How Do You Put A Positive Spin On Child Casualties?

Well, first make sure the kid was hit by one of THEM...
Children cop brunt of Afghan war - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Eleven-year-old Abdul has been severely injured by an improvised explosive device (IED) - a homemade bomb laid by the Taliban.

Doctors scan Abdul's head looking for shrapnel and bleeding. The explosion was so powerful it killed his brother instantly, but doctors are hoping that Abdul's jaw and not his brain has taken the force of the blast.

"Half of his jaw was taken off, I didn't see his ear. It didn't seem to touch his brain, but you never know with IED blasts; they get frags everywhere," says trauma doctor Philippe Parent.

"If his brain is not affected, his prospects are quite good. We have facial surgery over here, so they're very good at reconstruction. The rest of his body seemed to be alright."

Although Abdul's face is still covered in the dirt from the explosion, his outlook is promising. It's some much-needed good news on a grim night.

Unfortunately, maintaining the spin is not so easy:

The next day, Abdul is doing well and breathing on his own. The doctors say he is stable.

But less than an hour after we filmed he suffered a massive brain haemorrhage. Abdul died the following morning.

What? But surely there's some positive news here for readers??

Hospital staff found his father just in time so he could hold his son's hand.

Yes! Hurrah for the hospital staff!

We're doing a great job over there, I tell ya! And it's not our fault we don't care about the foreigners.

"We cannot feel the pain that these people have. We can try to imagine it, but we can't feel it," said Major Dauphin.

Of course we can't. Otherwise we would have to leave.