JSOU Report 16-11 IS and Cultural Genocide: Antiquities Trafficking Howard, Elliott, and Prohov and Elliott, JSOUHoward, Report IS and Cultural 16-11 Trafficking Genocide: Antiquities JOINT SPECIAL OPERATIONS UNIVERSITY In IS and Cultural Genocide: Antiquities Trafficking in the Terrorist State, the writing team of Retired Brigadier General Russell Howard, Marc Elliott, and Jonathan Prohov offer compelling research that reminds govern- ment and military officials of the moral, legal, and ethical dimensions of protecting cultural antiquities from looting and illegal trafficking. Internationally, states generally agree on the importance of protecting antiquities, art, and cultural property not only for their historical and artistic importance, but also because such property holds economic, political, and social value for nations and their peoples. Protection is in the common interest because items or sites are linked to the common heritage of mankind. The authors make the point that a principle of international law asserts that cultural or natural elements of humanity’s common heritage should be protected from exploitation and held in trust for future generations. The conflicts in Afghanistan, and especially in Iraq and Syria, coupled with the rise of the Islamic State (IS), have brought renewed attention to the plight of cultural heritage in the Middle East and throughout the world. IS and Cultural Genocide: Joint Special Operations University Antiquities Trafficking in the 7701 Tampa Point Boulevard MacDill AFB FL 33621 Terrorist State https://jsou.libguides.com/jsoupublications Russell D. Howard, Marc D. Elliott, and Jonathan R. Prohov JSOU Report 16-11 ISBN 978-1-941715-15-4 Joint Special Operations University Brian A. Maher, Ed.D., SES, President Francis X. Reidy, Interim Director, Center for Special Operations Studies and Research Robert Nalepa, Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Air Force, Ret., Editor in Chief Lisa Sheldon, B.A., Advertising, JSOU Press Editor Cindy Snyder, B.A., Mass Communications/Journalism, Assistant JSOU Press Editor Peter McCabe, Ph.D., Political Science, Colonel, U.S. Air Force, Ret. Joint Special Operations University Will Irwin, MMAS, Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army, Ret. and the Center for Special Operations Studies and Research Paul Lieber, Ph.D., Mass Communication & Public Affairs David Ellis, Ph.D., International Relations, Comparative Politics, Resident Senior Fellows The Joint Special Operations University (JSOU) provides its publications to contribute toward expanding the body of knowledge about joint special Editorial Advisory Board operations. JSOU publications advance the insights and recommendations Roby C. Barrett Alvaro de Souza Pinheiro of national security professionals and the Special Operations Forces (SOF) Ph.D., Middle Eastern & South Asian History Major General, Brazilian Army, Ret. students and leaders for consideration by the SOF community and defense Public Policy Center Middle East Institute and JSOU Associate Fellow leadership. JSOU Senior Fellow James F. Powers, Jr. JSOU is the educational component of the United States Special Opera- James J.F. Forest Ph.D., Higher Education Administration Colonel, U.S. Army, Ret. tions Command (USSOCOM), MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. The JSOU Associate Professor, School of Criminology and JSOU Senior Fellow mission is to educate SOF executive, senior, and intermediate leaders and Justice Studies, University of Massachusetts Lowell and JSOU Senior Fellow Bryan C. Price selected other national and international security decision makers, both Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army Mario Forestier military and civilian, through teaching, outreach, and research in the Ph.D., Political Science Chief Warrant Officer, U.S. Army, Ret. Director, Combating Terrorism Center at science and art of joint special operations. JSOU provides education to the Director, Joint Special Operations Command West Point men and women of SOF and to those who enable the SOF mission in a joint Center for Counterterrorism Studies and interagency environment. Thomas H. Henriksen Richard H. Shultz, Jr. JSOU conducts research through its Center for Special Operations Ph.D., History, Hoover Institution Ph.D., Political Science Stanford University and JSOU Senior Fellow Studies and Research (CSOSR) where effort centers upon the USSOCOM Director, International Security Bernd Horn Studies Program, The Fletcher School, mission: Colonel, Canadian Dept. of National Defence, Ret. Tufts University and JSOU Senior Fellow Ph.D., War Studies USSOCOM mission. USSOCOM synchronizes the planning of Special Director, CANSOFCOM Education and Robert G. Spulak, Jr. Operations and provides Special Operations Forces to support persistent, Research Centre Ph.D., Physics/Nuclear Engineering networked, and distributed Geographic Combatant Command operations Russell D. Howard Sandia National Laboratories and JSOU Associate Fellow in order to protect and advance our Nation’s interests. Brigadier General, U.S. Army, Ret. John D. Jogerst Jessica Glicken Turnley Colonel, U.S. Air Force, Ret. Press publications are available for download from the JSOU Library Ph.D., Cultural Anthropology Galisteo Consulting Group web page located at https://jsou.libguides.com/jsoupublications. James Kiras Ph.D., History, School of Advanced Air and Space and JSOU Senior Fellow Studies, Air University and JSOU Associate Fellow Rich Yarger William W. Mendel Ph.D., History Colonel, U.S. Army, Ret. JSOU Senior Fellow JSOU Senior Fellow IS and Cultural Genocide: Antiquities Trafficking in the Terrorist State Brigadier General (Retired) Russell D. Howard, U.S. Army Marc D. Elliott Jonathan R. Prohov JSOU Report 16-11 The JSOU Press MacDill Air Force Base, Florida 2016 Comments about this publication are invited and should be forwarded to the Director of the Center for Special Operations Studies and Research, Joint Spe- cial Operations University, 7701 Tampa Point Blvd., MacDill AFB FL 33621. ******* The JSOU Center for Special Operations Studies and Research (CSOSR) is currently accepting written works relevant to special operations for potential publication. For more information, please contact the CSOSR Director at [email protected]. Thank you for your interest in the JSOU Press. ******* This work was cleared for public release; distribution is unlimited. Printed in November 2016. ISBN 978-1-941715-15-4 The views expressed in this publication are entirely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views, policy, or position of the United States Government, Department of Defense, United States Special Operations Command, or the Joint Special Operations University. Authors are granted academic freedom provided their work does not disclose classified information, jeopardize operations security, or misrepresent official U.S. policy. Such academic freedom empowers authors to offer new and sometimes controversial perspectives in the interest of furthering debate on key issues. Recent Publications of the JSOU Press Cultural Intelligence for Special Forces Personnel, JSOU Report 16-10, Russell D. Howard, Greta Hanson, and Carly Laywell Training Surrogate Forces in International Humanitarian Law: Lessons from Peru, Colombia, El Salvador, and Iraq, JSOU Report 16-9, Patrick Paterson Assessing Special Operations Forces Language, Region, and Culture Needs— Leveraging Digital and LRC Learning to Reroute the “Roadmap” from Human Terrain to Human Domain, JSOU Report 16-8, Robert R. Greene Sands The Asia Pivot: Implications for U.S. Special Operations Forces, JSOU Report 16-7, Russell D. Howard and John P. Duvall, Jr. Military Innovation in War: It Takes a Learning Organization. A Case Study of Task Force 714 in Iraq, JSOU Report 16-6, Richard Shultz 2017 Special Operations Research Topics Unconventional Economics: Operational Economics in Unconventional Warfare, JSOU Report 16-5, Riley Post and Jeffrey D. Peterson 2016 Special Operations Essays, JSOU Report 16-4 The War Within: A Look Inside al-Qaeda’s Undoing, JSOU Report 16-3, Jarret Brachman Improving the Sustainment of SOF Distributed Operations in Access-Denied Environments, JSOU Report 16-2, Robert Haddick SOF Role in Combating Transnational Crime, edited by William Mendel and Dr. Peter McCabe The Collapse of Iraq and Syria: The End of the Colonial Construct in the Greater Levant, JSOU Report 16-1, Roby C. Barrett On the cover. The defaced 180-foot statue of Buddha, carved by monks in the cliffs in the Bamiyan Valley, Afghanistan, has since been destroyed by the Taliban. Photo by Newscom. Back cover. ISIS militants smashed antiquities at a museum in Mosul, Iraq, in Feb- ruary 2015. The militants shoved statues off pedestals, and used hammers and drills to destroy what was left. During the destruction, a militant was quoted as saying, “These antiquities and idols behind me were from people in past centuries and were worshiped instead of God. When God Almighty orders us to destroy these statues, idols, and antiquities, we must do it, even if they’re worth billions of dollars.” Photo by Newscom. Contents Foreword ..........................................................................................................vii About the Authors .........................................................................ix Acknowledgements ......................................................................xi Introduction ................................................................................... 1 1. The Global Illicit Antiquities Trade and How It Supports Terrorism in