Frank81

Yes fellows, unfortunatelly the Afghan gobvernment gave to a Chinese mining company authorization to extract the copper beneath the syte. It can be the second largest copper of the world. The Chinese will destroy half of the city in two months



Ancient site needs saving not destroying - CNN.com





Signs to save the city

Petition | President Hamid Karzai: Prevent destruction of ancient site of Mes Aynak & the environmental damage | Change.org

Linschoten

Unbelievable, I wonder how much Karzai and his cronies have been given in the way of sweeteners. The fanatics have merely been replaced by crooks.

Jhangora

It is for the Afghan people to decide what is good for them. Do you seriously think this petition will make a difference? I think it is just a waste of time.

Linschoten

'It is for the Afghan people to decide what is good for them.' Do you really suppose that it is the Afghan people who are deciding this, rather than the small group of people who will profit from it? Or that any people have an absolute right to destroy an artistic and cultural heritage of which they are merely the temporary custodians?

Petyo

Considering the Afghans are muslim, if questioned, will they even want to preserve this particular heritage?

Frank81

I usually try to fight every battle, even if I can add 0.00000001% of the effort.

From my point of view, heritage is valuable both in terms of economy and culture, specially in the long run. By destroying this syte, Afghans become less rich in fact.

Gudenrath

Why not? Don't you think that for some their national heritage is important as well? Or do you think Muslims in general are special and unlike every other peoples in this regard?

Petyo

Of course! And I hope they constitute the larger part of their nation.When their religion is combined with poverty, bad education and fundamentalism - yes, I think so. Let us not forget the Talibans' appreciation of pre-islamic statues..

Gudenrath

Or that the Taliban is not representative of the general Afghan population, in fact most of them aren't even Afghan.

Linschoten

Alas, it does make a real difference if people in some Muslim countries don't value their non-Islamic or pre-Islamic heritage, even they're not positively iconoclastic in that regard like the Taliban.