Posted on 04/04/2003 7:28:38 AM PST by SheLion
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Peter Arnett is back on the air from Baghdad.
Latest news: · World Prepares to Feed Iraqis Hit by War Reuters - 3 minutes ago · Schroeder Softens Anti-War Tone, Sees U.S. Victory Reuters - 4 minutes ago · U.S. Mortuary Receives More Iraq War Dead AP - 5 minutes ago Special Coverage
Within days of being fired by the U.S. network NBC, Arnett found an unlikely new audience Thursday: the Dutch-speaking — and hopefully English-comprehending — citizens of 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 for the private Belgian TV network.
VTN said it will have daily reports from one of the world's most famous reporters until the end of the war. Also Thursday, a state-run TV channel in Greece said Arnett would soon be providing nightly dispatches for it, too.
NBC fired Arnett on Monday for giving an unauthorized interview with state-run Iraqi TV, during which Arnett said the American-led war effort had initially failed because of Iraq (news - web sites)'s resistance.
Arnett, who apologized for his "misjudgment," told VTM 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 they did.
"This caused a firestorm in America. I was called a traitor," he said, adding NBC "let me crash and burn."
Arnett, a New Zealander who won a Pulitzer Prize reporting in Vietnam for The Associated Press, gained much of his prominence from covering the 1991 Gulf War (news - web sites) 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 Sunday's interview without permission and presented opinion as fact.
Arnett's reports on VTM will hardly have the global impact of yore. Dutch-speaking Belgium has a population of 6 million and the VTM newscasts have a viewership of about 750,000.
The state-run NET channel in Athens said it will be carrying nightly reports from Arnett, too, though it didn't specify when this would start. His English reports will be translated into Greek for NET's audience, channel executives said.
Arnett is also writing weekly articles for The Daily Mirror of London, a tabloid that has adopted a staunchly anti-war line.
And arrested for treason.
SOMETHING needs to be done about this PUTZ! He must have the Ever Ready Battery. Just keeps on going and going and going. ugh!
NBC was angered because Arnett gave Sunday's interview without permission and presented opinion as fact.
How did NBC feel about Arnett taking credit for shaping anti-war opinion back in the U.S. with false reports about civilian casualties?
Isn't that the place where they stick fingers in dykes?
VTM heeft voor de verslaggeving van de oorlog in Irak een contract afgesloten met de bekende journalist Peter Arnett. 
Bekijk verslag van zijn ontslag (breedband)Bekijk verslag van zijn ontslag (smalband)
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