The Middle East, which has been home to many historic civilizations, states and cultures throughout history, hosted some of the most impressive cities of the world. Historical centers in the Middle East have influenced humanity for thousands of years. However, the period of looting, which started with the U.S. occupation of Iraq, unleashed barbarism on the cities of the Middle East.
Started with the Iraq occupation
The destruction of the Middle East began with the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. The U.S. invasion, which was conducted with the pretext that Saddam Hussein possessed chemical weapons, led to the death of a million people in a war that lasted for 10 years. Thousands of buildings were destroyed, people migrated and led to catastrophic cultural losses.
Hundreds of mosques targeted
Hundreds of mosques, madaris and dervish lodges built in Baghdad over the course of the Umayyad, Abbasi and Ottoman Empires East became unusable. There was no proper restoration of any mosque.
A temple from the Babylon kingdom in Nasiriyah, the Abu Hanifa Mosque in Baghdad, the Khulafah al-Rashid Mosque in Fallujah were among some of the mosques damaged and destroyed by U.S. troops.
Mosul turned into a ghost town
The U.S. has been operating in the region under the guise of fighting Daesh, which has plagued the Middle East.
One of the locations of this alleged battle was Mosul. The U.S.-led coalition bombed the historic city for nine months. In the city, 40,000 people died and 126,000 families lost their homes. According to the UN, 1 million civilians fled the city. Including public institutions and houses, over 10,000 buildings were demolished.
Traces of Islamic and Turkish civilizations were wiped from the city. Almost all Ottoman works, as well as Seljuk traces of the ruler Nur ad-Din, were demolished. Symbols of Islam like al-Hadba clock tower, Mosul Military Barracks and Prophet Jonah’s Mosque were annihilated. Future generations will no longer be able to revel in the architectural wonder or pray in these momentous symbols of Islamic civilizations.
Aleppo in ruins
Over 600,000 are believed to have been killed in Syria’s civil war. Another victim of this war is the country’s cultural heritage. Clashes between the opposition and the regime damaged many historical buildings and artifacts. Since the start of the civil war in March 2011, over 1,000 mosques have been either damaged or destroyed.
Apart from mosques, mausoleums, madaris, museums, bazaars and historic landmarks are in ruins. Among these is the Umayyad Mosque in Aleppo, which was constructed between the 8th and 13th centuries and is now in unusable. The mosque housed a small separate area, the Maqsurah, which contained the tomb of Prophet Zakariah and Prophet Muhammad’s hair and tooth.
Ravaged Raqqa
Raqqa, which was delivered from one terrorist organization to another by the U.S., has also been razed. Raqqa is compared to Germany’s Dresden, which was carpet-bombed by the U.S. and Britain during World War II. Footage and photographs from the city depict just how bleak the landscape is.
The Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) and U.S. air force have only left behind rubble of the mosques Daesh uses as bases. It is estimated that approximately 100 mosques are either damaged or destroyed.
Six UNESCO world heritage sites have been damaged by rockets, tanks and light weapons. Aleppo's medieval bazaars have disappeared. The rebuilding of the city and restoration of historic landmarks does not seem possible in the near future.
Wreckage
The U.S., France, Russia, Iran, Israel, Germany and Britain cooperated with the Assad regime and Iraq, wiping out thousands of years old historical cities. Raqqa, Homs, Aleppo, Mosul, Kirkuk, Palmyra, Hama, Dera and al-Bab are among the regions that were depredated most severely in the last 30 years.
Washington continues to lead the campaign designed to wipe out post-Mongol history. The occupation and pillaging has lasted thirty years.