Cause and Effect

I get annoyed when it seems that events with clear-cut causes are confused so as to diffuse responsibility.

Last week The Cambodia Daily reported that two people were killed when their oxcart ran over a landmine in Battambang province. The cause? ...because the oxcart was overloaded with fertilizer and it ran over an unexploded ordinance. Strange. It's not as though they would have chosen the oxcart over a range of other transport options... I'd be surprised to hear that they left their helicopter in the hanger that day and chose to overload their ancient cart just for a more adventurous travel experience to the market. Their deaths had nothing to do with the time of day or the age of the oxen or the colour of underpants they chose that morning. A woman and her nephew died because of a landmine. Simple.

Today the paper wrote about a 58-year-old woman who was raped and killed in Poipet. Her body was found on Sunday at 8am. The police chief was quoted as saying, "The brutal beating and old age caused her death." Old age?! I don't think so. A 58-year-old woman in my city died because someone raped her and beat her to death. Let's not confuse things.