I know this is a little early, by Mudcat time, but it is weighing heavily on my heart and I need to do this now.

Worse things have happened, but I am saddened almost beyond belief at the destruction of the great carved Buddhas in Afghanistan, as well as all other images of the Buddha, by the extremist Taliban. I held out hope that appeals from the UN et alia would allow for the rescue of many, but alas, it seems not...it is a very sad day for the Honour of Cultural Heritage. Here is the latest:

KABUL, Afghanistan –– Aiming to eliminate idolatry from Afghanistan, troops from the Taliban religious militia used explosives and rockets Saturday to destroy two soaring statues of Buddha, and militia officials said they had already eliminated two-thirds of the country's statues.

What had not already been turned to rubble was slated to come down on Sunday and Monday, despite pleas from cultural, political and religious officials worldwide to save the priceless treasures.

"The head and legs of the Buddha statues in Bamiyan were destroyed yesterday," said Taliban Information Minister Quadratullah Jamal, referring to the site about 78 miles northwest of the Afghan capital of Kabul. "Our soldiers are working hard to demolish their remaining parts. They will come down soon. We are using everything at our disposal to destroy them."

Taliban's supreme commander, Mullah Mohammed Omar, on Monday ordered every statue in the country destroyed to conform with a strict brand of Islamic law banning graven images of people or animals.

Most of the country's ancient Buddhist relics, fragments of Afghanistan's pre-Islamic past, were destroyed, Jamal said. Most of an estimated 6,000 statues in the Kabul Museum were as well, although the Taliban refused to allow anyone inside the war-battered building.

"Words fail me to describe adequately my feelings of consternation and powerlessness as I see the reports of the irreversible damage that is being done to Afghanistan's exceptional cultural heritage," said Koichiro Matsuura, director-general of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

The two Buddhas, 175 feet and 120 feet tall, are hewn from the side of a mountain in Bamiyan. The taller statue is thought to be thought to be the world's tallest standing Buddha.

The pair were carved in the 3rd and 5th centuries, and both had been damaged by artillery fire during Afghanistan's long civil war.

The Taliban militia, which rules 95 percent of Afghanistan, including Kabul, adheres to a strict brand of Islamic law. Their interpretation has been questioned by Islamic scholars in other Muslim countries and Islamic institutions.

The mullah's order generated international outrage. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York offered to take the statues and preserve them.

An UNESCO envoy met Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban's ambassador in neighboring Pakistan, to register the world's outrage.

Pierre La France of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said Saturday that the destruction of the statues will only worsen the Taliban's already troubled relations with the world community.

But Zaeef said, "It's a decree by ulema (clerics) and the government can't stop its implementation."

The Taliban have been unmoved by international appeals. Some Islamic countries have called the order to destroy the historical relics embarrassing to Islam.

"Our ulema (clerics) have given an edict. It cannot be taken back. There is no place for statues in an Islamic country," Jamal said.