Robert Fisk

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

>>My beating by refugees is a symbol of the hatred and fury of this
>>filthy war
>>Report by Robert Fisk in Kila Abdullah after Afghan border ordeal
>>10 December 2001
>>
>>They started by shaking hands. We said "Salaam aleikum" - peace be
>>upon you - then the first pebbles flew past my face. A small boy tried
>>to grab my bag. Then another. Then someone punched me in the back.
>>Then 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. Or any other Westerner I could find.
>
>The more I think about it, the weirder this is.
>
>Is Fisk saying that if he had lost a spouse in the WTC terror 
>bombing, that he would be roaming the streets of New York shooting 
>Pakistani and Lebanese cab drivers in the head? Is he saying that 
>the people of South Asia are too Simple to distinguish between those 
>who commit acts and those who just look like them--but that we 
>sophisticated and civilized "Westerners" need to respect and cherish 
>that Simplicity? And what to make of the crack later on that the man 
>who protected them--"...who, with a single rifle, kept the crowds 
>away from the car..."--was a "true ghost of the British Empire"? 
>Does he really think that a desire to maintain civil order--to keep 
>unarmed foreigners from being massacred in the street--was imported 
>into South Asia by Warren Hastings and the Marquess of Wellesley?
>
>Brad DeLong

One hopes that all people, be they Afghans or Americans, are willing 
to distinguish acts of states and power elite from those of 
individuals remote from seats of power, as well as capable of 
distinguishing terrorists, lawful combatants, and civilians, but it 
has always been the case that not everyone is willing to do so even 
in theory, much less in practice, and if you disregard this fact, 
your life, limb, and property may be in more danger than otherwise.

*****   Pakistan - Travel Warning
December 13, 2001

The Department of State warns U.S. citizens to evaluate carefully the 
implications for their security and safety before deciding to travel 
to Pakistan....

<http://travel.state.gov/pakistan_warning.html>   *****

Visit <http://travel.state.gov/travel_warnings.html> for the US State 
Department's travel warnings, etc. about other countries.
-- 
Yoshie

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