Violence happens around the world each and every day. Sometimes it gets reported in the media, and on special occasions it is deemed worthy of official condemnation. No government has time to condemn each and every action, so the incidents they do condemn should have some resonance with the nation which expresses such condemnation, or perhaps it is a particularly violent incident which leads to significant loss of life.
Looking at Foreign Minister Bob Carr's ministerial website, though, you could be forgiven for wondering exactly what criteria the Foreign Minister uses to condemn incidents. There appears to be no rhyme or reason as to the threshold for such public utterances.
Why for instance, does the Foreign Minister expressly condemn the firing of three rockets from Gaza into Israel on 26 February that caused no injuries, as well as a bomb attack in Hyderabad that left 15 people dead, and yet say nothing on the record regarding a targeted series of attacks against a religious minority in Pakistan that has left more than 250 people dead in a little more than a month?
And why is there a studied silence when more than 250 people are either killed or wounded in a car bombing in Damascus on 21 February? To be fair, when you have already sided with the opposition, it makes it hard to turn around and criticise them and their fellow travelers for carrying out such atrocities.
Lastly, why does the Government say nothing about the ongoing violence in Iraq, a country which Australia, along with three other countries, invaded in 2003, and where more than 200 people (mainly civilians) have been killed in each of the past two months?
Photo by Flickr user Asia Society.
