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Georgia Conflict and Cultural Heritage - BAJR Host - 28th August 2008
Major cultural sites caught in crossfire of Georgian conflict
August 27th, 2008 by jkguin
Reports are beginning to hit the net about heritage sites that have been damaged or destroyed in the conflict between Georgia and Russia. Here is a rundown of a few of the items being discussed:
http://www.preservationtoday.com/2008/08/27/heritage-resources-in-georgia/
well worth checking out if you are interested.
"I don't have an archaeological imagination.."
Borekickers
Georgia Conflict and Cultural Heritage - Dirty Dave Lincoln - 31st August 2008
One of the sad side effects of any conflict is the damage that usually occurs to that country's heritage-2001 and the deliberate destruction of the giant Buddhas at Bamyan or the shelling of the famous bridge at Mostar,let alone the wholesale destruction that happened in the 2nd world war (the monastary at Monte Casino etc) and other conflicts since.
On the plus side,such damage is usally rectified after the fighting has stopped.
Georgia Conflict and Cultural Heritage - BAJR Host - 31st August 2008
HAve written a viewpoint for the next (issue 4) Past Horizons Magazine.. discussing these very points..
"I don't have an archaeological imagination.."
Borekickers
Georgia Conflict and Cultural Heritage - Gog - 31st August 2008
Quote:quote:Originally posted by Dirty Dave Lincoln
let alone the wholesale destruction that happened in the 2nd world war (the monastary at Monte Casino etc)
Slightly meandering down a by-way, but...
Is this a fair moral equivalence? Monte Cassino was flattened by Bomber Command after many of the troops trying to take the hill claimed to have seen German paratroopers in the monastery - this turned out to be false, possibly caused by mis-sightings of German troops helping the monks evacuate artworks (straight to Goering's cellar, perhaps?). The Germans were not in the monastery, but they had fortified the hill itself, causing horrific casualties to US, Polish, Moroccan and Italian troops trying to take it. Ironically, the paratroops did subsequently move into the ruins. Does this not constitute a 'fog of war' screw-up prompted by a desire to stop an infantry massacre, during a massive 'total war' where the stakes were so much higher?
Bamyan, on the other hand, was a deliberate act of vandalism by religious nutjobs, while Mostar was a deliberate act of vandalism in a brutal civil war where eradication of neighbouring cultures seems to have been a specific war-aim. Interstingly, the Allies and the Nazis agreed to spare Rome and Paris as being far too culturally valuable - perhaps Hitler was a more cultured beast than Milosevic.
A better example for the destruction of cultural sites by regular military forces might be the Yanks in Iraq, although that seems to have been down to ignorance rather than intent.
I wonder if the Georgia/Russia scenario has more in common with the former Yugoslavia, with some deliberate targetting going on to erase cultural traces?:face-huh:
Georgia Conflict and Cultural Heritage - Dirty Dave Lincoln - 2nd September 2008
The point I was trying to make is;yes a lot of sites do suffer damage for one reason or another,but afterwards they usually get repaired or rebuilt.Because of this with many examples of such having occured should always offer hope for the future.
Gog,to label what happened at Bamyan as vandalism puts it in the same category with the little oiks who vandalise our housing estates!The Taliban are opposed to anything they consider un-Islamic and will try to eradicate it,plus weren't they fighting against the Mujahadeen at the time?
Property damaged or destroyed-no matter how old-should always take second place to innocent lives lost,at least property can be replaced!
Georgia Conflict and Cultural Heritage - Gog - 2nd September 2008
Quote:quote:Originally posted by Dirty Dave Lincoln
Gog,to label what happened at Bamyan as vandalism puts it in the same category with the little oiks who vandalise our housing estates!
Property damaged or destroyed-no matter how old-should always take second place to innocent lives lost,at least property can be replaced!
Point 1 - fair point, but not sure what else to call it.
Point 2 - absolutely agree
Georgia Conflict and Cultural Heritage - BAJR Host - 2nd September 2008
Well - I have tried to pen (in a single page) my thoughts on this
http://clients.digipage.co.uk/?userpath=00000077/00005532/00030545/&page=36
"I don't have an archaeological imagination.."
Borekickers
Georgia Conflict and Cultural Heritage - Dirty Dave Lincoln - 7th September 2008
David,that was a very thought provoking piece you wrote.From an outsiders perspective it can be to easy to claim that heritage should take second place to peoples lives,but what about the people who's heritage gets destroyed?as you say it can rip the heart out of a country to lose their past or that which is sacred to them.