UN Diary: Robert Fisk criticises rise of patriot journalism in US

UN Diary: Robert Fisk, 59, Middle-East correspondent for Britain's The Independent newspaper, began his address to a roomful of United Nations correspondents by mentioning that the last time he was at the UN was to hear Colin Powell make his airtight case for Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. This time around, it was Fisk making an airtight case for America’s failure in the Middle East.

"The United States must leave Iraq and will leave Iraq but can’t," said Fisk, who is currently touring the United States to launch the American edition of his new book, "The Great War for Civilisation".

Dressed in a rumpled blue shirt with his wearied face bearing the signs of a hectic travel schedule, Fisk spoke animatedly about the situation in Iraq and the state of American journalism today.

"After World War I, Britain and France drew the borders of the Middle East," he said. "I have spent my career watching the people within these borders burn." When Fisk was offered the position of Middle East correspondent at The Independent, his editor sold him onto the job by saying: "There will be lots of sunshine and lots of adventures," remembers Fisk. After reporting on the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Iran-Iraq war, the Iranian revolution and the US-led invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, Fisk has encountered numerous adventures but maybe not enough sunshine.