Video Games Without Hands?

Apr 17, 2003 Author: Meredith | Filed under: news

CNN loves reporting on young Ali Ismail Abbas Hamza, a 12-year-old Iraqi boy who lost his arms and most of his family when Coalition forces bombed his home. Although Ali has a negative mindset for now - “if I don’t get a pair of hands, I will commit suicide” - he is still CNN’s media darling, which seems unusual for an American media outlet that usually prefers to focus on the plucky youngsters who are beating the odds.

Today on TV, I heard another CNN report about Ali. He’s apparently a little happier now that he’s received a gift, one which makes him feel more like a normal boy. This puzzles me, because the gift was apparently a Playstation - wouldn’t that just remind him that he’s not normal anymore, because he lacks hands to work the controllers? Maybe he’s figured out how to work the analog sticks with his toes, or something. Maybe he just enjoys watching others play games.

RSS feed for comments on this post

3 Responses for "Video Games Without Hands?"

Neil T. April 18th, 2003 at 4:22 am 1

He’s all over the British media too.

I’ve heard of people born without any arms (or have arms but are not able to use them). They usually learn to write with their feet.
cricket April 20th, 2003 at 8:07 am 2

I kinda understand why he would be happy about it– most kids want one, and regardless of what may have happened to them, they still want one.

I hope he get the reconstructive surgery they write about. I really do.
George April 21st, 2003 at 8:06 pm 3

I hate to be the proverbial Conservative in the china shop, but I have to disagree with the comment about CNN (or any media outlet) focusing on the plucky youngster that beats the odds.

Granted, that may be true when it comes to the likes of Jessica Lynch. I really feel badly for the families of the ‘other 49′ wounded that came home to the US on the same transport plane as PFC Lynch. Are those that were not rescued via dramatic means somehow less deserving?

But when it comes to the Iraqi civilians that have been killed or wounded, my Republican blood does boil a bit.

I am not happy about civilian casualties, particularly as embodied by young Ali.

However - war is messy. Innocent lives will indeed be lost. On both sides. And media outlets like CNN are usually there to make sure that those losses are documented in the most heart-rending ways imaginable.

But where was the media / public outrage when Iraq had a grossly high infant mortality rate for the last 2 decades?

Where was the outrage over the quarter-million Iraqis that simply vanished off the face of the earth?

CNN, of all organizations, traded silence regarding the torture of its’ own staff in exchange for continued access inside Iraq.

I know - I’ve carried this way over the top of what has been expressed previously in this thread. It’s been building for a while now, and I apologize for venting it all on Meredith’s site.

If you choose to disagree, please take it out on me, and not her.

Thanks. gb