The conflict in Lebanon ended a year ago this week. Robert Fisk reflects on the human misery and destruction inflicted on the country – and on how lucky he is to be alive after more than 30 years of reporting from some of the most dangerous places in the world.
By Robert Fisk
"I don't think war is addictive – for some, perhaps, but not for me. I was asked about this by a journalist in Beirut the other day and I responded in my usual, tired way. War is about history. Anyone who finds conflict addictive is sick. Yes, I agree with Winston Churchill who once said that there is nothing so satisfying as to be shot at without effect. A good dinner after a bad day is much to be enjoyed. But I hate wars......
In the end, I think I did understand something about the Middle East, about its terrible tragedy, about our betrayal of its people. I've been welcomed into homes full of bereavement, treated with immense kindness and respect by men and women whose husbands, sons, daughters, wives, lovers, have been torn to pieces by munitions made in America and Britain and in France and Russia. God knows why they were so kind to me. When I was badly beaten on the Afghan border in 2001, I wrote that had I been an Afghan I would have done the same to Robert Fisk. Those who were trying to kill me had just lost their loved ones under an American air attack – a fact that those who chose to condemn me for my words always omitted to mention – yet I have lived an almost charmed life.
Today, I sit on my balcony overlooking the Mediterranean and riffle through the pages of Double Blind and I thank whatever God controls our lives that I have not died and I think of the good, loyal friends who have protected me and cared for me and I feel a most fortunate man. Few can say that."
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