BanjoRay, i have written much on the terrible lives of women living in Afghanistan and I am glad you brought that up. Their main organisation for speaking out, RAWA, works tirelessly and at great personal risk to spread the word. It is indeed sad and ironic that the media focuses more on pieces of art.

PeterT, you've, as usual, said what I was trying to, about the impact this has on Buddhism. My heart has been so sad because of that more than them being object of art. The only thing I could think of to compare to this is what has happened in Tibet, and of course, that really was/is much worse with so many lives lost and exiled.

It's a bit difficult for me, at the moment, to try to emulate the Compassionate Budhha and understand how this has happened.

Thank you all for your comments.