102 Quotes by Robert Fisk

It is always an eerie experience to sit among Bashar al-Assad’s soldiers.

Israel lost its war. Will Assad’s enemies lose, too?

The word ‘democracy’ and the name of Assad do not blend very well in much of Syria.

Tanks come in two forms: the dangerous, deadly kind and the “liberating” kind.

Bin Laden was very keen to point out to me that his forces had fought the Americans in Somalia. He also wanted to talk about how many mullahs in Pakistan were putting up posters saying, “We follow bin Laden.” He even produced a sort of Kodak set of snapshots of graffiti supporting him.

And I think, in the end, that is the best definition of journalism I have heard; to challenge authority – all authority – especially so when governments and politicians take us to war, when they have decided that they will kill and others will die.

And it’s true, you hear things in Damascus and, after a few hours, the human double-take stops operating.

The Americans may think they have ‘liberated’ Baghdad but the tens of thousands of thieves – they came in families and cruised the city in trucks and cars searching for booty – seem to have a different idea what liberation means.

I wouldn’t say I was part of an anti-war campaign.