(man) two, three, four... one, two, three, four five, six, seven, eight, nine... after much arguing, the iraqi authorities have just agreed to alw uso go mucnearer tthe city of, what iin effec the aqi fronine onhis sidef the shatt alrab rir. what iin effec the aqi fronine we're w in thetreets of a, just bide thshots fronine. the doest seem tbe anybody he,

but there's a t of all armsire veryear. more sma arms fi, sner fire ackling acrosshe riverrom myight. we're hind a wl the momt. there aroil depo blowg up in adan... plosionshunderin awa(sts)d us i'm ginning wonder why . (me shots d explosns) xplosion well, e iranians arstill ale in aban, ateast nowhat ey know 're here es -(her n) proof aroundhis way.ackver hek let's wo(sts)wayp. ke your hes down they canee you fm the her si of the river. (explosis) me(m) all tother, go! the ot! (other m)run!un! run!e. other ma jesus. -(man)u. i thinthey can see run. other ma yeah. man) let go. hanon.

we'rjust ting to g backsee run. to the c and g to safe. awayith our ads downn the 'car.ear we'rdrivg..i as lonas we ke going ft, wehould belright. this i, middle et corresndent of the ldon time.. alm musibegins) repoing fromarely 20yard fromhe irani hill ci of adan.

(robt) this azes me beca. it's sti alive but it still dth? mean, there'simply nody he. it is utterlybandoned plac. and if y look dog. it's lta some othe sidetreets, the barrades aretill tre. look at thatne, for ample. wh the fin battlesook ace herehen the rian arm we openingp this road,t's you uld brina hollywd crew over andake a movihere on the deacan'talk the livg are algone. (musiconnues) (rober the fir time i nt i can't thk of whe on eart havell theseeople go.d stree, where dithey go ? and thent occurr to me, u kn, this w their yr zero.

they'rat the btom wh the mederranean they'ren greece orungary. gmany. thiss where ey came om. this ithe begiing of t stor which h overwheed euro... t thiss the benning, is is whe the mah was li total, aolute destction. t thiss the benning, youd i wond, in somways, whether e ashes cities.his are consntly recating what happenehistoricly for hundds of yes? in htory, ere is history in wch you wl alwaysind hes. and it cruel a unfr toay this rhaps, t i thinthat somhere the souof humaneings. there sometng there that ws we pert these terrib . do wpermit tm becausin so way ty seem nural...

thbut think abt it.the aner. abt uthink abt it.this? whis the mide east (correspoent for etoy inpendent wspaper. he hdsore brith and internatnal journalism ards (fale ho) many of u hereeigcor. will be faliar with the life and work of robert fisk. the many armed conflicts he has reported on, and his unwavering voice in the middle east. (male host 2) as you know, robert's work is always well researched and of the people. it is regularly contrarian and controversial. (male host 3) robert fisk has been reporting

from the middle east with incomparable depth and understanding... (music begins) and also extraordinary courage. (female host 2) as we turn to robert fisk, he's bn reportg fr the mide east, whetr in afgnistan oiran leban, the oupied territors, isel, or iiraq ye afterear. (musicntensifi) iyping sodsraq ye afterear. (music ends) (rober for theoment, we're gog up thmain intnationalighway which ru from dascus t aleppo. asar as ho we can , and thene turn o into theesert order tget to ha, ich is the cy which u caeasiest t into t area of the idlibattlefld.

wednday ght whicruns on ursday.. for tht and e questi is whetr torrow we e enough of froline southn idliprovin... to get ma goodfrontlinpiece, rian armin sight of thear, the ponents the gime in lib... because at's wre the lt battle isupposedo be. bel fighrs fromhe free rian arm wthlast remning milant ann the , terrist stronghold isyria. (male porter) is last ttle r syria reatens wthlast remning milant ann the , terrist stronghold isyria. humanitaan catasophe a great scale tn any se in sev viciousears offightig (lcock) thworst manirian cattrophe th the bgest losof lifef the 21 century (rober all of headline the syri army wamassing aroundf thislamist the rians d the russia had id "we'rgoing tottack." natoarning ouse of g and rror, maacres, the rial of whi mighta had idwell havhappen...ck."

and i aded the and thoht, -(rort) goodo see yoagain. want to-(man) wcome. thi (rert) tha you vermuch. (ya) you wl meet th the cmanderf the securi(rert) whe is he?. -(ya) about e hour. -(bertfrom her okay, at'sine. (robt) well,e're clo -to jisr al-shhur. yara) ye (robert)hat was mbed yeerday, rht? -to jisr al-shhur. we we are ing a ng way.it's w. yara) ye (ya) we ll seehe area that t. (s music bins). (robert)ow. gadier tking) (s music bins).

is(rert) whedid thesgunsin theow st fire? (yara) ts town i.. (rober . yara askg brigadier -(yara) day morng. -(rort) toda we we shelli becausehey tacked o positiowith roets. (robt) it's sertedthere'sno tr, noing. yara aing genel (yaraen al-nua said thatknewbout theperation -(bert) goout. altyara) ye.e. obert) noby there. (bgadiefront caednn the mou't guardia of relion' inedantherare factns ago longing to al-qaa. (bridier talng) (yara) ware verylose to t turkishorder. robert) ght mileor s -(yarafifteen. rigadier) ishere anylace se you wt to see (rober anythinmore i n see, pase, if. (yara)sn't the a hot st or aacks her

(bridier) wean turn into hot spo but weave a ceefire now. (bridier talng) (yara) we are a ngerous ea. maybe th wiite, y.ets.are der the ntrol ofl-nusra. (brigaer) milints trie to dtroy t bridge. (robt) they ied blow itp. ant(bridier) thdow used bby-traps but noenoughto bringhe brie do. this ia frontle and stping he is not good ide huy up! ad music -(igadier)urry up! -(brigi! speeup throu here! now were besidal koaa. so h! -(brigadr) here e militas! -(igadier snipers (rober here wee on a b frontline road.

the rian gunare in l the his aroundere fing over r heads mounin sideseyond th ridge. whh is where anusra positionrmed gros, islamist are positioned. i'm justondering if there c areth's an exosion... islaat's not gun fing.d. it ce from or there. (ather expsion) that syrian tillery firin, is armhas not ved rward the lastwo years. i s herewo yearsgo, they're inxactly the sameine as ty were. maybthere wille a batt afteall for lib. e the syans goinedodgy th. to pouforth fr the bas owhh has lo been thdumping togr, for sra fighrs and is...

and e other hadis who refud to givup whenhey evacted e big syan cities? this reallybout to the bein 1945 this va traged th its oldtone hous and the greedrift ofhe oront, isbout tbecome the site of the lt anfinal bale the syrn war seems stngely ouof place boy, think what happed is (typg soundthat... mic) (robet i becameascinate by t idea ofecordinghings throh my ownyes. i remeer very early dad i becameascinate blked andalked antalkedgs out the eat war, the send. so i gw up knong the htory ind i remeer when wasc has out twel years o me.s

(iro musiclays) inoreign cresponde, fhuley harstock... a ke name ke a lot had iy was nt off tcover th outbak of thsecond wld wa you'veuessed tt i'm foreigcorrespoent. was nt off tcover th diased bthe gean sected in police acrosholland,rober c shot dn by a gman cket bateship, won the st beaiful wan inhe movie d surviv to send great scooand thought myself,w my gos yo. excitement, adntur repoing, scos, beautul won, spies this sounds likehe job fore! i nted to be reporte or a correspdent, preferably a foreign correspondent... and my parents wanted me to go into one of the professions. you know, a lawyer, doctor. but i wanted to be a reporter. two men ve been otb fisk inathlin street.e. gunman got out and sayed the tw.

when i bame correspoent fu-time, gunmwas almo immedtelyed the tw. nt to beast. my parts start talkg about, "our boy wks for t times." father s very proud ofe... "oure workfor the mes."s." e times s almost a pressi. we're ar divis streeto. one scenof the great ttles ofwo yea ago. we're ar divis streeto. they shofrom theop ofhe tow... and the my have post jus behi the schl buildi and taming. it sd to flyit. thonly pla in the rld ere you uld sit a sid stet and wch a gunattle take pla. belfashad a grt influee in eparing for theiddle east... particarly whei founthat e britisarmy werkilling inno. and broke those stors and the brish ar, myrmy, rned ainst me. afr investating enou stories i dinand at startrmy probms for mimmediaty because wasn't oide. i shou be on t side i dinand at startrmy probof theuthoriti.ty

i've bn here three ars now d one almo anesthezes one' sensivity tohat goesn the extt thatne is soonscious at t verbeginng ofaying... "i mus't be bied or bseen to gle this that youlmost co out inaving nomotions. th isn't completeltrue. i me, i can ink of particul momentshen i ha feltmotion. rememberhen a bo went of in t oxfd stet bus stion. d this i't a nic peodescption buthere waa d bpie of sebody,s. just aiece of meone's dy lyinacross t firan's hos and rememb the firan o was stding the, trng to puout the re... d hower muchhey woul'tnd onislikeo hear o say it,g. owing itas the i one codn't helbut thin they'rebastas d one isffected emotion

aslose as ssible to wheredlib pvince iser idlibs a big ttle thonly wayut is in turkey, and at's theit i nt to e today. (bgadierhi guys. i's finethis is news cre whichas approval. (guardalking i'brigadieyounis fromhe secury commite acmpanyinghem. uard) and o is he? thbritish urnalist robertisk. -and h cw. -(ard) i nd informion. take whayou ne. weave an aroval. ow him. (rober i've goa very fortun urnalism. i'on the fntline owars, i see, street rorter, bui'm so a colnist. most cumnists ve in new yorkr londonr paris. mosteporters can't c. what i'vhad the eat forte ofeing is th at the same new yorkr lotime. paris. when write aeries articleabout sya,

i'm norecordinwhat somne saidor reporng whai saw onyoutu. the rian froline. wh i went to idlib provce all myolleaguewere sayg, t in thatrip i dn't seenother jrnalist. i didn'tven see russiajournali. you don go to t scene and snifit and ta to the ople u cannotet near what ti d see wi your oweyes (brigaer) snip fire? did yosee them (wheno littles provedand so t inhe agef the internet, at there more reon to dthe old nd of jonalism that ias doingn belfas.. ddg arou to findutn to dthwh i actuay see.lism d have aotebook and a nc! 's just valuableoday to dthwhast alwaysas..lism (pple taing syri) syri guns. (people lking) fired a ng time o. (peopltalking)

fired a ng time o. emale rerter) thpeople of idlibre facin an imment miliry offenve, d they'rpreparinfor the worst. (un okesma we coulsee battle me cruel an imment miliry offenve, than anyrevious ttle inthis, e r d they'rpreparinfor the worst. generation (reporter) mnwhile, damasc i an imment miliry offenve, thanth the mh-anticitedthis, e r dfensive idlib pvincee worst. hasn't srted yetn according eyewitnses, inforcemts from e syrian army e still uring in the tskirts idlib pvince. (yara)his is t closet road the fro. according eyewitnses, inforcemts from e syrian army (bridier) ye. e still uring in the tskirts idlib pvince. (rober virtual every rd 've beenn, sie we lefthe turkh border on n

all thway arou idlib up to alpo, on mitary ros which one elscan trav on expt the ay, and haven'teen the reinrcements which one elscan trav on and isthlast bateto the the syrn war.er. i'm at the ment tryi to work ouwhat artle i'm gng to write. ve i beefooled? di' got to y, "lookif the battle icoming, 's hard wfind i"? one of the pblems i ink is that pple he havno idea of what e inrnationacommunit isaying about thcatarophe toome. and the is sayi it, and st of thpeople outde syriat the uin washiton... ey don'tave muchdea ofhat's haening he. theyouldn'believethat we'y and habuwe sure ven't. we reay haven'seen ie. (night sounds)

(robt and ldiers tking) (rert) wn i firsgot a leer, los here from thtimes, i was in portugal for the aftermath of the revolution, he offered me the middle east. i felt like an arab king being offered a country by churchill. and he said, "it would be a great adventure with lots of sunshine." lots of sunshine! god, he's right about that. lawrence of arabia called sunshine a sword and he's about right d-seople lking)u. the nuer of tis in beit, i' gone t on stoes and itten th

d know thawhen i fe a ory it's going to printed and r all i ow, rupe murdh may ha cloven oves but 's briing my per out ery nighand i'm journast and r all i ow, rupe murdthat's wt i wantoves but 'en ioined thtimesut it print what i ote fair, then murdoch came and took the times over. he promised he would make no changes at all, have no influence on editorial policy. of course he did. and headlines would suddenly take a very right-wing view of what i was writing about even contradicting what i was actually saying in my copy. and en we rehed is piod in988, when i fou out theruth abo why anhow the ericans hashot dn anranian civilianassengerircraft and theyouldn't n it. stead, ty ran a totally true editorial ying thathe pilotried othamericanpanickednd, tsh down annnocent rcraft.

(soldi) we gott, guys!that w! (robt) for yrs andears, i'd risk my life fothis pap, the tis ansuddenlyhey woul't run story. and myeactiowas, if you han the ddle eas (robt) for yrs andears, i'd risk my life editors ve tbe brave in lonp to the owners of newspapers and my editor failed to do so. and i thought that it was a disgrace for me to continue to work for that paper. and that's when i decid i'd have to to the independent. e indendent wafounded,effectir thindependce of thpress om the mdoch empes of th worl (mic plays (ns music gins) eporter)fter 30 ars, ith newsper,

e indepeent, istoppinthe press. eporter)fter 30 ars, ith newsper, eand now onlavailabl to an line rearship. the inpendent the fir natial newsper in the uk to movto an enrely digil mol. wee just stching o focus the. to a dital fute. we've got millions of daily readers. d we're nna focuon the llions tt read udigitall (reporte can new orgazations,uch as t indendent, survivthe trantion journasm contie in a vtual om paperld?ixelscan seousv only time will tell. (peoe talkin

(teach) every udent istudying modernidy in thiroom and wh better eaker toome lk to yoguys thasomeone who s expericed and writteabot and r the pa 40 yeartoome lk to yoguys thasomeone who s expericed and writteabot mrfisk oncsaid tha jourlists mu challen authory and r the pa 40 yeartoome lk to yoguys thasomeone espeally whegovernmes and politicis lead uinto war and day is rlly a conversaon betwe the you here in leban, r future and e prolif mr. fis so wcome, mrfisk! thk you ve much. i ca here wh i was 2 i' got theame job,he sam ple, the se areao cover. diffent newsper, slightlyifferentalary, t as mucas i'd le. bytaying he, with l the oblemsnd all t effectof havina long piod, 40 yearsave taug me a t about is regio and it'since syk picot, think, thof a part of the wld the at i canhink of.ice

the itish anfrench dlomats scandausly madtheir secret aeement tcarve upthe mid. and i alys refle on the fact t secreat follod that w upthe mid. we t west crted the boers of northernreland, oblem. yuslavia, problem. and most thentire middle et, probl. and don't know wre whener we wantto promo y thisrroganceame from we aays arri with all ouguns andur soldis. and i n't think there ould a singlwestern ldier inhe middleast beuse it dsn't belg us. and i st of thpeoplee ould it'sin this gion,ier armuslims d they have kepthe fait angod goves the wathey aneat theifamiliestheiruld they sti bellives god.er is aeoplwho e dominadlieve inf hasand pressed lturallyh polically, onomical, militaly,

by aeople who have rgely lo their fth. hoand why d that hpen? and i han't the ightest ea what the awer is oeven the question if crect. yway, sie my newaper isurning io a webse let'see whatappens to the independe. i'm stilthe middle et coesponden onhat note you tter sho at me. (appuse, cm musi go you'rall tall than me that very frhtening. (sdents taing) -tay is th23rd f februa. 16. (people lking) ome wos? -(berobert)hat's ok.ite? (peopltalkin (woman) where a you ome wos? -(ing to lve your perse? d youriarieshen you finallleave the n?

i'm ill workg at theoment, ill a fu-time coesponden if i end udeciding to wri poetry the garn, then il start thinki a. stetnoises obert)he greest thing i've had going for me as a journalist has be the lenh of tim i'veeen in t middleast. fr thege of 29p to now teakete whistl very fewournalis have h the goofortune to live at lengtof time, virtu, throh the whe period. (calm muc begi)

i member, was qui an iortant ment in '. evy westerr had eier been kid despately daerous. and i cided totry and ng on. and walked o of the bure from whe i usedo fi. and i cided totry and ng on. and thought,y god, ie been here n from '7to '86, ten a brighsyears.mning. my tn editoraid, "if you to eastn euro you n becomeoliticalditor d that's t way become editor. ani said"i don'twant to c! i don't nt to goy and li i. become editor. i live ibeirut.this is home. (mic goes )i like mlife. m marrieto a joualist, so we dohe same b. i loveeporting and i . car honk

roughoutll the te i' been inhe middleast i can fuy undersnd theury ananger athe colial worl which original come fr. wi our wonrful wesrn thisciee and cilizationem isidiculounowadays i dot thk it'she j of a foreign rrespondt to sav anyby t it mig be the job a forei correspdent expin to thpeople o read wt one wres the realy of t world i whicthe peop you livamong exist. anthat's wt i try do. (reporte some crics say you' lived t long in the mdle east (robert)o, this is an d game. if y haven'teen ther (reporte slonghey sayay uifou've be there lger they say, "you've en thereoo long. excuse m the lonr you're ther? (rober i suppose bause coveng the mdle ea is a bit likeeading areat nov