There seems to be a fanatical mindset that believes in the destruction of offending images, statues, temples, artifacts, citizens, ecological niches, justifying the destruction by divine decree (handily interpreted by a human being). What is the difference between blowing up an ancient stone Buddha and strip-mining the Big Mountain area of Arizona?

The US government, for the most part, believes in Christianity (preferably Protestant) and Capitalism, not necessarily in that order. The Taliban believes in an interpretation of Islam that seems to mimic some fundamentalist Christian sects--rabid intolerance, the need to be isolated from change and/or the larger world, power based on the use of terror and fear. If, as the NY Times would have us think, the destruction of the ancient Buddhas is a way to push the West's buttons at a time when Afganistan is being ostracized by much of the Islamic world, it's an odd gesture, as if from one bully (small but very pissed off)to another bully (obese and complacent). I don't know what Buddha would do in this case.

blt