Confront terror to save heritage

To save our common heritage from marauding terrorists, it is imperative to bring back the rule of law. But how can this be done when there is no will to fight on the ground and drive out groups like Daesh who are out to rewrite history in blood? Terrorists have launched a war against civilization and world powers should not watch from the sidelines. Ancient relics destroyed by the group are making their way to markets in the West. Top dollars are paid for these artefacts to fund the group's deadly objectives.
Daesh claims it is their religious duty to destroy symbols of idolatry but the world is poorer for the loss of cities like Palmyra that have been razed to the ground. The destruction of the ancient site and the killing of a leading archaeologist shows these killers will stop at nothing.
The plunder and looting is not limited to non-Muslim heritage alone. The group has also blown up and razed shrines of several prophets in Syria and Iraq. Their attempt to erase history should be countered with full force. The vandalism in Syria and Iraq, where they destroyed the Mosul Museum, ransacked the ruins of Nimrud, one of the Iraq's greatest archaeological treasures, Hatra and now the Palmyra site indicates they will erase history for dirty money.
The looting of artefacts from Mosul and the Baalshamim temple - and the beheading of veteran Syrian archaeologist, Khaled Assad, should not go unpunished. Daesh is doing what Taleban did in Bamiyan to the statues of Buddha. Had the world acted against Taleban then, Daesh would not have been inspired to mount their campaign of terror now. It's a shame that a terror group can hold our heritage hostage while world powers stand and watch them plunder city after city, ruin after ruin.
These are not just crimes against humanity, but also against civilisation.