Afghanistan Feature: Why The Names of the Kandahar Dead Matter
Saturday, March 24, 2012 at 8:06
Anar Gul gestures to the body of her grandchild, killed by Sergeant Robert Bales in Kandahar (Photo: AP)
An incident like this leads Afghans to think that maybe the US media and elite --- including those running the Government --- don't look at Afghans the way they look at other peoples. While people need to know everything about a mass murderer, they might not require knowledge of the victims because they belong to a culture that is too primitive.
Yes, "primitive". That was the word used by National Review Online in an editorial yesterday about Afghans and Afghan culture, as it pondered the Kandahar Massacre.
An American soldier goes to Afghanistan and massacres 16 civilians inside their homes, then burns their bodies. And we are the ones who are primitive.