They Had Names

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2012/03/they_had_names.php?ref=fpblg


They Had Names

Paul Werdel March 19, 2012, 2:03 PM


The news coverage of the massacre of 16 Afghan civilians, nine of them children, is now consumed by the details of the American soldier who allegedly committed the crime. His life; his service record; every detail of his existence is being pored over by the press, that the world may better understand what may have brought him to commit so horrific an act.

But of the act itself, my former colleague Qais Azimy has performed an important and noble service.

He’s reminded us all that the sixteen killed — men, women, children — had names too.



http://blogs.aljazeera.com/asia/2012/03/19/no-one-asked-their-names

No one asked their names
By Qais Azimy
on Mon, 2012-03-19 14:23.


Nine of the 16 victims were children [AFP]

In the days following the rogue US soldier’s shooting spree in Kandahar, most of the media, us included, focused on the “backlash” and how it might further strain the relations with the US.

Many mainstream media outlets channelled a significant amount of energy into uncovering the slightest detail about the accused soldier – now identified as Staff Sergeant Robert Bales. We even know where his wife wanted to go for vacation, or what she said on her personal blog.

But the victims became a footnote, an anonymous footnote. Just the number 16. No one bothered to ask their ages, their hobbies, their aspirations. Worst of all, no one bothered to ask their names.

In honoring their memory, I write their names below, and the little we know about them: that nine of them were children, three were women.

The dead:
Mohamed Dawood son of Abdullah
Khudaydad son of Mohamed Juma
Nazar Mohamed
Payendo
Robeena
Shatarina daughter of Sultan Mohamed
Zahra daughter of Abdul Hamid
Nazia daughter of Dost Mohamed
Masooma daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Farida daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Palwasha daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Nabia daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Esmatullah daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Faizullah son of Mohamed Wazir
Essa Mohamed son of Mohamed Hussain
Akhtar Mohamed son of Murrad Ali

The wounded:
Haji Mohamed Naim son of Haji Sakhawat
Mohamed Sediq son of Mohamed Naim
Parween
Rafiullah
Zardana
Zulheja