Iraq Asks U.S.-led Coalition to Help Prevent Islamic State Destruction of Antiquities

Iraq Asks U.S.-led Coalition to Help Prevent Islamic State Destruction of Antiquities

Baghdad government investigating reports of 2,000-year-old ruins being bulldozed

By Tamer El-Ghobashy and Ghassan Adnan in the Wall Street Journal

BAGHDAD—Iraqi cultural officials called for more military help from the U.S.-led coalition battling Islamic State to halt the group’s destruction of ancient monuments—a new source of anger, shock and shame for a nation reeling from the loss of life and land.

Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Adel al-Shershab on Sunday said the government was investigating reports that the militants had begun bulldozing 2,000-year-old ruins in the city of Hatra. If confirmed, it would be the third attack in 10 days on heritage sites in artifact-rich Nineveh province, which has been occupied by Islamic State militants since June.

“The international coalition, which pledged to protect Iraq, has to play a bigger role,” Mr. Shershab urged at a news conference.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Sunday appeared to signal that his country needs more U.S. help in general in its war against Islamic State, saying regional forces might not be able to withstand the offensive.

The two previous attacks brought condemnation from around the world and the United Nations labeled them war crimes. On Feb. 26, Islamic State broadcast footage of militants destroying Assyrian sculptures on display in the Mosul Museum. On Thursday, Iraq’s government said militants had destroyed remnants of the 3,000-year-old city of Nimrud, once an Assyrian capital near Mosul.

“It’s really painful,” said Ali Al Makhzomy, a 27-year-old activist who works to promote Iraqi culture. “In just one week, what’s remained of these ancient civilizations that survived so many occupations is now being destroyed in this modern time.”

Mr. Shershab said residents near Hatra had told him the site had been severely damaged, but added that his staff had been unable to confirm that through visual inspection. The minister spoke in Baghdad at the Iraqi National Museum, which was closed amid rampant looting following the American invasion in 2003 and reopened this month.

He and other officials said the U.S.-led international coalition that has carried out airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq since August had the ability to protect Hatra.

The site is in an open desert, making Islamic State “vehicles and bulldozers an easy target for coalition fighter jets,” he said. “The international coalition did nothing...We do not know why.”

U.S. military officials have described the destruction of Iraqi antiquities as a heinous crime, but said there is little the coalition can do from the air to protect the sites. Officials with the task force overseeing the international effort have said they were taking the attacks on antiquities seriously but wouldn’t comment on any potential future operations to protect the sites.

A ministry official specializing in preservation said airstrikes also should be used to protect the more than 2,000 partially or unexcavated sites near Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city and Islamic State’s de facto headquarters.

He said the risk that airstrikes on Islamic State targets might damage those sites would be acceptable in the face of the threat posed by the militants.

“Leaving the situation as it is means that we are going to lose our entire heritage,” the official said. “Dams and bridges are important but can be rebuilt. But art and heritage are irreplaceable.”

Islamic State has said in online statements that the artifacts targeted are relics that promote idolatry, a reader of Islamic law that has been rejected by mainstream institutions such as Al Azhar in Egypt—considered the leading authority on Islamic jurisprudence. Iraqi activists have said the leveling of the historical artifacts is an act of desperation by the insurgency as it has been hit by recent battlefield losses.

The attacks have galvanized many here to protest publicly. Mr. Makhzomy said he and a collective of artists were awaiting government permits for a planned “solidarity stand” in a Baghdad public square, featuring a candlelight vigil and artistic performances.

“The only thing an artist can do to respond to the destruction of culture is to revive culture,” he said.

But in Iraq, even moments of artistic escapism are hard to come by without reminders of violent reality. On Saturday, the monthly performance of Iraq’s National Symphony Orchestra began with a minute of silence: A member of the ensemble’s son had been killed while fighting militants, the conductor said.

The free performance at the National Theater in Baghdad was unusually well attended and theater officials allowed an overflow crowd to sit and stand in the aisles. The audience—young men in jeans and sneakers mingling with much older men and women in elegant evening wear—listened to pieces from Mozart, Brahms and an original score written by the conductor called The Olden Days.

When the music finished, the maestro, Mohamed Amin Ezzat, struggled to be heard over the applause.

“Culture will prevail despite the difficulties we face,” Mr. Ezzat said. “This is only way we have to move forward.”