Arnett Back on the Air From Baghdad

Associated Press | Thursday, April 3, 2003 | By RAF CASERT

[JohnHuang2]

Arnett Back on the Air From Baghdad

By RAF CASERT .c The Associated Press

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - Peter Arnett is back on the air from Baghdad.

Only days after he was fired by the U.S. network NBC, Arnett found an unlikely new audience Thursday - the Dutch-speaking population from northern Belgium.

``Thanks Peter Arnett, we are proud to have you on our team,'' said VTM news anchor Dany Verstraeten after Arnett finished his first report from the Iraqi capital.

The private network announced it will have daily reports from one of the world's most famous reporters until the end of the war.

Arnett was fired by NBC on Monday for giving an unauthorized interview with state-run Iraqi TV saying the American-led war effort initially failed because of Iraq's resistance.

Arnett apologized for his ``misjudgment'' but told VTM in his first report that he was a ``casualty of the information war.''

``There are two wars taking place, Dany. You have the war of bullets and bombs, then you have the information war,'' he said.

He complained he was making ``just obvious statements'' about the war that should not have backfired the way it did.

``This caused a firestorm in America. I was called a traitor,'' he said, adding NBC ``left me crash and burn'' by firing him.

Arnett, who won a Pulitzer Prize reporting in Vietnam for The Associated Press, gained much of his prominence from covering the 1991 Gulf War for CNN. One of the few American television reporters left in Baghdad, his reports were frequently aired on NBC and its cable sisters, MSNBC and CNBC.

NBC was angered because Arnett gave the interview Sunday without permission and presented opinion as fact.

VTM said that, so far, it was the only broadcaster to have contract with him. His reports will hardly have the global impact of yore. Dutch-speaking Belgium has a population of six million and the VTM newscasts have a viewership of about 750,000.

Arnett is also working as a contributor for the British tabloid The Daily Mirror.

[JohnHuang2]

Thursday, April 3, 2003

Quote of the Day by Brett66

[Billthedrill]

So, uh, hey, Pete, welcome back, been awhile - how's that failed war plan going?

[UCFRoadWarrior]

Belguim is another douche-bag country...especially trying to indict Israel for war-crimes even though Israel didnt commit war-crimes and they werent in Belguim.

Sounds like one spinchter-banger deserves another......maybe Belguim will hide Arnett from US authorities seeking his arrest for treason

[michigander]

Did he find batboy yet?

[clamper1797]

I wonder if we can spare just one cruise missle ... preferably one with a "malfunctioning" guidence system :<)

[Grampa Dave]

Belgium = French Lite

[rolling_stone]

Arnett apologized for his ``misjudgment'' but told VTM in his first report that he was a ``casualty of the information war.''

``There are two wars taking place, Dany. You have the war of bullets and bombs, then you have the information war,'' he said.

Well he already lost the information war,maybe he will loose the the war of bullets & bombs....I wouldn't even spit on his grave, because I don't like to stand in long lines...

[MP5]

Can we get some coordinates please?

[jnarcus]

Yeah...Arnett and the Iraqi minister of information who keeps saying they are trapped they are not near Baghdad don't believe them don't believe them

[dighton]

I wonder if we can spare just one cruise missle ... preferably one with a "malfunctioning" guidence system :<)

Not until he's in the same room with Fisk.

[tophat9000]

Peter Arnett is in Dutch …that an understatement

[garyhope]

He still doesn't think he's done anything wrong. The left is unbelievable. If truth came up and bit em on the a$$, they still wouldn't believe it.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Lucky Peter. He won't need his US citizenship and passport any lnger. He can call Belgium home.

[thoughtomator]

I don't see how Arnett gets out of Baghdad alive. If the airstrikes don't kill him, and the Iraqi regime doesn't kill him, and the US Marines don't kill him, and the US Army doesn't kill him, and the Brits don't kill him, and the Aussies don't kill him, and the Poles don't kill him, the residents of the city will.

(My bet is that the Aussies get him.)

[TRY ONE]

"``Thanks Peter Arnett, we are proud to have you on our team,'' said the Dutch-speaking population from northern Belgium."

Well, well, the Dutch found their Peter; if only the French
and the Democrats could find one ----

[browardchad]

Brussels has the highest Muslim birthrate of any European city -- Arnett should suit them just fine.

[Ichneumon]

``There are two wars taking place, Dany. You have the war of bullets and bombs, then you have the information war,'' he said.

What Arnett still doesn't get is that he was fighting the "information war" on the wrong side.

[Allegra]

I wonder if we can spare just one cruise missle ... preferably one with a "malfunctioning" guidence system :<)

You were thinking the same thing I was. Brussels (mushroom cloud) Sprouts, anyone?

[Grampa Dave]

They hate America and love Islamofacist despots like Soddamned.

You are correct. The little French Lite prigs of Belgium and Arnett will get along just great.

[aristeides]

According to Drudge, Arnett has also been hired by Greek state television.