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The combination of Koran and Kalashnikov, however, is as toxic as that of Bible and burning stake ever was in Europe. The Taliban's mission is more absolute than some other culture crimes their decree has been compared to, such as the Nazis' famed burning of the books: works of art are singular and their destruction is irrevocable, whereas books exist in the plural and other copies may escape the fire.
Unfortunately, there are no good grounds to suppose that the Taliban can be deflected from their benighted campaign. Even the Metropolitan Museum's offer to purchase and transport pieces of the two Bamiyan Buddhas to New York was rebuffed by Taliban officials. Last week a very faint ray of hope faded when Pakistan, the Taliban's closest ally, failed to dissuade them from going ahead with their plans. Pierre Lafrance, a UNESCO special envoy, was sent to talk to Taliban mullahs in Kandahar, but he found that "there was not the slightest hint of bargaining in their position. Their standard is definitely extreme compared to other countries'."
Extreme is an extreme understatement. Once, Mao's Red Guards set the modern standard of ideological vandalism. Today it's the Taliban, and nobody quite knows what the mullahs hope to gain from their decree--other than a seat among the blessed in paradise, where no statues exist.