IS Wants World To See Palmyra Destruction

Palmyra. World Heritage Site. A place of incalculable cultural value but one with very specific use to so-called Islamic State.

The ancient city north of Damascus was built on trade routes that remain strategically vital today. But more importantly, it's both a sanctuary and a stage for worldwide attention-seeking by the death cult .

We in the media cannot help but report every atrocity committed in, or against, the city.

We've seen the mass execution of Syrian government soldiers by IS 'cubs' - children - in its amphitheatre.

We've seen the body of Khaled al Asaad tied to one of its columns after he refused to reveal the location of precious artefacts his helpers had hidden from the vandalising "Caliphate".

Nothing that IS does has not been thought through carefully and meticulously following a number of doctrinal papers that examine the efficacy of the use of horror to the efficiency of every tactic it has used on every operation in Iraq and Syria dating back years before it declared its leader, Omar al Baghdadi "Caliph".

So the massive explosion that destroyed Nimrud is TV gold. The sheer volume of explosive used no doubt draws admiring gasps from supporters of violent jihad and of fear from the vast majority horrified by the destruction of an ancient Assyrian city.

The jackhammering of statues in the Mosul museum, the beheading of hostages, the use of children as murderers in snuff movies - they're all attention-seeking operations building the brand of IS and almost unavoidably we in the media re-publish.

There is a fundamental trick that IS has pulled. Its "brand" is hideous. It is synonymous with the worst of the worst in the history of real-life grand guignol horror. It's up there with Cambodia's Pol Pot, with Rwanda's interahamwe, with the Nazis.

So it cannot be undermined by exposure of its excesses - it wants those very excesses publicised.

But it's also un-bombable. The American-led coalition that is attacking IS in Syria from the air will never bomb Palmyra's ancient ruins. It's a haven for the killers.

Members of the "Caliphate" are enthusiastic tunnellers. They burrowed into Ramadi to launch the surprise attacks that caused the city so close to Baghdad to fall. They dig secret routes to smuggle weapons in and out of their areas.

It would be odd if they had not figured out that they could honeycomb Palmyra's foundations and stay safe indefinitely from attacks from the air.

Palmyra has been a gift to IS - and it keeps on giving.