In Newtown, Connecticut, almost 30 children died in a tragedy that makes no sense. Whether you think Robbie Parker was an actor or a genuinely grieving father, the tragedy itself definitely occurred (for the sake of clarity, I think he is a genuinely grieving father). As sad as this tragedy was, far more children have died in other tragedies that do not receive as much attention from the mainstream media, possibly because the children in question are Pakistani (brown), and not white Americans.

 

The number of children in Pakistan who have died as a result of President Obama’s drones comes to 168, as of August 11, 2011. According to a Telegraph article, the Central Intelligence Agency in the United States is attacking the Afghan border to erase the presence of militants it suspects to be in that region.

 

According to StormCloudsGathering, which you can find on Facebook, among other places, other areas of the world should place sanctions on the United States because of its military strikes, such as the drone strike that was implemented first by President George W. Bush. However, the reality might be that continents like Europe stand to benefit so much economically from the United States, that it will ‘turn the other cheek’ for financial reasons. It is not like Europe is that strong financially right now. Then again, neither is the United States.

 

Because so many Pakistani civilians are injured or killed in these strikes, understandably the Pakistanis hate the American presence there. They want to be safe and secure, like every human being alive. They probably also want their children’s deaths to mean as much as the deaths of the children in Newtown, Connecticut. Parents do not note the colour of the skin of their offspring before they decide to grieve the loss. However, the mainstream media in the West certainly plays favourites. It is just like when the pictures on the media of kidnapped children are almost always white, blonde-haired, blue-eyed children. Remember Elizabeth Smart, the Mormon who was kidnapped (but eventually and fortunately brought back to her home later)? She fits the description of Emilie Parker—both beautiful, blonde-haired, blue-eyed girls. Do brown or black children never get kidnapped in America? Do Asians never become victims of violence? Is it only white people? As StormCloudsGather has said before, why aren’t all lives weighed the same on the human scale?

 

 

 

Sources: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/8695679/168-children-killed-in-drone-strikes-in-Pakistan-since-start-of-campaign.html

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