The Age of the Warrior: Selected Essays by Robert Fisk

CONTENTS......Page 6
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......Page 12
PREFACE......Page 14
1. A firestorm coming......Page 20
Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war......Page 21
Flirting with the enemy......Page 33
'Thank you, Mr Clinton, for the kind words'......Page 39
Brace yourself for Part Two of the War for Civilisation......Page 44
The pit of desperation......Page 48
The lies leaders tell when they want to go to war......Page 53
'You are not welcome'......Page 57
Be very afraid: Bush Productions is preparing to go into action......Page 61
'Our guys may kick them around a little …'......Page 65
The wind from the East......Page 70
2. Publish and be damned? Or stay silent?......Page 74
So let me denounce genocide from the dock......Page 75
You're talking nonsense, Mr Ambassador......Page 79
Armenia's 1,500,001st genocide victim......Page 83
Sneaking a book out in silence......Page 85
'A conflict of interest'......Page 89
Bravery, tears and broken dreams......Page 93
A holocaust denier in the White House......Page 97
3. Words, words, words …......Page 102
Hack blasts local rags......Page 103
We should have listened to Bin Laden......Page 115
The jargon disease......Page 120
Poisonous academics and their claptrap of exclusion......Page 124
Soft words – hard questions......Page 128
The pen, the telex, the phone and the despised e-mail......Page 132
The forgotten art of handwriting......Page 136
'Believe it or not!'......Page 140
Murder is murder is murder …......Page 144
Ah, Mary, you poor diddums......Page 148
'A very edgy situation'......Page 152
'Abu Henry': what diplomats can get up to......Page 156
A lesson from the Holocaust......Page 160
4. Cinema begins to mirror the world......Page 164
Applause from the Muslims of Beirut......Page 166
Saladin's eyes......Page 170
My challenge for Steven Spielberg......Page 174
Da Vinci shit......Page 178
We've all been veiled from the truth......Page 182
When art is incapable of matching life......Page 186
A policeman's lot is not a happy one......Page 190
Take a beautiful woman to the cinema......Page 194
A river through time......Page 198
5. The greatest crisis since the last greatest crisis......Page 204
A long and honourable tradition of smearing the dead......Page 205
Tricky stuff, evil......Page 210
'Middle East hope!' – 'Europe in crisis!'......Page 214
A poet on the run in Fortress Europe......Page 218
6. When I was a child … I understood as a child......Page 222
Another of Arthur's damned farthings......Page 223
First mate Edward Fisk......Page 227
'Come on, Sutton!'......Page 231
Cold war nights......Page 235
'All this talk of special trains …'......Page 239
Fear of flying......Page 243
7. The old mandates......Page 246
God damn that democracy......Page 247
Gold-plated taps......Page 251
The man who will never apologise......Page 255
The 'lady' in seat 1K......Page 258
Whatever you do, don't mention the war......Page 261
'The best defender on earth of Lebanon's sovereignty'......Page 266
Alphonse Bechir's spectacles......Page 270
The cat who ate missile wire for breakfast......Page 273
The torturer who lived near the theatre......Page 276
The temple of truth......Page 280
We are all Rifaats now......Page 284
The ministry of fear......Page 288
'We have all made our wills'......Page 292
'Duty unto death' and the United Nations......Page 295
8. The cult of cruelty......Page 300
The age of the warrior......Page 301
Torture's out – abuse is in......Page 305
'The truth, the truth!'......Page 309
Crusaders of the 'Green Zone'......Page 313
Paradise in Hell......Page 317
'Bush is a revelatory at bedtime'......Page 321
The worse it gets, the bigger the lies......Page 325
Let's have more martyrs!......Page 330
The flying carpet......Page 334
The show must go on......Page 338
'He was killed by the enemy' – but all is well in Iraq......Page 342
9. We have lost our faith and they have not......Page 346
God and the devil......Page 348
The childishness of civilisations......Page 352
Look in the mirror......Page 355
Smashing history......Page 359
So now it's 'brown-skinned'......Page 363
The 'faith' question......Page 367
Hatred on a map......Page 370
'If you bomb our cities, we will bomb yours'......Page 374
The lies of racists......Page 377
Dreamology......Page 380
10. 'A thing invulnerable'......Page 386
What the Romans would have thought of Iraq......Page 387
In memoriam......Page 391
Read Lawrence of Arabia......Page 395
A peek into the Fascist era......Page 399
Who now cries for the dead of Waterloo?......Page 403
Witnesses to genocide: a dark tale from Switzerland......Page 407
'You can tell a soldier to burn a village …'......Page 411
Should journalists testify at war crimes trials?......Page 414
Where are the great men of today?......Page 418
11. America, America......Page 422
Free speech......Page 423
It's a draw!......Page 427
Fear and loathing on an American campus......Page 431
How Muslim middle America made me feel safer......Page 435
Will the media boys and girls catch up?......Page 439
Brazil, America and the Seven Pillars of Wisdom......Page 443
From Cairo to Valdosta......Page 447
Trying to get into America......Page 451
12. Unanswered questions......Page 456
Is the problem weather? Or is it war?......Page 457
Fear climate change, not our enemies......Page 460
Just who creates reality?......Page 464
A letter from Mrs Irvine......Page 468
Who killed Benazir?......Page 472
The strange case of Gunner Wills......Page 476
13. The last enemy......Page 480
In the Colosseum, thoughts turn to death......Page 482
Dead heroes and living memories......Page 486
The ship that stands upright at the bottom of the Sea......Page 490
'Thanks, Bruce'......Page 494
Those who went before us......Page 498
Farewell, Ane-Karine......Page 502
They told Andrea that Chris had not suffered......Page 506
POSTSCRIPT: The dilution of memory......Page 510
A street named Pétain and the woman he sent to Auschwitz......Page 511
'I am the girl of Irène Némirovsky'......Page 515
A......Page 518
B......Page 520
C......Page 522
D......Page 524
F......Page 525
G......Page 526
H......Page 527
I......Page 528
J......Page 529
K......Page 530
L......Page 531
M......Page 532
N......Page 533
P......Page 534
R......Page 535
S......Page 536
U......Page 539
W......Page 540
Z......Page 541