The ISIS Scaremongering Industry

For several weeks now we have been reading articles by archeologists and journalists that have been giving their far-fetched stories undue credence about how artifact collectors in this country and Europe are allegedly "financing Islamic terrorism". We know that there is not a scrap of evidence for this.  The trade, followed by a growing number of prestigious journalists, are now questioning the entire direction of reasoning here, and the premises on which it is based. They are showing that there is a possibility that the entire "war'' on terrorist funding by antiquities sales is in error. Archeologists are getting hundreds of thousands of dollars from the U.S. government for their research programs based on these premises, so are unlikely to be questioning them too closely. This is despite the fact that numerous  publications by individuals who have become involved in this controversy indicate the fallacies of their arguments. These dissident articles are, of course, only a tiny fraction of the remarkable outflow of texts unjustly and falsely attacking collectors for their alleged "financial support of terrorist activity".

Nevertheless, the arguments presented against the "collectors-finance-terrorism" hypothesis are sound, although they are difficult to independently evaluate.  Only further manipulation of the few facts keeps the argument alive. In part, there is a lack of direct evidence for any argument. Who has the possibility to go to the region to check for themselves what is going on? The burden of proof is on the "collectors-finance-terrorism" advocates - a burden they have not accepted in a forthright manner. Second, it is increasingly doubtful that the ongoing expenditure of hundreds of thousands of dollars to chase this chimera is achieving anything useful.  Furthermore, the "collectors-finance-terrorism" hypothesis  is conveniently serving as an excuse for all sorts of social engineering and public misinformation that could not be sustained without a "crisis.'' This emerging travesty indicates the dark inner workings of government and the way in which "consensus building'' has diverted thousands of dollars into the pockets of the consensus builders of the anti-collector industry.