Peter Arnett

Peter Arnett (born 1934) is a New Zealand-born journalist and naturalized US citizen. Arnett worked for National Geographic magazine, and then for television. He is well known for his coverage of war, including the Vietnam War and the Gulf War. He was awarded the 1966 Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting for his work in Vietnam, where he was present from 1962 to 1975, most of the time reporting for the Associated Press news agency. He became respected as someone who did not trust anything he had not seen with his own eyes, but made several missteps in the last fifteen years that hurt his reputation and ended his American television career.

Interview in Iraq

On assignment for NBC and National Geographic, Arnett went to Iraq in 2003 to cover the U.S. invasion. After a press meeting there he granted an interview to state-run Iraq TV on March 31, 2003, in which he stated, "Now America is reappraising the battlefield, delaying the war against Iraq, maybe a week and rewriting the war plan. The first plan has failed because of Iraqi resistance. Now they are trying to write another plan... So our reports about civilian casualties here, about the resistance of the Iraqi forces, are going back to the United States. It helps those who oppose the war when you challenge the policy to develop their arguments."

Related Topics:
NBC - National Geographic - Iraq - 2003 - U.S. invasion - March 31

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When Arnett's remarks sparked a "firestorm of protest", NBC initially defended him, saying he had given the interview as a professional courtesy and that his remarks were "analytical in nature". A day later, though, NBC, MSNBC and National Geographic all severed their relationships with Arnett.

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In response to Arnett's statement on Iraqi TV, the corporation stated, "It was wrong for Mr. Arnett to grant an interview with state-controlled Iraqi TV, especially at a time of war and it was wrong for him to discuss his personal observations and opinions." Arnett responded, "My stupid misjudgment was to spend fifteen minutes in an impromptu interview with Iraqi television...I said in that interview essentially what we all know about the war, that there have been delays in implementing policy, there have been surprises."

Related Topics:
Corporation - TV

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Later that day, Arnett was hired by the British tabloid newspaper the Daily Mirror, which opposed the war. A couple of days later he was also assigned to Greek television channel NET television, and Belgian VTM.

Related Topics:
British - Tabloid - Newspaper - Daily Mirror - Greek - NET television - Belgian - VTM

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