The Project‘s first story tonight was on the devastating chemical attack in Syria, and despite the panel dealing with difficult news on a near-nightly basis, this particular segment proved too much for Carrie Bickmore to take in stride.
The attack in Khan Sheikhoun killed more than 70 people, including at least 30 children, through the use of (it’s suspected) a nerve gas like sarin. The Project broadcast footage of some of the victims of the attack, mostly children, with a warning to viewers that it was distressing stuff.
It is beyond distressing; it’s nightmarish. As the segment says, the Syrian government first used chemical weapons on their own people in 2012, but this is the first time many of us have seen the real effects of the ongoing conflict.
Both the Syrian government and their allies, Russia, have denied any responsibility for the attack.
Bickmore’s response to the images of dying children feels universal. She choked up as the panel returned after the segment:
“Sorry – I know I was going to start this conversation, but I just can’t see those images, I find them incredibly distressing. I know I’m not alone. I saw our audience covering their faces.But the thing is our tears, us feeling sad, it ain’t going to do anything. I know sitting here in safe Australia, us feeling sad for these people doesn’t change anything.What can Trump do? Will he change his mind? Will he act? Or is this just something that we’re going to look back on and feel like the world did nothing?”
You can watch the segment, which touches on Trump‘s lacklustre response to the attack, below.
Source: The Project.
