each of the sources saying it's unconfirmed. Like most of the news of this type surfacing with depressing regularity, I'm taking this with a pinch of salt for now. Like the definite reports (replete with detailed eye-witness report) of ISIL already having started statue-smashing at Palmyra and then the denials from the antiquities service that this was the case. Who knows what and who to believe? Whose interests are served by misdirection? This blog will continue to attempt to disentangle fact from fiction, reality from spin.
Vignette:
Fog of War
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