Bringing Voice to the Voiceless
Front page News for the last couple of days:
Canada needs to revisit its role in Afghanistan.
One of the main domestic headline news in the media this week is reconsidering Canada's role in Afghanistan in light of recently losing two soldiers and one in critical but stable condition after being axed on the head in Afghanistan. But Prime Minister Harper and Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Mackay has backed the 10 month commitment Canadian troops made in the reconstruction and peacekeeping role they are playing in Afghanistan. Sure, I feel saddened that two soldiers had passed away while on duty to fight for a more democractic Afghanistan for the people there. However, to put it in perspective, really, only 10 soldiers and one diplomat have been killed in action since Canada's peacekeeping role in Afghanistan since 2001. 11 people in approximately 5 years. No, I am not saying that their lives do not matter and those number though small are meaningless. Each and every life matters, and definitely their passing away is a loss to their family and Canada. However, what about the 3000-3400 Afghani who lost their lives between 2001 and 2002 when US dropped bombs in highly populated areas in Afghanistan? We certainly didn't hear much about their life story, the way they were killed, and tribute paid to them etc. Why is it that when a Westerner gets killed in a horrifying situation, it is highlighted in the news, and not when a large amount of people from underdeveloped countries' get killed?
I wished double standards didn't exist in the media
I wished that the voiceless would have more voice and tell their story
Yes, the contention between politicians whether to hold a debate to continue Canadian troops' service in Afghanistan in the next few months is still fueling. It is still on page ONE.
Then, I noticed something on page 14 on National Post yesterday: "Genocide without borders." Read it, and it brought me to tears...
"For more than two years, the world has pretty much ignored the genocide unfolding in the Darfur region of Sudan...and now, apparently encouraged by the world's acquiescience, Sudan is sending its proxy forces to invade neighbouring Chad and kill and rape members of the same African tribes that have already been ethinically cleansed in Darfur itself...militias backed by Sudan race on camels and pickup trucks into Chadian villages and use machine guns to mow down farming families, whose only offence is that they belong to the wrong tribes and have black skin" (Kristof).
Allow Kristof to tell you the life story of a family in Sudan:
"Eleven days earlier, Sudanese military aircraft and a force of several hundred janjaweed had suddenly attacked the village. Haroun and his wife had run for their lives, with his wife carrying their three-month-old baby, Ahmed. The janjaweed raiders overtook Haroun's wife and beat her so badly that she is still unconscious. They also grabbed Ahmed from her arms. They looked at the baby, Haroun added, and since he was a boy, they shot him" (Kristof).
Republished by Grace, page ONE on her blog.
Sources:
1. http://www.cursor.org/stories/civilian_deaths.htm
2. Kristof, Nicholas D. "Genocide Without Borders." New York Times. National Post: March 8, 2006.
Canada needs to revisit its role in Afghanistan.
One of the main domestic headline news in the media this week is reconsidering Canada's role in Afghanistan in light of recently losing two soldiers and one in critical but stable condition after being axed on the head in Afghanistan. But Prime Minister Harper and Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Mackay has backed the 10 month commitment Canadian troops made in the reconstruction and peacekeeping role they are playing in Afghanistan. Sure, I feel saddened that two soldiers had passed away while on duty to fight for a more democractic Afghanistan for the people there. However, to put it in perspective, really, only 10 soldiers and one diplomat have been killed in action since Canada's peacekeeping role in Afghanistan since 2001. 11 people in approximately 5 years. No, I am not saying that their lives do not matter and those number though small are meaningless. Each and every life matters, and definitely their passing away is a loss to their family and Canada. However, what about the 3000-3400 Afghani who lost their lives between 2001 and 2002 when US dropped bombs in highly populated areas in Afghanistan? We certainly didn't hear much about their life story, the way they were killed, and tribute paid to them etc. Why is it that when a Westerner gets killed in a horrifying situation, it is highlighted in the news, and not when a large amount of people from underdeveloped countries' get killed?
I wished double standards didn't exist in the media
I wished that the voiceless would have more voice and tell their story
Yes, the contention between politicians whether to hold a debate to continue Canadian troops' service in Afghanistan in the next few months is still fueling. It is still on page ONE.
Then, I noticed something on page 14 on National Post yesterday: "Genocide without borders." Read it, and it brought me to tears...
"For more than two years, the world has pretty much ignored the genocide unfolding in the Darfur region of Sudan...and now, apparently encouraged by the world's acquiescience, Sudan is sending its proxy forces to invade neighbouring Chad and kill and rape members of the same African tribes that have already been ethinically cleansed in Darfur itself...militias backed by Sudan race on camels and pickup trucks into Chadian villages and use machine guns to mow down farming families, whose only offence is that they belong to the wrong tribes and have black skin" (Kristof).
Allow Kristof to tell you the life story of a family in Sudan:
"Eleven days earlier, Sudanese military aircraft and a force of several hundred janjaweed had suddenly attacked the village. Haroun and his wife had run for their lives, with his wife carrying their three-month-old baby, Ahmed. The janjaweed raiders overtook Haroun's wife and beat her so badly that she is still unconscious. They also grabbed Ahmed from her arms. They looked at the baby, Haroun added, and since he was a boy, they shot him" (Kristof).
Republished by Grace, page ONE on her blog.
Sources:
1. http://www.cursor.org/stories/civilian_deaths.htm
2. Kristof, Nicholas D. "Genocide Without Borders." New York Times. National Post: March 8, 2006.
posted by Grace at 3/09/2006 03:56:00 PM
2 Comments:
Anything good on the back page?
The back page is usually filled with Comments and Commentaries. I read some of the commentaries - they are very insightful articles!
Post a Comment
<< Home