EMOTIONAL BARBARITY

President Trump's threatening statement on striking Iran's cultural sites has literally confounded the international community. In a truly Trumpian manner, the president announced the U.S. intent to attack 52 targets in Iran (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), including the sites of cultural heritage. Despite the efforts of the Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, to tone down Trump's statement, he continued to justify his position in his tweets and press statements: "If that's what the law is — I like to obey the law. But they kill our people, they blow up our people, but then we have to be very gentle with their cultural institutions. It doesn't work that way. I will say this: If Iran does anything that they shouldn't be doing, they're going to be suffering the consequences and very strongly," Trump said.

Certainly, everyone was almost sure that it would be possible to prevent the 'serious consequences' of confrontation, but many people, especially historians, scientists, human rights activists, UN representatives and, of course, the U.S. Democrats found Trump's statement disturbing. "Targeting cultural sites in war is illegal. It's also barbaric. President Trump's repeated threats to destroy Iran's treasures of art and architecture make the United States seem as debased as ISIS‌ or the Taliban," The New York Times commented. U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren believes that the destruction of cultural property is a war crime, according to international law. Senator Ed Markey (D) said that Trump's words are a betrayal of American values. He tried to get the consent of the Senate to pass a resolution that would classify attacks on cultural sites as war crimes. However, the document was blocked by the Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Jim Inhofe (R). But later, the House of Representatives passed a resolution limiting Trump's authority to use the armed forces against Iran, which demonstrated deep discord within Washington's elite groups on the Iran's policy. Either way, it is unlikely that we ever know the number of American politicians ready to support Trump's threats against Iran's cultural objects, as this was too scandalous a statement.

Reason to think

On the other hand, Trump's words are worth analysing in that they allow us to rethink what we, in general, prefer not to notice. The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict was adopted back in 1954 to prevent the type of plundering of art the Nazis undertook during World War II. In 1972, UNESCO adopted the Convention concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage. In 2017, the UN Security Council affirmed that unlawful attacks on objects and buildings intended for religion, education, art, science, charity, or historical monuments could, under certain circumstances and in accordance with international law, be regarded as a war crime. However, these and other documents could not prevent the destruction of many cultural monuments during the conflicts of the recent history, especially in the Balkans, the Middle East, Central Asia, Africa and also in the Caucasus. These acts of vandalism continue to take place in the course of numerous local conflicts or proxy wars. So, in March 2001, the Taliban blew up two statues of Buddha from the 6th century AD in the Bamyan Valley of Afghanistan. In 2012, Islamic Tuareg terrorists plundered and blew up Gao-Sanya, an 11th-century archaeological site in northern Mali. According to National Geographic, 70% of the collections of the National Museum of Afghanistan were looted during the ongoing conflicts of recent decades.

After the West toppled the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq, the rich cultural heritage of the country was ruined. It is enough to recall and consider the burning of the Mosul central library, which contained ancient manuscripts, a cultural tragedy of a global scale. The artefacts of the National Museum in Baghdad related to the civilizations of Sumer, Akkad, Assyria and Babylonia were also looted. It is believed that forty thousand ancient manuscripts were stored in the house of Saddam Hussein, and their fate is still unknown.

After the outbreak of the war in Syria, ISIS terrorists ruined the beautiful Palmyra, as well as the Assyrian 'Gates of God' in Nineveh, and the Great Mosque in Aleppo. Many mosques of the 16th-18th centuries were obliterated, and the Crac de Chevalier, which was built in 1142-1271 and considered one of the best-preserved crusader castles in the world, was seriously damaged. We can continue the list of invaluable artefacts, as Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), Syria, where literally every square meter of land is marked by history, are the cradles of human civilisation.

Targeted destruction of monuments and Armenia

It is tempting to delve into speculations about deliberate reluctance or negligence of the Western coalition to organise and document the Iraqi cultural property, which ultimately led to the destruction of artefacts. For why did they do that? Either to gradually deprive the national states of their history, since it will be easier to raise generations of 'vanilla' people to be ideal and identical consumers, or because someone really wants to hide or adjust the world history for specific purposes, that is — to falsify the history. Obviously, you are free to accept or deny such assumptions, as it makes no sense to consider them without official evidence. But with regard to falsification of historical truths, it's worthwhile to dwell in more detail, since nowadays there are indeed states that are trying to shape a new history on the past of destroyed artefacts.

Historical and cultural sites in Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia are either destroyed without a trace, or falsely presented as Armenian. As a result of the military aggression of Armenia, Albanian churches in the city of Shusha, fortress walls of the Shusha Historical and Architectural Reserve, palaces of the Karabakh khans, house-museum of Khurshidbanu Natavan, mausoleum of Mullah Panah Vagif, the Khudaferin bridges, many mosques and hundreds of historical, architectural and natural monuments were occupied and later subjected to Armenianisation. Dozens of museums, libraries and art galleries preserving the history and culture of the Azerbaijani people were plundered and burned. Apart from the moral and psychological blow, Azerbaijani people and economy lost more than $300 billion in damage, according to preliminary estimates. Azerbaijani authorities, scientists, politicians and public figures constantly highlight these tragic facts at various international platforms, providing historical evidence, reports of the OSCE missions, satellite imagery, but the world community continues to remain silent.

Destruction of cultural heritage is a completely different type of damage, not even comparable to the killing of people. The point is that these monuments belong not only to a particular nation, but to all humankind. That is why Trump's threats against Iran's cultural sites have greatly disturbed many people who do not even know anything about Iran and do not like the Islamic Republic.

Meanwhile, despite the opinion voiced in The New York Times, it is still difficult to believe that the president could go so far. Many could not get used to the overly emotional style of the current American president. On the other hand, the international politics is becoming too rational, and businessman Trump is boosting this trend further, each time preferring to factor in the material benefits forgetting about the moral values. In other words, Trump's threatening remarks on Iran's cultural sites should be regarded in the same vein as his attacks on the NATO allies or the U.S. withdrawal from a number of international treaties, primarily from those concerning climate. Such an attitude, of course, seriously shifts the limits of do's and don'ts. And most importantly, it is of paramount significance that no one transgresses these limits accidentally.