I’m sure this practice does more for recruiting Taliban than it does recruiting Christians.
That said, why destroy the Bibles?
Why not ship them back?
I remember, and it was formative in my opinion of the Islamic dictatorships, a Lt. Col. having his family Bible taken from his bags during a “Customs” inspection as we arrived at the airport in Riyadh (Religious police). He was technically in violation of a General Order at the time, and I believe him when he said he really didn't think about it since the Bible went with him wherever he went. However, the Bible was seized by the Saudis, not the US Military. He never saw the Bible again. He had kept family dates and genealogy and such in the pages, and he admitted it was not smart for him to bring such an important Bible with him to Saudi Arabia, but it was his “daily reader” and he just always had it with him.
As to the General Order, IMO it was a political and politically correct concession to a Monarch.