For Palmyra

In the sands of antiquity there is an oasis. Millennia ago, nurtured by this miracle, a trading town sprung up. Trade brought prosperity and a magnificent city took shape. But this could not last. War came to the land, and the splendor of this place was reduced to rubble.

This place is called Palmyra. It lies in the heart of Syria, having functioned as a crossroads of civilizations before the coming of Muhammad, Jesus, or Socrates. At its height, the city was controlled by the Romans. As elsewhere, they left exquisite ruins: colonnades, arches, theaters, and temples. Most monumental of all is the Temple of Bel, a pagan shrine built nearly 2,000 years ago. People still come, not to venerate this now dead god, but to marvel at our ancestors’ creation.

Except no more. Bloodthirsty and barbaric men, driven by medieval beliefs, have destroyed it. To the broad-minded, the temple is a treasure, evincing connection to the past. To these men, the temple is idolatry, a physical manifestation of blasphemy. Its endurance clashed with their vision for the world. So, to fulfill that vision, these primitives remade the stones and columns into formless debris.

This is not the first time the world has been robbed of our wonder and beauty because of our cruelty and wretchedness — nor will it be the last. Lost are the Grand Library of Baghdad and the Great Library of Alexandria. Gone are the scores of churches and synagogues destroyed during the Second World War. As long as there is violence among men, more of our heritage will surely return to dust.

But Palmyra is not just some relic of a far-gone past. Over 50,000 people call this place home. These ill-fated souls now live under the thumb of Daesh. Fortified by the dead-eyed certainty in their faith and unburdened by the dictates of morality, these zealots rape and pillage with impunity. Their acts are atrocious. Everywhere they go, they are harbingers of death.

In Palmyra, they have conducted themselves no differently. This summer, Daesh men captured Khaled al-Asaad, a noble man who dedicated his life to the study and protection of this place. They demanded the scholar reveal the location of priceless artifacts. Discovery would provide either loot to fund their demented enterprises or wreckage for their sledgehammers. Al-Asaad did not comply. His headless corpse now bakes in the desert sun.

Destruction and anguish are not exceptional circumstances on our planet. But Daesh occupy rarefied air. Bestowing upon them the words ‘genocidal’ and ‘savage’ is neither hyperbole nor slander. To that end, I have no qualms of what needs to be done. This virus must be eradicated.

The world has steadily begun to answer the call. This is good. We must muster our strength and combat this swarm of locusts. Humanity has been poisoned. Now it is time to take the antidote.

Those opposed to Daesh cannot claim the mantle of moral perfection. But we are civilized, and they are not. For Palmyra, for its people, for its past — and for all places like it that may be the next to fall — the civilized side must prevail.