article_snippet: Scroll down for video .
article_snippet: UNESCO condemned the actions as 'cultural cleansing' and 
article_snippet: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon branded the actions 'a war crime'.
article_snippet: The antiquities ministry said the lack of tough .
article_snippet: Iraq's historic sites had encouraged the group to continue the group .
article_snippet: The delay in international support for Iraq has encouraged .
article_snippet: Archaeologists compared the assault on Iraq's cultural history to the Taliban's destruction of the Bamyan Buddhas in 2001.
article_snippet: But US and Iraqi officials have been cautious about setting a timeline for preparing Iraq's embattled military for the campaign.