a moment of silence...

On Wednesday, 20 April, 2 journalists were killed and 2 other injured as they were covering the on-going conflict in Libya. According to BBC News:

Liverpool-born Tim Hetherington, 40, and American Chris Hondros, 41, died on Wednesday while covering the conflict in the besieged city of Misrata. 

Both Mr. Hetherington and Mr. Hondros were highly regarded war photographers. BBC News Picture Editor Phil Coomes writes of Hetherington:

If there is such as thing as truth, then Tim got as close as anyone could.

Another truth teller gone, killed in the line of duty.

But these deaths, the sadness they bring, and the media attention they catch, remind me of a sad reality.
These are just two deaths, compared to the thousands that have resulted from the open-ended tragedy in Libya. But they have grabbed many people's attention because they are not just numbers, because they have faces attached. The casual news reader in Saigon sees the face of the dead photographer, and feels a human connection. The current events fanatic in Boston finds the photos taken by the late journalist, and appreciates the contribution to humankind. These two deaths have faces, and so they draw sympathy.

But towards the thousands that have died in the last month, the world seems indifferent. They are pure numbers, statistics listed under the column "Casualties in Libya." They are faceless. They draw no genuine sympathy.

And now that the US is deploying drones in Libya, the civilians on the ground will become even more faceless. Figures on a monitor somewhere in Nevada (or California, or wherever the controllers are). Not actually people. Merely figures on a monitor.

In honour of the two journalists killed as the tried to bring the truth to the world, and in  remembrance of the thousands that have perished in this senseless war, I stand in a moment of silence. May Peace be with the Dead, both named and nameless.

(Please pardon me for the not-so-elegant prose. It is 1:30 AM.)