Wednesday, November 19, 2003
The UN, as usual, has its own screwy ideas about the Buddhas of Bamiyan. Radio Free Europe reports: Afghanistan: Plans To Remake Giant Buddhas Opposed By UNESCO:
Muriel de Pierrebourg, a spokeswoman for UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura, says rebuilding the statues in the original niches would be a 'double treachery.' She says the technique suggested by Gruen has been rejected by the vast majority of specialists. Instead, she says, UNESCO prefers to leave the niches empty as a 'memorial to destruction.'
Right now, that's the whole country, sweetie.
But Gruen believes rebuilding the Buddhas would benefit all of Afghanistan by dramatically boosting tourism
Honestly, the most important fact about the Buddhas wasn't their destruction at the hands of the Taliban, it was their awesome history. Letting them remain destroyed gives the Taliban a victory that they didn't deserve and further cuts Afghanistan off from its layered and rich past. Afghanistan will benefit far more from having them reconstructed than it will by honoring its own pillaging. What the hell do they smoke at UNESCO anyway?
Muriel de Pierrebourg, a spokeswoman for UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura, says rebuilding the statues in the original niches would be a 'double treachery.' She says the technique suggested by Gruen has been rejected by the vast majority of specialists. Instead, she says, UNESCO prefers to leave the niches empty as a 'memorial to destruction.'
Right now, that's the whole country, sweetie.
But Gruen believes rebuilding the Buddhas would benefit all of Afghanistan by dramatically boosting tourism
Honestly, the most important fact about the Buddhas wasn't their destruction at the hands of the Taliban, it was their awesome history. Letting them remain destroyed gives the Taliban a victory that they didn't deserve and further cuts Afghanistan off from its layered and rich past. Afghanistan will benefit far more from having them reconstructed than it will by honoring its own pillaging. What the hell do they smoke at UNESCO anyway?
