Gone: Syria's priceless heritage are now ruins of war

The cultural tragedy that is the bombing of Syria’s ancient monuments would be compounded if they are not rebuilt.

I doubt if there are many “monuments men” in Syria just now. George Clooney is not filming on the streets of Damascus. When people are dying in their thousands, it is hard to look at the fate of monuments. But when the horrors of civil war pass, Syria’s heritage, the most glorious in the eastern Mediterranean, will have to be rebuilt. War’s survivors recover. Their past may not. Syria will one day need the greatest campaign of historical rescue of modern times. We should be ready.