Britain - Robert Fisk: Why It's Called "Fisking"

This BBC interview with Robert Fisk is a perfect example of why exposing the lies and bias in a media story is called "Fisking". So named after Robert Fisk because his lies and bias are so prominent in his "reporting".

Robert Fisk, one of the leading British war correspondents of his generation, is a controversial figure.

Which is why, along with the lying BBC, most Britons are woefully misinformed about Iraq and America.

I've never been on an assignment that is as dangerous as Iraq on a personal basis and we've reached a point in the Iraq story that our access to real sources - not the Americans and the British and the Iraqi government but real people - is so restricted that we can only just about do our jobs.

And yet bloggers seem to have no problem in accessing "real stories".

As for just about doing their jobs, in the very next paragraph, Fisk says they aren't doing their job at all!

The first thing they should do is say to their readers or viewers that they are confined to their hotels and don't leave and don't do any street reporting.

And Fisk doesn't think passing Iraq's new constitution was a big deal, even though it's the first in the Middle East outside of Israel.

Not really. Most Iraqis are just trying to survive. They have no electricity and very little money to pay for fuel. They are desperate to protect their families, womenfolk and children from being kidnapped for money.

No electricity Robert? That doesn't seem to jive with this.

USAID dedicated more than $500 million under its first infrastructure reconstruction contract, awarded in April 2003, to rebuild the electricity sector. Working together, USAID, the USACE and the MoE achieved the goal of exceeding the pre-conflict level of power capacity by October 2003.

Approximately $740 million under USAID's second infrastructure reconstruction contract is dedicated to the electricity sector. Activities funded under this contract include adding generating capacity, an extensive rehabilitation project, and the implementation of an operations and maintenance training program for workers in the electricity sector, including 239 Ministry of Electricity officials.

Or this.

And how do Iraqis power their TV's and all these satellite dishes? And what powers mobile phone towers for all these new mobile phones?

After the US-led invasion in 2003, the interim administration awarded three regional licences to set up Iraq's first mobile networks. Since then, and despite the violence, more than two million people have snapped up phones, making Iraq one of the world's fastest-growing mobile markets.

If there is little money to pay for fuel, why are
Iraqis importing so many cars?

According to the Global Insight study, basic light vehicle demand during 2005-2007 should stabilize at estimated 200,000 units, after an immediate post-war surge to 250,000-300,000 units.

Since the end of the Iraqi war, used car exports to Iraq have risen very sharply, trending towards the lowest priced cars available from the neighbouring regions of the UAE, Kuwait and Jordan. This rise in demand has tightened used car markets substantially in the Middle East region, with dealers in the UAE reporting a 20% rise in prices. Between May and September of this year, it is estimated that 100,000 used cars have been shipped to Iraq, with Kuwait alone reportedly shipping 18,000 used cars to Iraq during this same period.

It's not just cars either, Iraqis are importing all manner of goods.

Iranian Commerce Ministry estimates say trade with Iraq could reach $1 billion in the year to March 2006 in everything from fruit and vegetables to refrigerators and building materials. Goods worth $650 million were exported to Iraq in the first 10 months of 2005, official figures show.

Er, Robert, if Iraqis have no money, how are they buying all these TVs, cars, mobile phones, refrigerators and air conditioners? Where are they getting the fuel and electricity to run them all?

You see Robert this is why you have the dubious honour of having "Fisking" named after you. But he persists and so shall I.

They are frightened of the suicide bombers that sometimes seem to attack at the rate of five or six times a day.

Robert seems to forget that millions of Iraqis defied the terrorists and voted in the last two elections. In fact, more voted in the last one than the first and more are expected to vote in the next one.

Iraq is in a state of total anarchy from Mosul all the way down to Basra.

There are armed insurgents on the streets within half a mile of the Green Zone in Baghdad, where the US and UK embassies are. The whole American project in Iraq is effectively dead.

But Robert you just told us you couldn't leave your hotel and are unable to do "street reporting". So, how could you possibly know what is happening outside your hotel? Or, were you lying when you said you were confined to your hotel? Or, are you lying now? Which is it Robert?

If the whole Ameircan project in Iraq is dead, how do you account for two successful elections with a third less than two weeks away? How do you account for Iraq's first freely elected president and the ratification of the first constitution? Both firsts in the Middle East outside of Israel.

And how do you account for Iraq's booming economy?

When you are there you realise it but when you emerge from this bubble of anarchy and watch television in Britain or America you can be persuaded it's going fine.

If that's true Robert why do opinion polls show little support for the war in both countries? The answers is, the opposite of what Robert is saying is true. To put it another way, Robert is lying again.

I could go on and on but it just gets worse. See for yourself and you'll see why he deserves to be scorned and "Fisked".

If Fisk is one of Britain's leading war correspondents, I feel sorry for Britain.
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