HOME OF THE FREE: ARNETT JOINS MIRROR
THE reporter sacked by American TV for telling the truth about the war is joining the Daily Mirror.
Truth hurts
Veteran newsman Peter Arnett was axed by NBC yesterday accused of being a Saddam stooge. He told state-run Iraqi TV the conflict was not going to plan because of fierce resistance and said his Baghdad reports âhelp those who oppose warâ. He joins the Mirror on the day it was revealed that 8,700 bombs have rained down on Iraq in 12 days, including 3,000 missiles over the weekend. After his sacking, Pulitzer Prize winner Arnett said: âI report the truth of what is happening here in Baghdad and will not apologise for it. I have always admired your newspaper and am proud to be working for it.â
Well done buddy, no more CNN / NBC censorship of Bush communism
The New Zealand-born journalist was vilified across the US for an interview in which he said: âThe first war plan has failed because of Iraqi resistance. Now they are trying to write another war plan. Clearly, the war planners misjudged the determination of the Iraqi forces. In my TV commentaries Iâd tell the Americans about the Iraqi forces and their willingness to fight. 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.â
Who cares, where is the oil
Arnett, 68, added that there was growing opposition about the conduct of the war. He said: âOur reports about civilian casualties here, about the resistance of the Iraqi forces, are going back to the US. It helps those who oppose the war when you challenge the policy.â On Sunday, NBC praised the reporter for risking his life to deliver news from Baghdad.
Gratitudes don't last long
The station said of the Iraqi TV interview: âHe answered their questions out of professional courtesy. He saw it as purely analysis.â But the furious White House said Arnett spoke from âa point of complete ignoranceâ. They day after backing him, NBC cut him loose.
Yesterday Arnett said on NBC: âI want to apologise to the American people. It was clearly a misjudgment talking to Iraqi TV. Iâm not anti-war. I said what we all know about this war. But Iâve created a firestorm and for that Iâm sorry.â Asked about his future, he joked: âThereâs a small island in the South Pacific Iâll try to swim to. Iâll leave.â
Arnett was one of the few TV journalists in Baghdad. He said: âThe Iraqis let me stay because they see me as a fellow warrior. They know I might not agree with them. But Iâve got their respect.â The reporter, the first Western journalist to interview Osama bin Laden and the last to interview Saddam Hussein, was accused of peddling pro-Iraqi propaganda while covering the 1991 Gulf War. But he gained much of his prominence for reporting the last conflict with Iraq for CNN. His Pulitzer Prize came for reporting in Vietnam in 1966 for the Associated Press.
Posted by: Murat 2003-04-01 |