We really are Animals - or are we?

I was reading news @Google and somehow stumbled upon a few articles on Afghanistan - and then I remembered about the Buddhas @Bamiyan - how 2000 years were destroyed in the name of ... I don't know what to say !
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhas_of_Bamiyan
Hard to stop my blood from boiling when I read comments like - During the destruction, Taliban Information Minister Qudratullah Jamal lamented that, "this work of destruction is not as easy as people might think. You can't knock down the statues by shelling as both are carved into a cliff; they are firmly attached to the mountain."
Carved into a cliff a few thousand years ago - can you imagine how difficult that must have been to do ... and we don't think twice before we destroy it!
I often say that we all are animals, but then sometimes I think that realy is an insult to the animals - they never would destroy the ecosystem in which they live - Like Agent smith said in the Matrix - we really are like parasites (or worse) - we destroy the place we live in ... unlike any animal on the planet.
And why is all this for - money, power - what for?
That takes me to the recent Live Aid concert in UK, which takes me to the first Live Aid concert in 1985, after which Bob Geldof (http://www.bobgeldof.info/) commented that charity was not really going to solve the problem in Africa - countries like the US, UK, France etc. needed to move away from their terrorist agendas in Africa and allow the country to have at least an economy!
Quick fact - Africa produces almost 90% of the world's cocoa but produces less than 5% of the world's chocolates! Why? - because these "developed" countries ensure that Africa does not develop, so that they can suck all the resources out of it and make money! And thats just one small example!
How different are these acts from the Taliban destroying the statues? to me they seem terrorist alright! How come noone gets tried or jailed?!!?
Calling us animals would be quite an insult to the animal kingdom!