OxBlog

# Posted 9:36 PM by Ariel David Adesnik

FISKING FISK: Why do experts wring their hands about the influence of Al Jazeera when it is the British press that is the source of so much anti-American vitriol? According to a full-page headline in the Sunday edition of the Independent, "This is the Reality of War. We Bomb. They Suffer."

Alongside the headline is a horrific photo of a burnt Iraqi child. The author of the accompanying article is none other than Robert Fisk. After visiting one Baghdad hospital ward, he indignantly declares that the humanitarian consequences of war are intolerable. I have to wonder what he would say if he had the chance to visit one of Saddam torture chambers.

The Independent's full-page headline on Saturday was more subtle than today's, but also more offensive: "Baghdad's Night of Terror". Implying, of course, that Bush and Blair are terrorists. Naturally, Robert Fisk provided 800 words of idiocy to go along with the headline. (For some reason, Fisk's column appears on the Independent's website with a different headline. Check Lexis-Nexis if you want to see the original.)

Highlights included:

Well yes, one could say, could one attack a more appropriate regime? But that is not quite the point. For the message of last night's raid was the same as that of Thursday's raid, that of all the raids in the hours to come: that the United States must be obeyed. That the EU, UN, NATO - nothing - must stand in its way. Indeed can stand in its way.

I guess that's why the US spent six months negotiating at the United Nations.

When it comes to stupidity, however, Saturday's column pales in comparison to today's. In it, Fisk informs us that

The [Iraqi] film [of American POWs] will increase internal support for Saddam Hussein, because it will be regarded as proof that the American-British force will be beaten.

Just how stupid does Fisk think the Iraqi people are? As stupid as Fisk himself is, I guess. Unsurprisingly, Fisk fails to note that making humiliating films of POWs violates the Geneva Convention.

So is there a point to this post? No, not really. Just thought I'd remind all of you what it's like to live in Britian, where Robert Fisk is considered a great journalist.

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