The bulldozing of Nimrud should not have caught the international community by surprise, yet it occurred without, so far as we know, any moves to thwart it by taking countermeasures against the bulldozers and truckloads of ISIS zealots that drove out to the site. Perhaps bombing the vehicles or even just the roads might have been unfeasible given the location of Nimrud (the aerial photo below shows quite a few roads and cultivated fields around the site).
But as Abdulameer Hamdani has confirmed for me, Hatra is isolated in the desert with no population around it, and only one road in and out to the site (as the image below from http://www.centroscavitorino.it/en/progetti/iraq/hatra.html confirms):
Which raises the question: If Hatra is indeed now being razed, why did the coalition not bomb the road or the bulldozers and truckloads of ISIS fanatics to prevent this from happening (and not incidentally to kill some of these murderous thugs)?
According to Hamdani, Assur is likely to be the next site in ISIS' crosshairs. Will the coalition stand idly by again?
UPDATE (MARCH 9, 2015)
I'm not the only one who thinks air strikes are needed:
Iraq Calls for Air Power to Protect Antiquities
But as Abdulameer Hamdani has confirmed for me, Hatra is isolated in the desert with no population around it, and only one road in and out to the site (as the image below from http://www.centroscavitorino.it/en/progetti/iraq/hatra.html confirms):
Which raises the question: If Hatra is indeed now being razed, why did the coalition not bomb the road or the bulldozers and truckloads of ISIS fanatics to prevent this from happening (and not incidentally to kill some of these murderous thugs)?
According to Hamdani, Assur is likely to be the next site in ISIS' crosshairs. Will the coalition stand idly by again?
UPDATE (MARCH 9, 2015)
I'm not the only one who thinks air strikes are needed:
Iraq Calls for Air Power to Protect Antiquities
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