The Count

In the worst single-day loss of life for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Taliban fighters shot down a Chinook CH-47 transport helicopter in eastern Wardak province with a rocket-propelled grenade on August 6th.

(I lifted that "worst single-day loss of life" phrase from numerous press accounts. The implication is obvious -- the U.S. isn't accustomed to taking losses. But tens of thousands of Afghans, possibly hundreds of thousands, have been killed in the war that began in 2001.)

Western media's attitude toward the Afghans they are supposedly trying to "assist" was as plain as the headlines. "U.S. Troops, SEALs Killed in Afghanistan Copter Crash," reported Timemagazine. (SEALS are U.S. Navy commandos.) "31 Killed in Afghanistan Chopper Crash," said the ABC television network. "31 Dead in Afghanistan Helicopter Crash," shouted Canada's National Post. (The number was later revised to 30.)

Eight Afghan government commandos died too. But dead Afghans don't rate a headline -- even when they're working for your country's puppet regime. As far as the American press is concerned, only 30 people -- i.e., Americans -- died.

An initial Associated Press wire service report noted that the dead included "22 SEALs, three Air Force air controllers, seven Afghan Army troops, a dog and his handler, and a civilian interpreter, plus the helicopter crew."

The dog. They mentioned the dog.

And the dog's handler.

After 9/11 American pundits debated the question: Why do they [radical Muslims] hate us [Americans] so much? This is why. It is official Pentagon policy not to count Afghan or Iraqi or Pakistani or Libyan or Yemeni or Somali dead, civilian or "enemy." But "our" guys are sacred. We even count our dogs.
~ from American Dogs Count More Than Afghan People by Ted Rall ~

In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the headlines spoke of all the dead American victims. It wasn't until later and as sort of a footnote that it was noticed that some of the people who died were foreigners AND Muslims!

There really isn't too much I can add to Rall's superb essay. We have so dehumanized the "enemy" that one dead American is worth more than 1,000 dead of them.

But there is a clear message here. The method for stopping these wars and future ones is to humanize our brothers and sisters throughout the world. When people have faces -- ones that look not altogether different than yours and mine -- it makes it more difficult to kill them randomly and arbitrarily.

Yes, there are bad people in this world. But most of the people caught up in this rain of bullets, missiles and drone attacks are everyday folks struggling to get by just like you and me. They go to work to try to earn enough to put food on the table. They want a better life for their children. They have hopes and dreams about a brighter tomorrow.

When we treat them as if their lives don't count, is it any wonder that they grow to resent and hate us?