Peter Arnett commits treason from Baghdad
Veteran television correspondent Peter Arnett, who has been covering the war with Iraq for NBC News through an arrangement with National Geographic Explorer, went on Iraq's state television network and praised Iraq's treatment of journalists.
In a transcript of Arnett's comments during the interview, he seemed to praise Iraq's Ministry of Information, saying it has "allowed me and many other reporters to cover 12 whole years since the Gulf War with a degree which we appreciate and that is continuing today."
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(John Gibson, of Fox News, reported on Arnett's Iraqi TV "interview" on Sunday)
JOHN GIBSON: "Peter Arnett, who is now employed as a correspondent by National Geographic Television, was interviewed by one of Iraq's Information Ministers on Iraq State TV.
He began interviewing Arnett about what is going on in Iraq and what is going on in America about the war.
What Peter Arnett said is that it is clear that is going on in the US is clear that there is a growing challenge of Bush's conduct of the war and then Arnett seemed to take credit for that, by saying that HIS reports from Iraq are helping opposition grow. "
ARNETT:" It is clear that within the United States that there is growing challenge to President Bush and the conduct about the war. And it is clear that our reports here about the Iraqi civilian casualties in the war, and the resistance of the Iraqi forces, are going back to the United States, and it helps those who oppose the war and challenge the policies to develop their arguments."
So Arnett did not acknowledge what is a Pentagon claim, that the Iraqi casualties could be from Iraqi missiles which are errant missiles which are falling back down on their own Iraqi population. But Arnett went on to claim credit for growing opposition in the United States, but claimed that the Pentagon's War is a failure.
ARNETT: "Now America is reappraising the battlefield plan and delaying the war, for maybe a week. The first war plan has failed because of Iraqi resistance. Now they are trying to write another war plan. "
Of course Peter Arnett is now working for the National Geographic program, he has a deal with NBC and appears on another cable network. He has been allowed to do whatever he wants. This while other news agencies have been kicked out of Iraq, including Fox News Channel and CNN. And in addition the Newsday Newspapers has two reporters missing and assumed to be held by authorities in Iraq, yet Peter Arnett is allowed to stay. I guess that we can come to our own conclusions, it appears that Peter Arnett is now operating in Iraq and doing Iraq great favors by his own estimation, in organizing opposition to the war, here in this country, in the United States by his reports, and by giving the Iraqis a growing sense of nationalism, because by his accounts, the initial war plan has failed, and the Iraqi opposition has sent the war planners back to the drawing board.
So there you have it, Peter Arnett in Iraq."
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Arnett's comments are sure to stir controversy since some media outlets, including CNN, Arnett's former employer, have been booted out of Baghdad. Also, two reporters from the Tribune Co.-owned (TRB) newspaper Newsday are missing after being expelled from Baghdad and the paper has said it believes its journalists are being held by the Iraqi government.
After speaking with Arnett, General Electric Co.'s (GE) NBC said in a statement that "Peter Arnett and his crew have risked their lives to bring the American people up-to-date, straight-forward information on what is happening in and around Baghdad." The network said Arnett's "impromptu interview with Iraqi TV was done as a professional courtesy and was similar to other interviews he has done with media outlets from around the world. His remarks were analytical in nature and were not intended to be anything more."
Arnett appeared on MSNBC, the cable news channel NBC owns with Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Sunday afternoon with coverage of coalition attacks. Arnett isn't employed by NBC but the network struck a deal with National Geographic, whose program "Explorer" airs on MSNBC, for the correspondent to provide war coverage for the network. He is one of the few Western television reporters remaining in Baghdad providing coverage for a U.S. network. |
