Posted on 08/27/2002 1:48:00 PM PDT by mgstarr
The rise and rise of Robert Fisk must surely rate as one of the more curious developments of the past year in our country's news media. Only 11 months ago he was just a relatively obscure Beirut-based correspondent for the British Independent and the author of a couple of well-received books on Ireland and Lebanon. But then came September 11 and, seemingly overnight, the unknown journalist reinvented himself as a pundit on the entire Muslim world -- and he has had many antipodean takers since then.
Although Dr Fisk (he earned his PhD at Trinity College, in Dublin) nowadays enjoys a measure of recognition across a number of other countries as well, no nation seems to have taken to him with quite the gusto of New Zealand. Here, he has been profiled extensively, featured on public and private radio, and had his dispatches used regularly -- sometimes daily -- in many of the major daily papers along with the country's weekly newsmagazine. With the anniversary now fast approaching of the attacks of September 11, it's a fair bet that the coming weeks will only see his presence grow all the more.
Is this reputation deserved? As many of the local editors who regularly use his material would probably have it, Dr Fisk is a gimlet-eyed commentator of rare authority and understanding.
But, as a random survey of his oracular pronouncements of the past 11 months would also appear to suggest, at least as strong a case could be made for Dr Fisk's work providing a singularly humourless catalogue of mean-spiritedness, pomposity and virulent anti-Americanism, all shot through with cack-handed predictions and a feebly patronising attitude toward the world's 1.2-billion Muslims who, unlike the white devils, are apparently incapable of ever doing wrong in the great seer's eyes.
September 17: Dr Fisk offers a lesson of history -- all those who enter Afghanistan, he warns, are doomed to fail miserably in their endeavours. "Indeed," he continues, "if there is one country -- calling it a nation would be a misnomer -- that the West should avoid militarily, it is the tribal land in which Osama bin Laden maintains his obscure sanctuary." Elsewhere, there are knowing references to the "Arab Street" finishing off any work against the western infidels that the ruling Taliban doesn't first manage to complete, and the all but certain possibility that Afghanistan will cost more money and allied lives than Vietnam did.
October 27: While sticking to his lasts concerning Afghanistan as the humbler of empires, Dr Fisk is also convinced that any Anglo-American action will lead directly to an unprecedented famine in Central Asia. He warns of "thousands about to die" of starvation and cold. "Once winter begins in Afghanistan, a tragedy is likely to commence, one which no spin doctor or propaganda expert will be able to divert." In the event, of course, no such catastrophe ever takes place.
November 11: So far, in the view of Dr Fisk, and perhaps in the view of Dr Fisk alone, Osama bin Laden "hasn't put a foot wrong" in his struggle against the west. "If Osama bin Laden did plan the 11 September attack in America ... and still we wait to see the overwhelming proof ... then things are unfolding pretty much as he wanted." Alas again, a few days after this amazing summation, the remaining strongholds of the Saudi terrorist's Taliban patrons fall to the advancing Anglo-American and Northern Alliance forces.
December 10: With the initial phase of the campaign against terrorist targets now over, the champion of the oppressed pays a visit to a group of Islamists near to the border city of Quetta. Instead of showing any gratitude for his consistently anti-western reporting, however, the oppressed promptly set upon their champ, beating the 55-year-old reporter senseless -- for which he is nothing if not understanding. "Young men broke my glasses, began smashing stones into my face and head. I couldn't see for the blood pouring down my forehead and swamping my eyes. And even then, I understood. I couldn't blame them for what they were doing. In fact, if I were the Afghan refugees of Kila Abdullah, close to the Afghan-Pakistan border, I would have done just the same to Robert Fisk."
January 22: Comparing the treatment of Islamist prisoners of war held by the US at Guantanamo Bay (individual prayer mats and copies of the Koran, reading glasses, three meals a day, including a selection of spices, etc) with the treatment of westerners by Islamic captors (sawing off captured reporters' heads, ramming passenger planes into skyscrapers, etc) leads Dr Fisk to a clear conclusion: "We are turning ourselves into the kind of ruthless people whom Mr bin Laden imagines us to be ... he must be a happy man."
February 4: Actually, he now admits, "I don't know if Osama bin Laden is alive." But if he IS alive, New Zealand's favourite Central Asian pundit is certain of at least one thing: he will probably be reading a Robert Fisk column. "If he reads this article -- as I think he will," he barks, "I want him to do everything he can" to secure kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl's release. Shortly afterwards, Mr Pearl is decapitated.
May 25: The world's most despicable terrorist is indeed alive and well -- and living at the White House. "More and more, President Bush's rhetoric sounds like the crazed videotapes of Osama bin Laden ... Congratulations, America. You have made Mr bin Laden a happy man."
But not so happy by half as he's made ole Fisky, eh?
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