Buddha of Bamiyan

Before the US could route the Taliban from Afghanistan, the Taliban succeeded in a crime against their country's history -- and crime against human history -- they dynamited two statutes of the Buddha -- one 125 feet tall, the other 180. Why? The Taliban considered representations of the human form idolatrous and offensive. Yeah -- OK. The statutes have been standing there since the 5th century AD -- I think if Allah had a problem with them, he'd have blown them up himself ages ago. To say the Taliban and their supporters are dumb-fucks is probably an understatement -- same goes for all fanatical religious groups -- they should have dynamite inserted somewhere and the fuse lit. But I digress. The Afghans are today debating what they should be doing with the scar that remains. Some favour rebuilding them -- but we know it will never be the same -- others favour leaving the scar as a memorial for the atrocity against human history. I'm not sure which one I favour. There is evidence however that there might be a third statute -- one of a sleeping Buddha -- buried. Archaeologists are busily looking for it. Here I have an opinion. Stop! These people have proven themselves irresponsible for taking care of a human treasure -- don't unearth another one so some other moron can come along and blow it up! Until Islamic nations become civilized, they should not be entrusted anything of remote historical value -- not even the treasures of the Muslim world. At the pace they're currently going, civilization will not be arriving in this or the next generation. So wait. Let the sleeping Buddha sleep.