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Journalist Beaten By Afghan Mob
cnn.com | 12/9/01

Posted on 12/09/2001 6:22:59 AM PST by philo

Journalist beaten by Afghan mob

LONDON, England -- A British journalist has been attacked and beaten by a mob of Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

Robert Fisk, 55, a veteran foreign correspondent for the London-based Independent national newspaper, was assaulted when his car broke down on the road between the border city of Quetta and Charnan.

He suffered head, face and hand injuries after being pelted with stones when he was set upon by a group of up to 100 people.

Recovering at his hotel in Quetta, the veteran journalist told the Press Association:

"It was a very frightening experience and I am in a lot of pain but I am glad to be alive.

"I'm going to bear the scars for the rest of my life - sadly I broke down in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Fisk, the newspaper's Middle East correspondent, had been travelling to Charnan when his car overheated and broke down close to a village housing refugees who had fled across the border from Afghanistan.

He got out of the vehicle and was attempting to push it to the side of the road when a group of 40 to 50 people gathered.

"At first they were reasonably friendly but then a little kid threw a stone at me. More stones followed and then I find myself being punched and beaten in the face.

"My glasses were smashed and my spare glasses were ripped away from me. I was covered in blood and couldn't see anything. I was obviously frightened."

Fisk said he fought back and began lashing out at the mob, whose numbers swelled to about 100.

He knocked a couple of his attackers to the ground but was then rescued by a Muslim religious leader, who forced the mob back and guided him to a police wagon.

"Without his intervention I would now be dead," he sa id.

He made it back to his hotel in Quetta, where he was given further medical attention by two Pakistani doctors.

But Fisk said he could understand the mob's anger.

"I later found out that the village housed lots of Afghan refugees, whose relatives had been killed just last week in the American bombing of Kandahar," he said.

"It doesn't excuse them for beating me up so badly but there was a real reason why they should hate Westerners so much. "I don't want this to be seen as a Muslim mob attacking a Westerner for no reason.

They had every reason to be angry -- I've been an outspoken critic of the US actions myself. If I had been them, I would have attacked me.

"I have worked in the Middle East for many years. This is a warzone and sometimes you just have to accept that these things happen."


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To: philo
"It doesn't excuse them for beating me up so badly but there was a real reason why they should hate Westerners so much. "I don't want this to be seen as a Muslim mob attacking a Westerner for no reason.

They had every reason to be angry -- I've been an outspoken critic of the US actions myself. If I had been them, I would have attacked me.


BARF!


21 posted on 12/09/2001 7:03:18 AM PST by Fiddlstix
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To: eFudd
They apparently knew the guy was AntiAmerican/ ProTaliban.

Yes, this guy made the wrong assumptions, he assumes everyone is as anti-American as he and he assumes the Afghan people are glad to have the Arabs dominate them and he assumes they are stupid people who don't know he is a Taliban supporter. They probably beat him up because he acts very stupid and phony.

22 posted on 12/09/2001 7:09:45 AM PST by FITZ
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To: philo
"I've been an outspoken critic of the US actions myself. If I had been them, I would have attacked me."
An unfortunate rescue,what??
23 posted on 12/09/2001 7:12:02 AM PST by 1 FELLOW FREEPER
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To: Queen Elizabeth of Iowa
"...100 angry Arabs wanted to do this guy damage,..."

I should have said Afghans (who are NOT Arabs). Sorry.

24 posted on 12/09/2001 7:14:52 AM PST by Irene Adler
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To: BrooklynGOP
Darn you beat me ....

Yes as the drumbeat continues,

ISLAM is a religion of "Peace".

25 posted on 12/09/2001 7:21:53 AM PST by MassExodus
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To: Tacis
No big thing, they just thought he was Geraldo

They won't get Geraldo, he's packin' heat.

26 posted on 12/09/2001 7:32:28 AM PST by ahariail
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To: backhoe
Thanks for providing the only 'balance' that exists on this thread (even if it was inadvertent).

When the 'terrorists' attacked the world trade center and the pentagon, Americans just couldn't wait to kill someone ... as we have. But when Muslims families are killed, they need to just shut up and go home ... oh wait, they no longer have homes. We struck out at an entire people, most of whom don't have a clue WHAT the world trade center WAS. So go ahead. Be brave. Check out some of the photo coverage that's available all over the net of legless, armless, blind and bleeding Afghan children and tell me what part they had in 9/11. Be proud of the carnage we have wrought. And then consider, despite our 'surgical strike capabilities' and our 'smart bombs, Osama is still alive. Omar is still alive. Saddam is still alive. Qadaffi is still alive, Arafat is still alive. Starting to get the picture? Millions of dead civilians all over the world ... but the alleged 'perps' are always somehow allowed to 'escape', again and again. You people who keep screaming for more and more blood have some nerve to talk about the murderous people in these foreign countries. Take a look in the mirror. These are wars against 'civilization', not against 'evil-doers'.

27 posted on 12/09/2001 7:34:27 AM PST by Ridin' Shotgun
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To: Queen Elizabeth of Iowa
'What stopped the angry mob, anyway?'

Read the article before you spout off, queenie. A 'religious muslim leader' called off the mob.

28 posted on 12/09/2001 7:36:48 AM PST by Ridin' Shotgun
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To: Gumption
The second statement you posted about his "feelings" for the USA...makes me wish he was beaten a little longer and a little harder...
29 posted on 12/09/2001 7:37:36 AM PST by antivenom
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To: eFudd
Wasn't Dan Rather mugged once in New York?

Yes! A song was even written about it.--"What's The Frequency, Kenneth?"

30 posted on 12/09/2001 7:40:21 AM PST by Temple Owl
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To: philo
If I had been them, I would have attacked me.

Clintonesque. The epitome of liberal mindset.

31 posted on 12/09/2001 7:44:52 AM PST by hinckley buzzard
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To: Ridin' Shotgun
It's a conspiracy, I tells ya! Let's go throw rocks at a journalist. Yeah, that's the thing to do.
32 posted on 12/09/2001 7:55:46 AM PST by Ratatoskr
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To: Ridin' Shotgun
So how do you think the US should have responded to the 9-11 terrorist attack on our country? And don't give me that undo 50 years of foreign policy BS.
33 posted on 12/09/2001 7:58:03 AM PST by Gumption
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To: Ratatoskr
'It's a conspiracy, I tells ya! Let's go throw rocks at a journalist. Yeah, that's the thing to do'.

Can you think in something other than sound bytes?

34 posted on 12/09/2001 8:09:52 AM PST by Ridin' Shotgun
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To: Ridin' Shotgun; Gumption
Can you think in something other than sound bytes?

Why bother? You skipped over Gumption's thoughtful question and responded instead to my silly remark. That's a measure of the dialogue you're looking for.

35 posted on 12/09/2001 8:14:10 AM PST by Ratatoskr
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To: philo
Journalist beaten by a mob of PO'ed Afganis, eh.
-sigh-

...ain't it great.

36 posted on 12/09/2001 8:24:04 AM PST by Landru
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To: eFudd
You are insulting FReepers by suggesting Rather, Jennings, etc. would get like treatment. We're not about beating people up.
37 posted on 12/09/2001 8:34:16 AM PST by kristinn
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To: philo
. . . there was a real reason why they should hate Westerners so much. "I don't want this to be seen as a Muslim mob attacking a Westerner for no reason.

Sorry, but reality is reality: it was "a Muslim mob attacking a Westerner for no reason." A real reason for a mob to attack and attempt to kill an unarmed person whose car broke down in the middle of nowhere. Um, I can't think of what that would be. Nor can I agree that anger because family members were killed by one entity allows others to kill an "innocent." Especially not if, as has been the PC words, "Islam is a peaceful religion." Born again Christians would not do this.

38 posted on 12/09/2001 8:40:48 AM PST by nicmarlo
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To: Gumption
No, I won't give you the 'undo 50 years of foreign policy BS'. What's done is done and we can only go on from here, using something besides the lies and the damned lies of old failed policies.

As for what response would have been preferable ... perhaps a little more substantiation to implicate BinLaden (or whomever) before the bombs started falling. They had him pin-pointed before the first tower fell. And don't give me the old 'we can't tell you how we know he's guilty or we'd jeopardize our intelligence people' BS. Our intelligence people didn't have a clue until about five minutes after the second plane hit the towers. And then suddenly they knew who planned it, how many planes had been targeted, the names of the hi-jackers and exactly where to find the evidence. Most of us don't like turnips, but how are we supposed to prove we didn't just fall off the truck when we fall for such utter nonsense?

Amazing that one of the supposed suicide bombers showed up at our embassy in Saudi Arabia a few days after 9/11 saying 'hey man, it wasn't me', and yes, he did actually train in the US, but flies for an airline in Saudi Arabia, is alive and well and can prove he was thousands of miles away when the attack took place, so why have you heard none of this in our unbiased, truthful US media? If that doesn't raise your eyebrows a little, pull yourself back up out of the dirt and climb back on the truck.

39 posted on 12/09/2001 8:41:48 AM PST by Ridin' Shotgun
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To: Ratatoskr
'Can you think in something other than sound bytes?' 'Why bother? You skipped over Gumption's thoughtful question and responded instead to my silly remark. That's a measure of the dialogue you're looking for.'

Well, there you go. Please see my post #39 for my response to Gumption. But then you never wait for a 'reasoned' response, do you. Just grab your mouth and start shooting it off (in soundbytes).

40 posted on 12/09/2001 8:46:37 AM PST by Ridin' Shotgun
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