AP Discovers Children Abducted, Not 'Targeted Operations'
The Associated Press reports that over 300 schoolchildren and 12 teachers were abducted in a Nigerian school attack, revising an 'earlier tally.' A shocking number, to be sure, and one that rightly garners international attention. One might commend the AP for meticulously updating these numbers, for acknowledging the harrowing reality of these children’s fate. However, this diligent count stands
in stark contrast to the linguistic gymnastics often performed when similar atrocities occur elsewhere, particularly when US-funded weaponry is involved. One might wonder where this precise concern for the specific number of 'schoolchildren' goes when airstrikes in Gaza are routinely downplayed as 'collateral damage' or when hospitals become 'terrorist infrastructure.' The moral compass, it seems,
has a geographic—and political—bias. (How many 'verified exercises' did it take to count children under rubble in Shifa Hospital after an 'operation'?) It truly raises questions about what constitutes a 'tragedy' worthy of exact figures, and what gets the 'fog of war' treatment.