<< COMMIE FESTIVUS ~ MAIN ~ ROADS MELTED >>

MIGHTY ARMIES ADMIRED

Robert Fisk, 2003:

Anyone who doubts that the Iraqi Army is prepared to defend its capital should take the highway south of Baghdad. How, I kept asking myself, could the Americans batter their way through these defenses?

Robert Fisk, 2006:

The Israeli leadership intends to “break” the Hizbollah and destroy its “terrorist cancer”. Really? Do the Israelis really believe they can “break” one of the toughest guerrilla armies in the world?

Posted by Tim B. on 07/19/2006 at 10:47 AM
  1. First, (no pun intended, honest)since when did Hizbollah get upgraded to the status of an army?
    Second, since when does a drive by confer a comprehensive view of any force? The fortifications created by iraq in 1990 seemd imposing, until one made a sober appraisal of the forces entrenched within them, how they were led, the support available to them, and the forces opposing them.

    Posted by Blue Hen on 2006 07 19 at 11:15 AM • permalink

  2. What, pray tell, does ironic quotes used in concert with the word break, actually indicate?

    Posted by Forbes on 2006 07 19 at 11:16 AM • permalink

  3. Do the Israelis really believe they can “break” one of the toughest guerrilla armies in the world?

    As someone else said, it’s an Arab “army”, and half its soldiers are probably teenagers.  It’s only “the toughest guerilla army in the world” if you consider that aside from lobbing rockets across the border and cowardly suicide bombings, it’s main work has been to bully other Arabs.

    Posted by RebeccaH on 2006 07 19 at 11:23 AM • permalink

  4. Remember though that they all appear capable of dealing out an incredible beating to older reporter types, so that has to enter into one’s perception of their capacities.

    Posted by 68W40 on 2006 07 19 at 11:41 AM • permalink

  5. I don’t think Israel is striving to break Hizbowlingball.  They’re only trying to break its current capabilities for inflicting great harm on Israel.

    Not that I would ever argue with a an experienced professional reporter like Robert Fisk.

    Posted by wronwright on 2006 07 19 at 11:46 AM • permalink

  6. For example, I wrote “with a an ...”.  That’s a flagrant mistake that Fisk probably would not have made.  Cuz he’s a reporter and all.

    Posted by wronwright on 2006 07 19 at 11:48 AM • permalink

  7. Priceless, Tim.

    Posted by Latino on 2006 07 19 at 11:58 AM • permalink

  8. It doesn’t bode well for the Hizbies if Bobby Fisk is trumpeting their “power”.

    Do the Israelis flatten them in one week or two?

    Posted by Spiny Norman on 2006 07 19 at 12:07 PM • permalink

  9. Fisk is an internet verb, even w/o Jeff Goldstein’s help.

    Posted by markmc on 2006 07 19 at 12:08 PM • permalink

  10. Please styrofoam find this thread and put your 2 bobs worth in.

    Please styrofoam find this thread and put your 2 bobs worth in.

    Please styrofoam find this thread and put your 2 bobs worth in (# 100 & on)

    Posted by Stop Continental Drift! on 2006 07 19 at 12:16 PM • permalink

  11. Shrewd (Fake but Accurate) Quotes From Robert Fisk Throughout History

    “Anybody who doubts the French commitment to defeating Hitler has only to visit the Maginot Line. How, I kept asking myself, could the Germans batter their way through these defenses?”

    “Chief Crazy Horse intends to inflict a crushing blow against the 7th Cavalry. Oh, really? Does Crazy Horse know anything about Custer’s war record?”

    “George Washington says he’s going to break the Whisky Rebellion. C’mon! Does the national government really think they can break one of the toughest gangs of moonshiners in the world?”

    Robert Fisk sees everything as if it were reflected in a fun-house mirror. No genuine perspective at all.

    Posted by paco on 2006 07 19 at 12:20 PM • permalink

  12. Well, now it’s a foregone conclusion that the IDF will decimate the Hizbullah terrorists.

    Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 07 19 at 12:26 PM • permalink

  13. Excellent, Paco.

    “That Thatcher broad is nuts if she thinks she’s going to take back the Falklands.”

    Posted by EmilyJones on 2006 07 19 at 12:27 PM • permalink

  14. Fisk should sign up for the ‘workshop’ posted 2 threads above. It won’t help, but if he can get to NYC, there is always the chance he’ll get mugged, or worse.

    The_Real_JeffS

    Well, now it’s a foregone conclusion that the IDF will decimate the Hizbullah terrorists.

    You will correct me if I’m wrong, but this won’t happen until the enablers and the funders are decimated. They aren’t in Lebanon. The cowardly (hiding in civilian areas) army of terrorists that have been assembled by the enablers and funders may be damaged, but this isn’t going to stop, until military intervention by both the U.S. and Israel, goes to the heart of the matter.

    World War 3, has indeed been foisted upon an ally of the U.S., it is time to strap it on and end it...let pieces fall where they may.

    Posted by El Cid on 2006 07 19 at 12:46 PM • permalink

  15. Now, now.  You just have to understand that Fisk measures militaries on the Che Scale.  Failurism reigns supreme in his soul (or what passes for it).

    While Fisk’s tonguebath painting of them as gods of warfare is flat-out laughable, painting Hezballah as a bunch of cowardly, incompetent losers is likewise a mistake.  Cowardly, sure.  Losers, eventually yes.  Incompetent, no.  While logistically and strategically they’re only marginally better than Fisk himself, tactically, they know what they’re about.  The IDF can take them, but it’s not going to be an easy fight.  They know the terrain and have had years to prepare it.  Expect plenty of minefields and ambushes.

    Posted by Achillea on 2006 07 19 at 12:59 PM • permalink

  16. Speaking of going after the money ...

    I find a certain brutal-yet-beautiful poetry in the bombing of something called ‘The Shahid Fund.’

    Posted by Achillea on 2006 07 19 at 01:02 PM • permalink

  17. The Israeli leadership intends to “break” the Hizbollah and destroy its “terrorist cancer”. Really? Do the Israelis really believe they can “break” one of the toughest guerrilla armies in the world?

    Fisk should slap his mother for dropping him on his head. Tough guerrilla army? How tough do you have to be to bust into houses and kill women and babies?

    Arab armies suck and Arabs are cowards. I suspect Fisk has some sort of homoerotic fixation on swarthy militant types. I’m serious. No snark. The only time my judgment has ever been as ludicrously wrong as Fisk’s was when I was putting some skank on a pedestal because she was hot in the sack.

    Posted by Dave S. on 2006 07 19 at 01:23 PM • permalink

  18. Let’s see, Fisk’s memorable experience with violence in the Middle East has been to be beaten up by a bunch of Muslim kids. No wonder he thinks Muslims are so powerful. After all, they were only kids and they were still able to pulverize the Magnificant Fisk.

    Posted by stats on 2006 07 19 at 01:28 PM • permalink

  19. Paco: But the Germans didn’t batter their way through the Maginot line.

    They went around it, through Belgium, like sensible people.

    ("Only three good things ever came out of Belgium: Fabrique Nationale, Front 242, and the German Army.")

    Posted by Sigivald on 2006 07 19 at 02:03 PM • permalink

  20. #19: ("Only three good things ever came out of Belgium: Fabrique Nationale, Front 242, and the German Army.")

    Don’t forget Godiva chocolate and Audrey Hepburn.  (I don’t think I will include Jean-Claude Van Damme.)

    Posted by Bruce Lagasse on 2006 07 19 at 02:29 PM • permalink

  21. Dammit they took away my Maginot Line, so how about the Siegfried Line?

    Posted by -keith in mtn. view on 2006 07 19 at 02:35 PM • permalink

  22. Front 242? I had to google Front 242; not sure how good that is.

    Audrey Hepburn was from Belgium? Man, you learn something new here everyday.

    Posted by paco on 2006 07 19 at 02:44 PM • permalink

  23. Fisk is the worst drawn caricature of an investigative journalist I’ve ever seen.

    Posted by saltydog on 2006 07 19 at 03:12 PM • permalink

  24. #23: Leunig!

    Posted by paco on 2006 07 19 at 03:42 PM • permalink

  25. This is just the usual lefty wishful thinking, fiskface cant hide his desire that the west and israel be defeated.

    a good comparison of the arab and Israelis is the Iran Iraq war, which was the longest general war of the 20th century, in 8 years neither could defeat the other, yet in 67 and 73 israel fought the whole arab world and defeated them in short order.

    Posted by phillip on 2006 07 19 at 04:14 PM • permalink

  26. #23. Tintin and some mighty fine beer.

    Audrey scoops the gold medal though....

    Posted by Isumbras on 2006 07 19 at 06:00 PM • permalink

  27. The Left has its caricature of a right-wing commentator: Stephen Colbert.  The Right has its caricature of a left-wing commentator: Robert Fisk.  The thing is, the Right doesn’t actually listen to Stephen Colbert.

    Posted by Warmongering Lunatic on 2006 07 19 at 06:27 PM • permalink

  28. I don’t think I will include Jean-Claude Van Damme

    I will.  Just have to be sure to hit the ‘mute’ button.

    rowr!

    Posted by Achillea on 2006 07 19 at 06:32 PM • permalink

  29. Where the bloody hell is syrofoam?

    He’s (?she’s) the best value troll we’ve had here for yonks - arrogant, self righteous, condescending, anti-semitic and above all, stupid (as in “we haven’t had divorce here in Australia for 30 years").

    Posted by Stop Continental Drift! on 2006 07 19 at 06:55 PM • permalink

  30. Arabs fight just fine...as long as:

    It’s brother against brother
    Brothers against family
    Family against Clan
    Clan against Tribe....

    They run into problems when they get to Tribe against anybody not an Arab.

    Oh, and they’re real good at beating up women and tied up prisoners.

    Posted by trainer on 2006 07 19 at 07:07 PM • permalink

  31. #29 SCD

    Styrofoam had to take his keyboard in for an overhaul. The shift and the “i” keys are worn out.

    Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 07 19 at 07:36 PM • permalink

  32. That’s no bloody excuse MM.  These worldly, higher-educated chaps (it’s done a thesis, you know) surely would have already applied for a government grant in order to have a few spares on hand?

    Perhaps it’s out practicing his redneck patois?

    Hmmm… “patois” - you don’t think its a reincarnation of AddamsFamily, do you?

    Posted by Stop Continental Drift! on 2006 07 19 at 07:48 PM • permalink

  33. Well, now it’s a foregone conclusion that the IDF will decimate the Hizbullah terrorists.

    Probably killing one in ten of them will be both easy and sufficient.

    Posted by triticale on 2006 07 19 at 08:01 PM • permalink

  34. #20 - So you dislike Van Damme?

    Check out the episode of “Las Vegas” where Van Damme appears as himself and is killed in a stunt which goes wrong.

    The closing credits of the show feature the note: “No actual Jean-Claude Van Dammes were injured or killed during the making of this film.”

    Posted by Dan Lewis on 2006 07 19 at 08:17 PM • permalink

  35. The Israeli leadership intends to “break” the Hizbollah and destroy its “terrorist cancer”. Really? Do the Israelis really believe they can “break” one of the toughest guerrilla armies in the world? 

    First you say ‘Boo!’ very loudly.  Then the Arabs realize they’ve made the terrible mistake of getting in front of you…

    Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 07 19 at 08:25 PM • permalink

  36. Fisk’s ill fated winter as a sports reporter.

    "Tonights game between the highly skilled Soviets and the amateurish Americans is bound to be a anti-climax. How can the American’s hope to batter their way through the Soviet defences? They won’t, they won’t, they won’t, they won’t. And if they do, I will leave at a suitable Fisk speed to become a Middle East correspondent"

    Miracle on Ice

    Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2006 07 19 at 09:51 PM • permalink

  37. When the dust settles this will be an interesting test of the reliability of our news outlets. The Australian newspaper has been giving the distinct impression that Israel is winning this conflict, while the ABC is ignoring anything Israel says and is grabbing at every passing moonbat. The other media outlets don’t seem to know or care.

    Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 07 19 at 10:20 PM • permalink

  38. Speaking of “syrofoam“—whose screen name is “Stiofan”—the silly eedjit emailed me. After reading his… surprising comment that there is no divorice in Australia (here), I posted a link to a web page that talks all about divorce, Australian style. Here is his (slightly edited) email:

    In Australia, we have marriage dissolution. “Divorce” was dropped from the
    legal vocabulary in 1975.

    Bunch of whiny stuff about my mean banning policies and how cruel it is to call him a troll plus gratuitous slam at Israel deleted.

    So, in a court of law it’s called something else instead of “divorce” and so there is no such thing as divorce in Australia. Well shit, I guess if I call this axe a creampuff it won’t gash your head open and let your brains spill out if I hit you with it. Fucking legalistic robot.

    Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2006 07 19 at 11:13 PM • permalink

  39. That’s “styrofoam”, Andrea (my occasional mis-spelling notwithstanding).  But thanks for sharing that with us. 

    Even when not posting, Styrofoam is a moonbat that keeps giving.

    Posted by Stop Continental Drift! on 2006 07 19 at 11:17 PM • permalink

  40. #19,
    The Wehrmacht was a good thing to come out of Belgium?  Puleeze.  Especially if you compare it to Audrey Hepburn.

    Terrorism has become the characteristic Arab, and now Muslim, method of making war.  Those who use it, the states and thug regimes that pass for governments in so much of the Arab world, are remarkably reliant on the ethically-motivated self-restraint of their targets.  If the US decided to act like our enemies, and kill as many innocent people in the Muslim world as we could in order to terrorize the others, we could out-kill Osama, Zarqawi, and their boyos by orders of magnitude.  Same with Israel if they ever really let go on the Palis and their enablers.  It’s like with the Incredible Hulk.  You don’t want to make us mad.  We are not nice people when we are mad.  Nobody has seen the US really angry since 1945; you don’t want to see it.  I’m afraid though that the idiots will not learn this lesson until we really get medieval on some of them.

    Posted by Michael Lonie on 2006 07 20 at 12:00 AM • permalink

  41. Answer for Fisk 2006. Yes they will, ofcourse Hisbollock will hide among civilians during the process.

    Posted by Howzat on 2006 07 20 at 04:47 AM • permalink

  42. While the Lebanese terrorists will undoubtedly get their arses handed to them on a platter by the IDF, their fearless revenge attacks against cars and solitary unarmed bystanders in Maroubra will make the Earth shake inshallah.

    Posted by Jim Geones on 2006 07 20 at 07:37 AM • permalink

  43. Fisky and Matt Brown are both strangely drawn to a man with a gun -and now I know where Matt’s Flak jacket got to..Tiltabout Hucheon.She probably stood on tilttiptoe and mugged him for it.
    The only thing she’s drawn to is the camera.

    Posted by crash on 2006 07 20 at 08:16 AM • permalink

  44. The Siegfried Line?  “So Brünnhilde...vots a nice girl like you doink in a dump like dis?”

    Audrey Hepburn really IS the best thing that ever come out of Belgium.  But let us not forget Lambic.

    Posted by Carl H on 2006 07 20 at 04:36 PM • permalink

  45. Andrea sorry to come this late but whatever medication styrofoam is on he needs to either half it or double it.  His claim that divorce is not part of the legal vocabulary in Australia is nothing short of delusional.

    But hey lets not take my word for it lets look at the definition in section 4 of the Family Law Act 1975 :- “divorce” means the termination of a marriage otherwise than by the death of a party to the marriage.

    Posted by Just Another Bloody Lawyer on 2006 07 21 at 05:52 AM • permalink

  46. JABL - save that one up for when the dick head pops up again.

    Posted by Stop Continental Drift! on 2006 07 21 at 02:10 PM • permalink

  47. #38 is this the new “Evil of Axes”?

    Posted by MentalFloss on 2006 07 21 at 06:08 PM • permalink

  48. #40 Unfortunately I think you are right.  One Suggestion though: MOAB

    Posted by The_Wizard_of_WOZ on 2006 07 21 at 11:57 PM • permalink

  49. Page 1 of 1 pages

Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.

Members:
Login | Register | Member List

Please note: you must use a real email address to register. You will be sent an account activation email. Clicking on the url in the email will automatically activate your account. Until you do so your account will be held in the "pending" list and you won't be able to log in. All accounts that are "pending" for more than one week will be deleted.