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More Thoughs On Iraq
Sep. 26th, 2004 12:50 amSkip at your leisure.
Family and friends of Ken Bigley, a Brit currently being held hostage by Iraqis, are apparently leafleting Baghdad in an attempt to have him released. From the BBC newsfeed I often read:
The government said it had distributed 50,000 leaflets in Baghdad, at the request of Bigley's family who want to exhaust all means possible to save him from a group led by al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
"A family man called Ken Bigley is being held somewhere in your community," said the leaflet in Arabic. "Ken's mother, brothers, wife and child love him dearly. We are appealing for your help."
I really feel for the guy's family (and all the families of hostages), but I honestly don't think what they're doing is a good idea. Let's look at the wording here: "A family man called Ken Bigley is being held somewhere in your community. Ken's mother, brothers, wife and child love him dearly. We are appealinbg for your help."
Distributing 50,000 pieces of paper bearing those words in the midst of an area where hundreds of civilians have been killed in the conflict might just possibly create more resentment than sympathy. If any of my relatives or friends were killed in the crossfire of a war they didn't ask for, I'd read that leaflet and think: serves you right. My husband/wife/daughter/best friend didn't ask for it either. Why should I care about yours?
I'm sure there are people out there who handle the loss of those they love by sympathising, but I'm not one of them. Seeing a leaflet like that would just make me angry, and I bet it has that affect on a lot of the people in Baghdad who are reading it.
That will be all.
Family and friends of Ken Bigley, a Brit currently being held hostage by Iraqis, are apparently leafleting Baghdad in an attempt to have him released. From the BBC newsfeed I often read:
The government said it had distributed 50,000 leaflets in Baghdad, at the request of Bigley's family who want to exhaust all means possible to save him from a group led by al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
"A family man called Ken Bigley is being held somewhere in your community," said the leaflet in Arabic. "Ken's mother, brothers, wife and child love him dearly. We are appealing for your help."
I really feel for the guy's family (and all the families of hostages), but I honestly don't think what they're doing is a good idea. Let's look at the wording here: "A family man called Ken Bigley is being held somewhere in your community. Ken's mother, brothers, wife and child love him dearly. We are appealinbg for your help."
Distributing 50,000 pieces of paper bearing those words in the midst of an area where hundreds of civilians have been killed in the conflict might just possibly create more resentment than sympathy. If any of my relatives or friends were killed in the crossfire of a war they didn't ask for, I'd read that leaflet and think: serves you right. My husband/wife/daughter/best friend didn't ask for it either. Why should I care about yours?
I'm sure there are people out there who handle the loss of those they love by sympathising, but I'm not one of them. Seeing a leaflet like that would just make me angry, and I bet it has that affect on a lot of the people in Baghdad who are reading it.
That will be all.
