Peacekeepers 'deface ancient art'

[YankeyMCC]

(snip)
UN peacekeepers in the disputed African territory of Western Sahara have vandalised ancient rock paintings, a UN official has told a UK newspaper.

The Times has published pictures of the paintings, some 6,000 years old, showing them defaced with spray paint.

Julian Harston, the UN official responsible for Western Sahara, said he had been shocked by the vandalism.

He said funds would now be sought from the UN cultural organisation, Unesco, to remove the graffiti.

Western Sahara has been at the centre of a bitter dispute since former colonial power Spain pulled out in 1975 and neighbouring Morocco invaded.

UN peacekeepers were deployed in 1991 to monitor a ceasefire between Morocco and the Algerian-backed Polisario Front, which has been seeking independence for the territory.
(snip)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7219297.stm

Pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/western_sahara_project/

[nightrider767]

1. Ignorance and doing what man has been doing for over 6000 years

Leaving his "mark"

[crikkett]

2. News flash: people wrote on cave walls that people have been writing on for 6K years

I mean, I looked at the photos and didn't see defaced art. I did see ugly spraypaint and charcoal scratches on top of older paint and charcoal scratches.

[semillama]

3. Maybe you need to look closer

I saw giraffes and other animals under the spray paint and scratching. Your post is pretty culturally insensitive. If someone came and chiseled off some names on the Vietnam War Memorial, or added their own name, would you simply shrug your shoulders and say "So what? It's new names chiseled into a rock with older names"?

[rayofreason]

4. Sorry, but antiquity deserves respect.

Unfortunately this is one more example of poorly supervised UN peacekeepers doing some pretty unpeaceful things.

[Nihil]

5. News flash: If they were intelligent enough to appreciate ancient cultures ...

... they wouldn't be in the f*cking army, never mind spraying shit
and carving their initials over ancient monuments ...

If you don't see defaced art then you probably don't see why we
shouldn't let the world carry on in the way it's been going on
"for 6k years", complete with pig-ignorant soldiers slaughtering
innocent civilians ... hey, it's just tradition isn't it?

(And, before anyone says it, I mean the above to apply to soldiers of
whatever nationality were involved, not just having a bash at the US.)

[rayofreason]

6. Why mention US soldiers...

...when they are not part of this UN force?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MINURSO

The main contributors are Malaysia, Russia, and Egypt. Also, there are plenty of people in the army in the US who appreciate ancient cultures, and your implication that people only join the army when they are unsuited for anything else is wrong and an excellent example of narrow-minded prejudice.

Despite that, your description of "pig-ignorant soldiers" in this case is quite apt.