Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Will The Media Apply Some Afghanistan Perspective In Israel?

Apparently the war in Afghanistan has reached a level that maybe some day will spill over our way.

Yesterday AP carried the story U.S. Airstrike Kills Dozens of Taliban. The story mentions that 17 civilians were killed as well--but while making the point, AP does not beat it to death. In fact, the article makes a point of putting those unfortunate casualties into perspective:

Kandahar Gov. Asadullah Khalid said the airstrike killed 16 civilians and wounded 16. "These sort of accidents happen during fighting, especially when the Taliban are hiding in homes," he said. "I urge people not to give shelter to the Taliban."

...In the hospital, a man with blood on his turban and clothes said insurgents had been hiding in an Islamic religious school, or madrassa, in the village since the recent fierce fighting.

...U.S. military spokesman Col. Tom Collins said, "It's common that the enemy fights in close to civilians as a means to protect its own forces.

"We targeted a Taliban compound and we're certain we hit the right target," he told the AP.
The loss of innocent life is a terrible thing. It is noteworthy that AP put the situation into perspective.

Will it now do the same when Israel is forced to attack Palestinian terrorists who hide among civilians?


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2 comments:

Soccer Dad said...

the media haven't always been so nonsensationalistic when it comes to Afghan civilian deaths. Remember American planes bombing a wedding party a few years ago.
The one case where the media gave the good guys free rein was in the Balkans. Remember when American planes accidentally bombed a convoy of Kosovar Albanians? The Washington Post followed up with an extremely understanding editorial about how these mistakes, terrible as they are, are bound to happen in war. It showed an understanding that the paper has never demonstrated toward Israel.

Daled Amos said...

The one case where the media gave the good guys free rein was in the Balkans.

So the media coverage is...balkanized?