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Peter Arnett's Interview on Iraqi TV

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Peter Arnett's Interview on Iraqi TV
bhaloo
03/30/03 at 21:48:23
[slm]

Here was the excellent interview Peter Arnett gave, and as I watched it on CNN, the CNN journalist insulted him.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/03/30/sprj.irq.arnett/index.html

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The U.S. war plan has "failed," veteran war correspondent Peter Arnett told Iraqi TV in an interview that aired Sunday.

"The first war plan has failed because of Iraqi resistance. Now they are trying to write another war plan," Arnett said. "Clearly, the American war planners misjudged the determination of the Iraqi forces."

Arnett -- who is reporting for National Geographic Television and NBC News -- also said Iraq has given him and other reporters a "degree of freedom which we appreciate," this despite the fact that Iraq has expelled several journalists, including CNN's Baghdad team, and apparently has imprisoned two journalists from the New York newspaper Newsday.

Arnett is a member of the Board of Directors of the Committee to Protect Journalists, which is trying to locate the missing journalists.

"I'd like to say from the beginning that the 12 years I've been coming here," Arnett said, "I've met unfailing courtesy and cooperation, courtesy from your people and cooperation from the Ministry of Information."

Arnett told the Iraqi TV interviewer, who was dressed in an Iraqi Army uniform, that President Bush is facing a "growing challenge" about the "conduct of the war" within the United States.


Arnett's Iraqi interviewer  
"President Bush says he is concerned about the Iraqi people, but if Iraqi people are dying in numbers, then American policy will be challenged very strongly," he said. In the interview, Arnett said reports from Baghdad on civilians being killed are being shown in the United States, and "it helps those who oppose the war when you challenge the policy to develop their arguments."

He pointed out U.S. claims that civilians killed in an explosion at a downtown Baghdad market were the victims of Iraqi missiles, and that Iraq had said the missiles were definitely incoming coalition fire.

NBC News issued a statement supporting Arnett, saying that Arnett gave the interview to Iraqi TV as a "professional courtesy" and that his remarks "were analytical in nature and were not intended to be anything more."

Arnett also said "clearly this is a city that is disciplined, the population is responsive to the government's requirements of discipline," and "Iraqi friends tell me there is a growing sense of nationalism and resistance to what the United States and Britain is doing."

The longtime war correspondent, who reported on the Persian Gulf War for CNN in 1991, said U.S. war planners miscalculated the will of Iraqis and he does "not understand how that happened."

He said his reports "would tell the Americans about the determination of the Iraqi forces, the determination of the government and the willingness to fight for their country."
Re: Peter Arnett's Interview on Iraqi TV
Taalibatul_ilm
03/31/03 at 08:33:05
[slm]

Freedom of speech carries on

NBC Severs Ties With Journalist Arnett
14 minutes ago  

By DAVID BAUDER, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK - NBC fired journalist Peter Arnett on Monday, saying it was wrong for him to give an interview with state-run Iraqi TV saying that the American-led coalition's first war plan had failed because of Iraq (news - web sites)'s resistance. Arnett himself called the interview a "misjudgment."


Arnett, on NBC's "Today" show on Monday, said he was sorry for his statement but added, "I said over the weekend what we all know about the war."


"I want to apologize to the American people for clearly making a misjudgment," Arnett said.


NBC had defended him on Sunday, saying he had given the interview as a professional courtesy and that his remarks were analytical in nature. But by Monday morning the network switched course and, after Arnett spoke with NBC News President Neal Shapiro, said it would no longer work with Arnett.


"It was wrong for Mr. Arnett to grant an interview to state-controlled Iraqi TV, especially at a time of war," NBC spokeswoman Allison Gollust said. "And it was wrong for him to discuss his personal observations and opinions in that interview."


Arnett, who won a Pulitzer Prize reporting in Vietnam for The Associated Press, garnered much of his prominence from covering the 1991 Gulf War (news - web sites) for CNN. One of the few American television reporters left in Baghdad, his reports were frequently aired on NBC and its cable sisters, MSNBC and CNBC.






Re: Peter Arnett's Interview on Iraqi TV
bhaloo
03/31/03 at 23:23:13
[slm]

That was a complete disgrace, but on the plus side:


Just fired, Peter Arnett hired by British paper
Monday, March 31, 2003 Posted: 9:45 PM EST (0245 GMT)
 

Peter Arnett

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Britain's Daily Mirror hired veteran war correspondent Peter Arnett Tuesday, less than 24 hours after he was fired by NBC and National Geographic for saying on Iraqi TV the U.S. war plan has "failed."

The tabloid's banner headline Tuesday said: "Fired by America for telling the truth ... hired by Daily Mirror to carry on telling it."

Piers Morgan, an editor for the Daily Mirror, told CNN, "Peter is one of the most respected journalists in the world, and we are delighted he is joining us to expose the truth about a war increasingly dominated by propaganda."

Arnett, 68, was quoted in the tabloid as saying, "I report the truth of what is happening here in Baghdad and will not apologize for it. I have always admired your newspaper and am proud to be working for it."

Arnett -- who won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the Vietnam War, and covered the 1991 Persian Gulf War for CNN -- was one of the last reporters in Baghdad reporting for a U.S. network when he was interviewed by Iraqi TV over the weekend.

In that interview, he said, "The first war plan has failed because of Iraqi resistance. Now they are trying to write another war plan. Clearly, the American war planners misjudged the determination of the Iraqi forces."

Arnett had been reporting from Baghdad for NBC News and MSNBC while on assignment for National Geographic Explorer. NBC and National Geographic abruptly fired him Monday.

"It was wrong for Mr. Arnett to grant an interview to state-controlled Iraqi TV, especially at a time of war, and it was wrong for him to discuss his personal observations and opinions in that interview," NBC News President Neal Shapiro said in a statement.

National Geographic issued a statement that read:

"The Society did not authorize or have any prior knowledge of Arnett's television interview with Iraqi television, and had we been consulted, would not have allowed it."

In an interview with NBC's Matt Lauer on "The Today Show," Arnett apologized for comments he made.

"I want to apologize to the American people for clearly making a misjudgment over the weekend by giving an interview to Iraqi Television," Arnett said
Re: Peter Arnett's Interview on Iraqi TV
panjul
04/01/03 at 00:42:42
[slm]

hired by a tabloid? That's when you know a great journalist's career is going down. I don't know...I didn't like what arentt did either, to be honest. He's supposed to be reporting the news, not become the news himself.
Re: Peter Arnett's Interview on Iraqi TV
bhaloo
04/01/03 at 01:14:17
[slm]

Its no different then what the reporters on CNN or MSNBC do, praising the president and attacking anyone that questions him and calling others names.  


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