“Ladies and gentlemen, we got him!” So cried a crowing Paul Bremmer to a packed media briefing on the 14th December 2003. The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair declared that the “shadow” had been removed from Iraq. US President, George Bush, declared, “That is good news", while Australian Prime Minister, John Howard said on the ABC's AM program, “Oh, I'm delighted. I'm delighted most of all for the Iraqi people because Saddam's capture removes that haunting worry that he would come back.” Instead of Saddam coming back, Iraqi's suddenly found themselves occupied by, managed by and at the mercy of the coalition troops. Their repression did not change. All that changed was who held the guns.

Robert Fisk is arguably Britain's most authoritative journalist and commentator on Middle Eastern affairs. He has been the recipient of 28 British and foreign journalism awards including the Amnesty International UK Press Award. He has reported, unembedded, from the front lines of most of the major conflicts since the early 1970s. In this address to a packed house at the University of Sydney on October 5th 2005, he talks about the contents of his latest book The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East. Mel Slee recorded and produced the program.