-Caveat Lector-
------- Forwarded message follows -------
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: Nicholas Wilson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date sent: Mon, 31 Mar 2003 21:32:02 -0800
Subject: !b_a_Act: UK's Mirror Hires Arnett; first article: "This War
Is Not
Working"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61888-2003Mar31.html
Britain's Mirror Hires Fired Veteran Arnett
Reuters, March 31, 2003; 6:48 PM
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Daily Mirror said on Tuesday it had hired veteran U.S
reporter Peter Arnett, sacked by American TV network NBC after he told Iraqi television
the U.S, war plan against Saddam Hussein had failed.
"I report the truth of what is happening in Baghdad and will not apologize for it," he
told the tabloid newspaper, one of the most prominent opponents of Britain's
involvement
in the war.
Arnett, 68, who as a CNN reporter in 1991 was one of the few western journalists
reporting from Baghdad during the previous Gulf War, said in an interview on Sunday
with
state-owned Iraqi TV that the U.S. military would need to rewrite its war plan.
"I am still in shock and awe at being fired," New Zealand-born Arnett -- who won a
Pulitzer prize for his Vietnam War coverage -- wrote under the banner headline "This
war's NOT working."
© 2003 Reuters
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=12795678&method=full&siteid=50143
THIS WAR IS NOT WORKING Apr 1 2003 By Peter Arnett I am still in shock and awe at being
fired. There is enormous sensitivity within the US government to reports coming out
from
Baghdad.
They don't want credible news organisations reporting from here because it presents
them
with enormous problems.
I reported on the original bombing for NBC and we were half a mile away from those
massive explosions. Now I am really shocked that I am no longer reporting this story
for
the US and awed by the fact that it actually happened.
That overnight my successful NBC reporting career was turned to ashes. And why?
-- "Tariq Aziz told me the US will have to brainwash 25M Iraqis, because these people
think exactly the same as Saddam"
Because I stated the obvious to Iraqi television; that the US war timetable has fallen
by
the wayside.
I have made those comments to television stations around the world and now I'm making
them again in the Daily Mirror.
I'm not angry. I'm not crying. But I'm also awed by this media phenomenon.
The right-wing media and politicians are looking for any opportunity to be critical of
the reporters who are here, whatever their nationality. I made the misjudgment which
gave
them the opportunity to do so.
I gave an impromptu interview to Iraqi television feeling that after four months of
interviewing hundreds of them it was only professional courtesy to give them a few
comments.
That was my Waterloo - bang!
I have not yet decided what to do, whether to pack my bags and leave Baghdad or stay
on.
I'll decide what to do today, right now I'm chewing on what has happened to me.
-- "American Marines at our checkpoints are suspicious of every man, woman and child
because of the suicide bomb"
But whatever happens I will never stop reporting on the truth of this war whether I am
in
Baghdad or somewhere else in the Middle East - or even back in Washington.
I was here in 1991 and the bombing is very similar to that conflict but the reality is
very different.
The US and British want to come here, take over the city, upturn the government and
take
us through to a new era. The troops are in the country and fighting there way up here.
It
creates a very different atmosphere.
The Ba'ath party, currently led by Saddam Hussein, has been in power for 34 years.
Tariq
Aziz told me the US will have to brainwash 25 million Iraqis because these people think
exactly the same as Saddam does.
Maybe he is wrong, maybe not.
For months, Iraqis have said officially and privately: "We will fight the Americans, we
will use guerrilla tactics, we will surprise them."
But the Iraqi opposition has said: "This will be a pushover, everyone wants to rebel
against Saddam."
Now the reality is being played out on the battlefield.
We have to watch the reality now and some Iraqis are fighting and the government does
seem very determined. For me to see that and to be criticised for saying the obvious is
unfair.
-- "As the battle for Baghdad grows, so the potential for civilian casualties grows.
This is the spectre rising for the coalition as this war continues "
But it has made me a target for my critics in the States who accuse me of giving aid
and
comfort to the enemy.
I don't want to give aid and comfort to the enemy - I just want to be able to tell the
truth.
I came to Baghdad with my crew because the Iraqi side needs to be heard too.
It is clear the original timetable that America would be in Baghdad by the end of March
has fallen by the wayside.
There is clearly debate in the US about this, reinforcements are being sent in and
there
are delays.
This doesn't mean it is going badly. Every casualty is a loss but they have been in
limited numbers so far.
Every night and every day I hear the B-52s and the missiles hammering the defences
Baghdad.
Just like in Afghanistan and Vietnam, the US is bringing enormous firepower to bear
which
it believes will grind the Iraqis down. I have seen it before and it has been
enormously
effective. The US optimism is justified.
On the other hand, at what cost to civilians ?
During the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, I entered a US-held town which had been totally
destroyed.
The Viet Cong had taken over and were threatening the commander's building so he called
down an artillery strike which killed many of his own men.
The Major with us asked: "How could this happen?" A soldier replied: "Sir, we had to
destroy the town to save it."
The Bush and Blair administration does not want that label stuck on this war, it is a
liberation for them. But the problem is US Marines at checkpoints are suspicious of
every
man, woman and child because of the suicide bomb.
Already there is suspicion growing.
And in the south, there have not been popular rebellions and uprisings. As the battle
for
Baghdad grows, the potential for civilian casualties grows.
-- "Optimists in the Pentagon talk about an internal coup. But who would have had
believed Umm Qasr would hold out for six days?"
This is the spectre rising as this war continues. The US and Britain have to figure
this
out.
I don't think you can tell how it will end, there are many scenarios. A siege of
Baghdad... a special operations strike on Saddam. Optimists in the Pentagon talk about
an
internal coup.
Who would have had believed Umm Qasr would hold out for six days or US Marines
directing
traffic would be killed by a suicide bomber? This is more like the West Bank and Gaza
and
it could become like that in some areas.
The US and Britain must avoid that scenario.
Forces come in, communities resist, then suicide bombing and resistance from
guerrillas.
Except the Iraqis will be putting up a stiffer fight than the Palestinians because they
are better armed.
We know the world, including many Americans, is ambivalent about this war and I think
it
is essential to be here.
I'm not here to be a superstar. I have been there in 1991 and could never be bigger
than
that.
Some reporters make judgements but that is not my style. I present both sides and
report
what I see with my own eyes.
I don't blame NBC for their decision because they came under great commercial pressure
from the outside.
And I certainly don't believe the White House was responsible for my sacking.
But I want to tell the story as best as I can, which makes it so disappointing to be
fired.
------- End of forwarded message -------
----------------
News alternatives to US war propaganda:
http://www.aeronautics.ru/news/news002/news081.htm
http://www.aeronautics.ru/news/news002/news082.htm
http://www.truthout.org/
http://www.aljazeerah.info/
http://www.overthrow.com/
http://globalfire.tv/nj/03en/politics/content.htm
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