>>Fisk is not one of my favourite reporters.<<
Nor mine,amongst many many others,like the NRO that suffers from acute amnesia and selective cognizance . Oh well,at least we know who and of what stripe we are reading,eh?
>> He allows his prejudice against the West to colour everything he writes. When he wrote about the Jenin "massacre" I went on the internet and found photographs and even documents which proved there was no massacre.<<
I believe he took up the “ massacre “ mantra just as many others did at the time,but as has been recorded here on SI though our diligence,the “ massacre “ term was ballooned from an interview immediately afterwards and came from the lips of an Israeli guest during that interview.Jenin was discussed here thoroughly.
>>However, he is also very intelligent and energetic and gets around. If he hasn't made this up it's worth following up on:………<<<
The looters come first. The arsonists turn up later, often in blue-and-white buses. I followed one after its passengers had set the Ministry of Trade on fire and it sped out of town.
That really caught my attention too.
And this :
>>The looters make money from their rampages but the arsonists have to be paid. The passengers in those
buses are clearly being directed to their targets. If Saddam had pre-paid them, they wouldn't start the fires.
The moment he disappeared, they would have pocketed the money and forgotten the whole project.
So who are they, this army of arsonists? I recognised one the other day, a middle-aged, unshaven man in a
red T-shirt, and the second time he saw me he pointed a Kalashnikov at me. What was he frightened of?
Who was he working for? In whose interest is it to destroy the entire physical infrastructure of the state, with its cultural heritage?<<
>>>>Why didn't the Americans stop this?<<<<<
>>This is a good question which should be followed up on general principle but I'm a lot more interested in the previous paragraphs. Who are these people who come in expeditions to set the fires?
The caveat remains: Fisk may have made it up.<<
Yes indeedy,but it was worth throwing out here so we could all keep our eyes peeled for any follow-up.
>>Personally, I suspect both former Saddam supporters and folk who hate the old regime are setting the fires for their own different reasons.<<
I tend to think it is being operated from Kuwait in a revenge motive.( So-Sad-Am stole mucho prizo from them in 1990-91 )The US may be turning a blind eye as an installment for the price of them being so cooperative.Just a hunch..but ya never know,you may have nailed it too Frank
Let’s see what follows,eh?
KC |
