Middle Eastern language of things that will happen when Babylon is destroyed:
Revelation 18:19 (KJV)
And they CAST DUST ON THEIR HEADS, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city (Babylon), wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
Isaiah 13:20 (KJV)
“It (Babylon) shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the ARABIAN PITCH TENT THERE; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.”
You have heard many times from your favorite pastor, prophecy teacher or preacher that Babylon is Rome, New York or the USA. Did you ever see Italians or Europeans casting dust on their heads when tragedy takes place? Did you ever see Arabs pitching their tents in the city of Rome in Italy?
The Babylon to be destroyed in the Bible is a Middle Eastern city inhabited by Muslim Arabs, not Rome inhabited by Catholic Italians neither New York inhabited by Americans.
Isaiah 13 & 14 and Jeremiah 50 & 51 geographically associate Babylon with the land of Chaldea (see map below).
The Bible is a Middle Eastern centric book about Middle Eatern places. We must not force our western mindset into the scriptures.
The Coming Bible Prophecy Reformation 