Peter Arnett: Difference between revisions

Arnett wrote in an unvarnished manner when reporting stories of ordinary soldiers and civilians. Arnett's writing was often criticizedcriticised by administration spokesmen as negative, who wanted to keep reporting of the war positive. General [[William Westmoreland]], President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] and others in power put pressure on the AP to get rid of or transfer Arnett from the region.<ref name="Arnett" />{{rp|259-60}}

In what is considered one of his iconic dispatches, published on 7 February 1968, Arnett wrote about the [[Battle of Bến Tre]]: "'It became necessary to destroy the town to save it,' a United States major said today. He was talking about the decision by allied commanders to bomb and shell the town regardless of civilian casualties, to rout the Vietcong."<ref>{{cite news|date=8 February 1968<!-- This is the date of publication; the date of reporting was 7 February. -->|title=Major Describes Move|work=The New York Times}}</ref> The quotation was gradually altered in subsequent publications, eventually becoming the more familiar, "We had to destroy the village in order to save it."<ref name="verifier">{{cite book|title=The Quote Verifier: Who Said What, Where, and When|last=Keyes|first=Ralph|year=2006|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|isbn=978-0-312-34004-9|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/quoteverifierwho00keye}}</ref> The accuracy of the original quotation and its source have often been called into question. Arnett never revealed his source, except to say that it was one of four officers he interviewed that day.<ref name="verifier" /> US Army Major [[Phil Cannella]], the senior officer present at Bến Tre, suggested that the quotation might have been a distortion of something he said to Arnett.<ref name="verifier" /> ''[[The New Republic]]'' at the time attributed the quotation to [[United States Air Force|US Air Force]] Major [[Chester L. Brown]].<ref>[[Peter Braestrup|Braestrup, Peter]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=SSfcAAAAIAAJ&q=%22new+republic%22+%22chester+l.+brown%22&dq=%22new+republic%22+%22chester+l.+brown%22&cd=2 ''Big story: how the American Press and Television Reported and Interpreted the Crisis of Tet 1968 in Vietnam and Washington, Volume 1'' Freedom House (U.S.)] (Westview Press, 1977) via Google Books.</ref> In [[Walter Cronkite]]'s 1971 book, ''Eye on the World'', Arnett reasserted that the quotation was something "one American major said to me in a moment of revelation."<ref>{{cite book|title=Eye on the World|last=Cronkite|first=Walter|year=1971|publisher=Cowles Book Company}}</ref>

Beginning in 1981, Arnett worked for [[CNN]] for 18 years, ending in 1999. During the [[Gulf War]], he became a household name worldwide as the only reporter to have live coverage directly from [[Baghdad]], especially during the first 16 hours. His dramatic reports often were accompanied by the sound of air raid sirens blaring and US bombs exploding in the background. Together with two other CNN journalists, [[Bernard Shaw (journalist)|Bernard Shaw]] and [[John Holliman]], Arnett brought continuous coverage from Baghdad for the 16 initial intense hours of the war (17 January 1991). Although 40 foreign journalists were present at the [[Royal Tulip Al Rasheed Hotel|Al-Rashid Hotel]] in Baghdad at the time, only CNN possessed the means — a private phone line connected to neighboringneighbouring Amman, Jordan — to communicate to the outside world.<ref>{{cite news|last1=McDOUGAL|first1=DENNIS|title=How CNN Won Battle for a Phone Line : Television: A 'four-wire' system allowed the all-news network to achieve a coup in its war coverage from Baghdad.|url=httphttps://articleswww.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-01-25/entertainment/-ca-710_1_all710-news-networkstory.html|access-date=15 May 2016|work=Los Angeles Times|date=25 January 1991}}</ref> CNN broadcast Arnett's extended call live for several hours, with a picture of Arnett as video. Soon the other journalists left Iraq, including the two CNN colleagues, which left Arnett as the sole remaining reporter.

In March 1997, Arnett of [[CNN]] interviewed [[Osama bin Laden]], leader of [[Al-Qaeda]], after Bin Laden declared jihad on the United States. Asked by Arnett, "What are your future plans?", Bin Laden said, "You'll see them and hear about them in the media, God willing"."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/COMMUNITY/12/05/gen.arnett.cnna/|title=Peter Arnett: Osama bin Laden and returning to Afghanistan|access-date=30 November 2009 | work=CNN | date=2001-12-05|archive-date=24 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124090340/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/COMMUNITY/12/05/gen.arnett.cnna/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[{{Cite web |url=http://www.crono911.net/docs/Arnett1997.pdf |title=Arnett interview transcript] |access-date=16 May 2020 |archive-date=9 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609150428/http://www.crono911.net/docs/Arnett1997.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1998, Arnett narrated a report on the joint venture (between CNN and [[Time (magazine)|''Time'']] magazine) programprogramme called ''[[CNN NewsStand|NewsStand]]'', covering "[[Operation Tailwind]]" in Laos in 1970.

The report, titled ''The Valley of Death'', claimed that in 1970, the [[United States Army]] had used [[sarin]], a [[nerve gasagent]], against a group of deserting U.S. soldiers in Laos. The men who allegedly conducted the attack were an elite [[GreenUnited States Army Special BeretsForces|Green Beret]]s A-Team. The report was expressly approved by both CNN Chairman Tom Johnson and CNN President Rick Kaplan. In response, [[the Pentagon]] commissioned another report contradicting that of CNN's. CNN subsequently conducted its own investigation. It concluded that the "journalism [in the ''Valley of Death''] was flawed" and retracted the story. While all 12 men of the Green Beret A-Team were wounded in action during Operation Tailwind, no sarin was involved.

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 (magazine)|National Geographic]]'' all severed their relationships with Arnett.<ref name="nationalgeographic">{{cite web |date=31 March 2003|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/03/0331_030331_arnettfired.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030411132314/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/03/0331_030331_arnettfired.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 April 2003|title=National Geographic Fires Peter Arnett|publisher=National Geographic News |access-date=12 September 2007}}</ref> In response to Arnett's statement on Iraqi TV, NBC stated:

Arnett's interview with Bin Laden in 1997 became the subject of the movie 'A War Story' produced for television. PeterArnett's role was played by John Leigh.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/115235494/a-war-story-kiwi-journalist-plays-secondfiddle-to-osama-bin-laden-in-tvnzs-sunday-theatre | title=A War Story: Kiwi journalist plays second-fiddle to Osama Bin Laden in TVNZ's Sunday Theatre| date=23 August 2019}}</ref>

* {{C-SPAN|Peter Arnett17383}}

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