Chicago Prepares for NATO Summit (REPORT)

(Video Al Jazeera)  

US president Barack Obama's hometown of Chicago is this weekend's venue of the NATO summit about the future of the foreign forces in Afghanistan, which commences Sunday after this weekend's G8 meeting, with more than 60 heads of state scheduled to attend. Thousands of protesters are also expected to converge on a city with a history of violent protests, notably the 1968 Democratic National Convention.  Security is a primary concern & Obama's former chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, now the mayor of the city, is tasked with seeing the event through without incident.  Al Jazeera's John Hendren reports from Chicago.

No One Asked Their Names

By Qais Azimy

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

- Originally published on AlJazeera under Creative Commons License