Ma'loula or Maaloula is a village in Syria with historical and archeological significance...

[whttevrr]

Ma'loula or Maaloula ( Aramaic: ܡܥܠܘܠܐ?, Maʿlūlā; Arabic: معلولا? Maʿlūlā ) is a village in the Rif Dimashq Governorate in Syria.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma'loula

It is known as one of three places where Western Aramaic is still spoken, the other two being the nearby villages Jubb Adin and Bakh'a.


Regardless of faith and politics there are historical sites there that do indeed have archeological significance.
The village is on a UNESCO list of tentative world heritage sites. http://news.yahoo.com/activists-syrian-rebels-christian-village-093722827.html

I hope the rebels respect the history of that place and do not behave like the marauders who destroyed tombs in Timbuktu.

One of the problems with the Syria conflict is that the "Bad Guy" is protecting minority faiths from the "good guys"... and even that is overly simplistic. There is so much going sideways in that country that if there is indeed one place where we do not need to be picking sides, it is this place.

I get it that we can not just sit on our hands while people suffer. So let's make sure that those neighboring countries that are getting tremendous amounts of refugees, also get tremendous amounts of real support. We as a country should be sending cargo planes full of clean water, clothing, and food. How many meals could we serve for a million dollars.

We are ready to spend at least a billion dollars bombing Syria. Why can't we leave the bombs at home and spend a billion dollars trying to help the people fleeing that mess?

I wish the President would go to congress to ask them to vote for massive amounts of humanitarian aid for the host countries that are resettling so many millions of people trying to flee the madness that is going on on Syria.

Why can't we. instead of bombing Syria, send aid and support to Jordan, Turkey, and Iraq?

[jakeXT]

1. Remember Babylon?

Babylon's Ancient Wonder, Lying in Ruins


...


But they did turn it into Camp Alpha, a military base, shortly after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Their 18-month stay there caused "major damage" and represented a "grave encroachment on this internationally known archeological site," a report released this month in Paris by the United Nations' cultural agency, UNESCO, says.


...



According to the report, which comes after five years of investigation by a team of Iraqi and international experts, foreign troops and contractors bulldozed hilltops and then covered them with gravel to serve as parking lots for military vehicles and trailers. They drove heavy vehicles over the fragile paving of once-sacred pathways.


http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2009-07-29/news/36807133_1_ishtar-gate-babylon-museum-babylon-s-ancient

[whttevrr]

2. That is just as saddening...

And the largest sculptures of Buddha in Afghanistan...

People are douchebags everywhere.

[Raksha]

10. This line makes me so sad...

"They drove heavy vehicles over the fragile paving of once-sacred pathways."

That is such a sacrilege.

Thanks for the link. I can't say I remember the Hanging Gardens of Babyon (I've only read the name a few hundred times), but I was happy to learn something of their legend and possible history for the first time ever.

[pampango]

3. According to the UK Guardian, the rebels have withdrawn from the town.

Syrian opposition forces have withdrawn from Maaloula, the ancient Christian village they first entered on Wednesday, the BBC reports based on a Syrian National Coalition account:

"For months the rebels have been around Maaloula but there has been a sort of an understanding with the residents that they would not enter," Samia Elias, a resident who stayed in Maaloula during the fighting, told the Reuters news agency.

"To be fair, they do not seem to have touched churches or homes."

Overnight, the National Coalition issued a statement confirming that FSA units had withdrawn after destroying army posts at Maaloula.

The opposition alliance also stressed its "commitment to protect all Syrians, no matter what their religion, race, confession or political belief, and its constant concern to preserve Syria's human and religious heritage by every means possible".

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/06/syria-crisis-splits-g20-live

I agree. When people say there is nothing we can do to help Syrians that is not true. Humanitarian needs are tremendous for the refugees and internally displaced persons. Their needs are not being met. Doing so would cost a fraction of what a military strike would cost.

[jakeXT]

6. A car bomb at the gate

[whttevrr]

8. Thanks for the info.

I hope the picture of the gate destruction is not indicative of widespread damage.

This place is the definition of turmoil. The opposition forces are so disparate. We really do not know who is who. We as a country should be pushing for a political solution that involves lots of humanitarian aid for the displaced people of the region.

[pjt7]

4. Hope Obama mentions this historical village

in his speech..

& explains to the public the very dark side of the Int'l "rebels" in the complexity of Syria.

[eissa]

5. Rebels respect history? Pffffttttt.

These are a bunch of murderous, uneducated thugs. History means nothing to them, unless it involves some stone-age prophet.

[whttevrr]

7. Hyperbole, right?

Your description seems way too one dimensional to be taken seriously.

Did you forget a sarcasm tag?

[eissa]

9. No sarcasm whatsoever

These are the same people we've been fighting for over a decade. Just because they're up against a bad guy does not mean they are any better. They're far worse.