afghanistanformer mujahidin commanders, and even Dostam and Mas‘ud. Karzai
also travelled to London and Washington to request political, financial
and military support, but his appeals fell on deaf ears.
As for Mullah ‘Omar, he fell increasingly under the influence of hard-
liners as bin Laden’s presence became a major source of income for the
cash-strapped government. Eventually Arabs and radicals within his own
movement persuaded Mullah ‘Omar to make a series of public demon-
strations of his Islamic credentials, which equally served as acts of defiance
in the face of the Western nations’ refusal to recognize his government
and their presumed indifference to Afghanistan’s plight. In March 2001
the Taliban blew up the giant statues of the Buddha in Bamiyan, overrul-
ing Mullah ‘Omar’s earlier declaration that they were protected historic
monuments. Four months later Mullah ‘Omar issued a decree banning
all foreign nationals from eating pork, playing loud music, committing
The Greater Buddha
after the Taliban’s
destruction.
Ironically, this action
drew international
attention to these
monuments and
substantial funding
was committed for the
restoration of the two
images. In the process
a great deal has been
learned about their
construction, while
mass spectrometry
has revealed that they
were of a much later
date than originally
thought. The Smaller
Buddha, the first to
be constructed, dates
from c. 550 ce; the
Greater Buddha from
c. 615 ce.