U.S. BARS ROBERT FISK FROM ENTERING COUNTRY

[WearyOne]

U.S. BARS ROBERT FISK FROM ENTERING COUNTRY

The internationally renowned correspodent for The Independent -- the great British journalist Robert Fisk -- has been banned from entering the United States. Fisk has been covering war zones for decades, but is above all known for his incisive reporting from the Middle East for more than 20 years. His critical coverage of the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq, and the continuing occupation that has followed it, has repeatedly exposed U.S. and British government disinformation campaigns. He also has exposed how the bulk of the press reports from Iraq have been "hotel journalism" -- a phrase Fisk coined.


http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=43&ItemID=8800

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## this is outrageous. First peace activist and Haliburton critic Scott Parkin is deported from Australia on the basis of false evidence and now Robert Fisk is not allowed into the US. The message : critics of George Bush will not be tolerated !. Another blow to free speech.

[tatertop]

1. this is a very bad sign of things to come

[BrklynLiberal]

2. So explain to me how we are different from the USSR at its peak of

totalitarianism?

[ima_sinnic]

4. hey freepers, you sorry-ass sacks of putrid dog#%^--that question

is for you!

and a good question it is. we have become everything we were warned about back in the 50s-60s.

[Spiffarino]

21. Freepers love this kind of thing

Freedom to them means doing everything their way. If your opinions, looks, behaviors, beliefs or world view is different, you have no rights and you don't get any of that precious freedom they love so much.

[Paranoid Pessimist]

23. During the peak of Soviet totalitarianism, peope who said ...

... things such are said on this website, among others, would be grabbed up and "liquidated" (nice sounding euphemism for killed) or sent to the Gulag.

This doesn't mean that we aren't heading in that direction, because we indeed are.

[Turbineguy]

3. He is denied entry to the US??

Gee, let's hope he forgets to mention it to the rest of the world.

[JohnyCanuck]

5. Someone must have decided it was just too dangerous

to allow two subversive rabble rousers like Galloway and Fisk to both be in the country at the same time.

[rodeodance]

7. "Fisk was told that his papers were not in order."

The daily New Mexican reports that "U.S. immigration officials refused Tuesday to allow Robert Fisk, longtime Middle East correspondent for the London newspaper, The Independent, to board a plane from Toronto to Denver. Fisk was on his way to Santa Fe for a sold-out appearance in the Lannan Foundation 's readings-and-conversations series Wednesday night. According to Christie Mazuera Davis, a Lannan program officer, Fisk was told that his papers were not in order. Davis made last-minute arrangements Wednesday for Amy Goodman, host of Pacifica Radio's daily news show, Democracy Now!, to interview Fisk via satellite from a television station in Toronto..." A recording of this satellite interview will soon be available on the Lannan Foundation's website.



I have long admired Fisk's unbeatably first-rate journalism, his intrepid insistence on sticking his nose where the authorities -- of whatever country he's in -- don't want him to go. He constantly shows up the sluggish cowardice and indolent hand-out journalism practiced by so many U.S. foreign correspondents from the safety of their hotel bars. That the U.S. won't allow this great journalist into this country to tell what he has seen and what he knows is a scandal.



If you're not familiar with Fisk's reporting, there is an entire website devoted to it -- read Fisk's latest, and find an archive of his articles (plus audio-visual materials) by clicking here. You can also order Fisk's books, like Pity the Nation: The Abduction of Lebanon, and The Great War for Civilization: The Conquest of the Middle East.





Doug Ireland, a longtime radical journalist and media critic, runs the blog DIRELAND, where this article appeared Sept. 22, 2005.

[katty]

9. 'papers not in order' cannot enter das homeland-what does

it take to wake up America?! this country is under the total control of the shadow-Pentagon (an oxymoron) corporate cartels family cartels, et al, FEMA and all the pawn sub-groups, mercenaries and local governments that have been hijacked into service of the military junta.

[ClintonTyree]

6. On what grounds was he denied access?

There has to be a reason. National Security? Mohammed Atta could get in Robert Fisk can't? :wtf:

[RC]

10. Mohammed Atta was working for some in our government.

Robert Fisk is an example of integrity.
What else do you need to know.

[Tace]

8. Then I'm Going To Run All The Fisk I Can Find

[crikkett]

11. 1st thought was it was so he couldn't cover the protests

but then I read the article.

(on edit: changed my mind about why he was denied entry).

[ClintonTyree]

12. His papers weren't in order?

That's pretty nebulous, it could mean just about anything. They just didn't want him here covering the protests.

[crikkett]

15. perhaps, but I gotta save my tinfoil

for the *really spooky* stories.
:tinfoilhat:

[Briar]

17. This means

he told the truth in his newspaper articles. That's out of order, as far as the powers that be are concerned.

[enough]

13. Nominating.

[radio4progressives]

14. Second the Nomination ... keep this kicking Please!! n/t

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

16. Kick...

..eom.

[geckosfeet]

18. Amazing. Trying to gag everyone that says something that you

don't like is not going to work. There just is not enough duct tape.

It will be actions like this that highlight the intolerant divisive policies of the Bush era. This will only server to galvanize free peoples against Bush policy.

[Tom Joad]

19. Could we get some Congressional Democrats to protest?

Beyond the likes of Barbara Lee & Conyers, i doubt it, but would love to be proved wrong. Actually, I have my doubts about Lee and Conyers acting on this.

Could you folks get Kerry and Dean and Hilary to do something about this?

Fisk is scheduled to speak here in the Bay Area in November for Middle East Children's Alliance http://www.mecaforpeace.org/

[Briar]

22. This has been largely ignored by the UK media

and no one in Parliament has objected. One of the few honest journalists reporting from the Middle East and apparently he is fair game for the establishment.

[PurgedVoter]

20. Trouble entering? Soon people will kiss the ground when they get out.

I don't know what to call it. The Iron Curtain fell, what has Bushitler raised? The Stupid Curtain? The Bush Curtain?

[mntleo2]

24. We SO Need To Secede To Canada!

I hope they will let Mr. Fisk go there. Couldn't we blue states join him? No more war! A real media (that isn't even "free' like ours supposedly is)! Healthcare! Decent schools! Affordable college! Better radio! Great music! Hardly any murder rate! Canucks!

We could bring all our resources with us...Oh I wish we could just become Canadians and let these idiots HAVE their wingnut world. I would be glad to learn French...

Cat In Seattle <---living close to the the border and feeling like I have my nose pressed to the window...

[Tom Joad]

25. UPDATE Fisk will be able to enter country

I talked today with some friends at MECA http://www.mecaforpeace.org/ , and heard that there is nothing to fear, he just needs to do some paperwork (forget the details).
His book tour will go on, and i will get to see him in November, and probably most other people will get to see him here in the USA (dare you to get your democratic congresspeople be seen by him though).

Yes, certainly Bush & Co are doing many bad things, but they will not prevent us from hearing Fisk.

[WearyOne]

26. can you post a thread when you hear more ?

[yellowcanine]

27. Why are you all bitching? Don't you feel much safer knowing this?

:sarcasm: