Afghanistan: blows history to 'smithereens'

Afghanistan has been in the news again lately. One can say it has actually never entirely left the news during the past couple of decades. It has had a uniquely stormy past, and this legacy continues. It was the site of a recent US attack on the camps of Osama bin Laden, the alleged international terrorist; just when we thought the country would reach some sort of stability with the rise of its current rulers, the Taliban, more madness continues.

Afghanistan is a landlocked country nestled between Iran, Pakistan, China and the former Soviet Republics of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Summers are hot and dry. Winters are arctic; the country is located at altitudes of as much as 24,000 (7,500M) feet above sea level. It is where the Hindu Kush rises to become the mighty Himalayas in Pakistan, northern India and Nepal.

The economy, or what is left of it after the Soviet occupation during the 1980s, is mostly agricultural. Afghanistan remains one of the world's most impoverished countries, poorer still because of the war that resulted from the Soviet occupation. The country has many natural resources, including gold, natural gas, coal, precious stones and more. Most of it is underdeveloped.

In ancient times, the Persians, Greeks, Macedonians and the warrior armies of Mongolian Genghis Khan moved through, all leaving their distinct mark on the country and culture of the people. The Arabs introduced Islam in the 7th century AD, but long before they arrived, perhaps as much as a thousand years earlier, the Buddhist influence moved into Afghanistan and centers of learning were established throughout the area.

One of the largest, most impressive and ethereal Buddhist sites west of India was established in Bamiyan. Here in the center of the country, where the highland plateau begins its dramatic rise to form the Hindu Kush, in a valley where natural lakes, prehistoric bodies of clear, aqua-blue water encapsulated in natural bowls that stand high above the level of the otherwise dry desert, they survive the test of time. Overlooking this serene panorama, carved into the side of a high mountain was the world's largest Buddha standing more than fifteen stories high. Any visitor to the site was bound to be awe inspired. That is, until last week when the Taliban, with modern armaments, destroyed this majestic figure that was more than a symbol of a religion.

The problem is that Islam does not look kindly upon graven images. And in spite of the fact that statues adorn many a city square in countries that identify themselves as Islamic, the Taliban, the current guardians of Islam in Afghanistan, decided that this one, and all of the ancient Buddhist carvings had to be razed in keeping with the traditions of Islam. These priceless remnants of Buddhist culture in Afghanistan, including this majestic piece, meant nothing to them. No matter that western governments implored them to spare this one; no matter that even some Islamic governments reasoned with them that this statue represented part of the heritage of ancient cultures that future generations should be allowed to see. Nothing mattered short of its destruction. Last week, it was shot to smithereens, never to be seen again on the face of this earth.

It can be argued that Afghanistan is wounded, that it still healing; that it has been alienated by the US which its new rulers so much wanted to be recognized by; that, as a result, it has been marginalized by the international community that led this great offense. There is some truth in all of this, but after all the suffering there in the past 25 years, this latest act is more a pain of our arbitrary thoughts when we think of what might have been; it is not the pain of conscience that bothers people who lived there and feel impotent to do anything to help those poor people, the citizens of this besieged country, who are caught in the middle of guns, poverty and history.

The truth remains that Afghanistan was wounded, almost fatally, by the superpower rivalry that upset its fragile, nascent institutions a couple decades ago, and it continues to need the help and understanding of the international community. A whole generation has grown up on guns and religion, the two elements that sustained them during the hopeless days of the recent past. And the US government, in its for quest for bin Laden, still owes some measure of support to the Afghan people, for having contributed to the forces that led to their destruction and, indeed, the destruction of that majestic statue.