Peter Arnett (born November 13, 1934 in Riverton, New Zealand) is a New Zealand-American journalist. Arnett worked for National Geographic magazine, and later for various television networks, mosty notably CNN. 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. November 13 is the 317th day of the year (318th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 48 days remaining. ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Riverton is a small town at the bottom of the South Island of New Zealand. ... A New Zealand-American is any of the following: An American citizen or a person born in the United States of America who is: born in New Zealand has New Zealand ancestry New Zealand Americans include: Peter Arnett - TV Presenter William Hayward Pickering - NASA chief ... Journalism is a discipline of collecting, analyzing, verifying, and presenting information regarding current events, trends, issues and people. ... The National Geographic Society was founded in the USA on January 27, 1888, by 33 men interested in organizing a society for the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge. ... The Cable News Network, commonly known as CNN, is a cable television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. ... The United States detonated an atomic bomb over Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines Democratic Republic of Vietnam National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam People’s Republic of China Commanders William Westmoreland Ho Chi Minh Strength ~1,200,000 (1968) ~520,000 (1968) Casualties South Vietnamese dead... Combatants UN Coalition Republic of Iraq Commanders Norman Schwarzkopf, Sir Patrick Hine, Michel Roquejeoffre Saddam Hussein, Ali Hassan al-Majid, Hussein Kamel Strength 660,000 545,000 Casualties 345 dead, 1,000 wounded 25,000 - 100,000 dead, 100,000 - 300,000 wounded The 1991 Gulf War (also called the... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... The gold medal awarded for Public Service in Journalism The Pulitzer Prize is an American award regarded as the highest honor in print journalism, literary achievements, and musical compositions. ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Associated Press logo Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ...

In 1994, Arnett wrote Live from the Battlefield: From Vietnam to Baghdad, 35 Years in the World's War Zones. 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ...

Vietnam

Some of Arnett's early days in journalism were in Southeast Asia, particularly Bangkok. Eventually he made his way to Vietnam where he was a reporter for the Associated Press. He hung out with the AP core in their office, which was also a crash pad for journalists soldiers and miscellaneous others. Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... The Bangkok Skytrain at sunset on Thanon Narathiwat Ratcha Nakharin with Empire Tower at the back. ... Associated Press logo Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ...

He went on dozens of missions with troops, including the traumatic battle of Hill 875 in which a group of soldiers went to try to rescue another group of soldiers that was stranded in hostile territory. They themselves were nearly killed during the rescue. In September 1972 he accompanied a group of U.S. peace activists, including William Sloane Coffin and David Dellinger, to Hanoi, North Vietnam bring three prisoners of war back to the United States. Rev. ... David Dellinger after his arrest for failing to report for his World War II draft physical David Dellinger (August 22, 1915 – May 25, 2004) was a renowned pacifist and activist for nonviolent social change, and one of most influential American radicals in 20th century. ... Hanoi (Vietnamese: Hà Nội), estimated population 3,083,800 (2004), is the capital of Vietnam and was the capital of North Vietnam from 1954 to 1976. ... The Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRVN), or less commonly, Vietnamese Democratic Republic (Vietnamese: Việt Nam Dân Chủ Cộng Hòa), also known as North Vietnam, was proclaimed by Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi, September 2nd1945 and was recognized by the Peoples Republic of China and the... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ...

Arnett got into trouble for trying to report the stories of ordinary soldiers and civilians in his writing in an unvarnished, which often was perceived as negative, manner. General William Westmoreland and president Lyndon B. Johnson and other people in power had battles with the AP over trying to get Arnett removed from his assignment. General William Westmoreland William Childs Westmoreland (March 26, 1914 – July 18, 2005) was a U.S. Army General who commanded American military operations in the Vietnam War at its peak from 1964 to 1968 and who served as US Army Chief of Staff from 1968 to 1972. ... Lyndon Baines Johnson (August 27, 1908 – January 22, 1973), often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States (1963–1969). ... Associated Press logo Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ...

Arnett was one of the last reporters in Saigon after its fall to the NVA, and met with NVA soldiers who showed him how they had come into the city.

The Gulf War

Arnett worked for CNN for 18 years ending in 1999. During the Gulf War he became a household name worldwide when he became the only reporter with live coverage directly from Baghdad. His dramatic reports were often given with air raid sirens blaring and the sound of Baghdad bomb explosions in the background. Together with two other CNN journalists, Bernard Shaw and John Holliman, Arnett brought continuous coverage from Baghdad for the 16 initial intense hours of the war (January 17, 1991). Even though 40 foreign journalists were present at the Al-Rashid Hotel in Baghdad at the time, only CNN possessed the means to communicate to the outside world. Very soon the other journalists left Iraq, including the two CNN colleagues, which left Peter Arnett as the sole reporter remaining there. His reports on civilian damages caused by the bombing were not received well by the coalition war administration, who by their constant use of terms like smart bombs and surgical precision had tried to project an image that civilian casualties would be at a minimum. On January 25 the White House claimed that Arnett was being used as a tool for Iraqi disinformation and CNN received a letter from 34 Members of Congress accusing Arnett of "unpatriotic journalism". The Cable News Network, commonly known as CNN, is a cable television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Bernard Shaw (born May 22, 1940 in Chicago, Illinois) was a leading news anchor for the Cable News Network from 1980 to his retirement in 2001. ... January 17 is the 17th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Al-Rashid Hotel is an 18-story hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, favored by journalists and media personnel. ... January 25 is the 25th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The southern side of the White House The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States of America. ... The Cable News Network, commonly known as CNN, is a cable television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. ... A congress is a gathering of people, especially a gathering for a political purpose. ...

The week after that start of the war, Arnett was able to obtain an uncensored interview with Saddam Hussein. Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti, (Arabic: ), (born April 28, 1937 ), was the President of Iraq from 1979 until the United States-led invasion of Iraq reached Baghdad on April 9, 2003. ...

The Gulf War became the first war seen truly live on TV, and Arnett was in many ways the sole player reporting from the "other side" for a period of five weeks.

In March 1997, Arnett was able to interview Osama bin Laden, as the first Western journalist to do so. 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Osama bin Muhammad bin Awad bin Laden (Arabic: ‎; born March 10, 1957 [1]), most commonly known as Osama bin Laden is a militant Islamist and also the founder of al-Qaeda. ...

The baby milk factory controversy

One of Arnett's most controversial reports during the Gulf War was a report on how the coalition had bombed a baby milk factory. Shortly after the report, an Air Force spokesman stated "Numerous sources have indicated that [the factory] is associated with biological warfare production". Later that day, Colin Powell stated "It was a biological weapons facility, of that we are sure". White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater stated "That factory is, in fact, a production facility for biological weapons," and "The Iraqis have hidden this facility behind a facade of baby-milk production as a form of disinformation." The image of a crudely-made hand-painted sign reading "Baby Milk" in English and Arabic in front of the factory, and a lab coat dressed in a suit containing stitched lettering reading "BABY MILK PLANT IRAQ" only served to further the perception that purportedly civilian targets were simply being made to look like that by Saddam Hussein, and that Arnett was duped by the Iraqi government. The sign appeared to have been added by the Iraqis before the camera crews arrived as a cheap publicity ploy. Newsweek called the incident a "ham-handed attempt to depict a bombed-out biological-weapons plant near Baghdad as a baby-formula factory." General Colin Luther Powell, United States Army (Ret. ... Max Marlin Fitzwater (born November 24, 1942) was White House Press Secretary for six years under presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, making him one of the longest-serving press secretaries in history. ... Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti, (Arabic: ), (born April 28, 1937 ), was the President of Iraq from 1979 until the United States-led invasion of Iraq reached Baghdad on April 9, 2003. ... The Newsweek logo Newsweek is a weekly news magazine published in New York City and distributed throughout the United States and internationally. ...

Arnett remained firm. He had toured the plant in the previous August, and was insistent that "Whatever else it did, it did produce infant formula". Described as being a veritable fortress by the Pentagon, Arnett reported seeing only one guard at the gate and a lot of powdered baby milk, stating "That's as much as I could tell you about it," he added carefully. "It looked innocent enough from what we could see.".

A CNN camera crew had been invited to tour this plant in August [1990]. They videotaped workers wearing new uniforms with lettering in English reading, "Iraq Baby Milk Plant." The correspondent, Richard Roth, was suspicious at that time and expressed doubts about the authenticity of the plant when he aired his report. Arnett expressed no such suspicions. RICHARD ROTH is a CNN correspondent who covers the United Nations and is the host of Diplomatic License, CNNs global program devoted to United Nations affairs. ...

Interviewed later, Michel Wery, the plant's French contractor who helped build it, gave an interview in which he stated that the plant was producing solely baby milk when it started up in 1979, and was not equipped to breed pathogens. The plant closed in 1980, he said, when the last French technicians working for his company left Baghdad. No one from Wery’s company has been back since then. Wery said he had heard that production had restarted after the United Nations embargo put in place in the fall of 1991, but he doubted whether that was possible after a 10-year lull. Two dairy technicians had been in the plant at least four times since to make repairs; one stated that, during a visit in May 1990, said that it was all normal dairy equipment and that the plant was actually canning milk powder. The suspicious uniform stitching was actually part of the original uniforms supplied by the French, and in fact the footage showing the uniforms was shot in August, 1990. 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Part of the problem in reconciling the various U.S. and foreign accounts is that administration officials said they were constrained by security considerations from revealing exactly how they knew about the plant. At the same time, the New Zealand technicians and the French builder were not at the plant after May and cannot be certain of what happened after their departure.

White House reports diverged at this time. One official claimed that the plant was converted in 1990. Another claimed that it was a "backup" bioweapons facility, which had not yet been converted. A third said that it was not a bioweapons facility, but that it was used to make items crucial to bioweapons research; all three claimed insider information. In a confidential memo from December 1992, a State Department employee discussed the issue of the plant and reported that there were no hidden chambers or inappropriate machinery, and that it appeared to be a perfectly normal factory for producing powdered milk.

The Iraqi “Baby Milk Factory” camouflaged on the right

The plant had undergone security modifications since May 1990. Amongst these were camouflage paint on all buildings in the complex, a security fence, and the positioning of two SA-2 Surface to air missile batteries. In addition, the Iraqis had claimed that they were getting powdered milk for the plant from Nestlé, but Nestlé said that was false. They said they had supplied no products to this plant. File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... An S-75 missile on camoflaged launcher An S-75 missile in elevated position An North Vietnamese S-75 site An S-75 missile in transit A Fan Song radar (left) and what looks like a Low Blow to the right The SA-2 Guideline is the NATO reporting name... This article is about the company. ...

Colin Powell gave the president a briefing a week before the plant was bombed. Powell told President Bush that intelligence based from agents inside Iraq stated that the Iraqis had altered the plant into a biological weapons plant. General Colin Luther Powell, United States Army (Ret. ...

Operation Tailwind

In 1998 Arnett narrated a joint venture between CNN and Time Magazine called NewsStand, which described what he called "Operation Tailwind." The report said that the US Army had used Sarin against a group of deserting US soldiers in Laos in 1970. In response, The Pentagon commissioned another report contradicting CNN's. CNN subsequently retracted the story after conducting an internal investigation, and a number of the persons responsible for the report were fired or forced to resign. Arnett was reprimanded by his employer, and his contract was not renewed. 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... The Cable News Network, commonly known as CNN, is a cable television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. ... (Clockwise from upper left) Time magazine covers from May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ... Operation Tailwind was an alleged covert incursion into Laos by the United States Army in September of 1970 during the Vietnam War. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Sarin or GB (O-Isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate) is an extremely toxic substance. ... A soldier is a person who serves in an armed force for pay. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located at 48 N. Rotary Road, Arlington, Virginia 22211 (Map). ...

High definition TV pioneer

In December 2001 and January 2002, Arnett broadcast exclusive high definition television reports from Afghanistan of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan for the then new HDNet network. High-definition television (HDTV) means broadcast of television signals with a higher resolution than traditional formats (NTSC, SECAM, PAL) allow. ... Combatants al-Qaeda, Taliban Northern Alliance, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, New Zealand, Italy, Germany Commanders Mohammed Omar Osama bin Laden Tommy Franks Mohammed Fahim Strength Casualties {{{notes}}} The United States invasion of Afghanistan occurred in October 2001, in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on... HDNet is a high-definition television channel broadcasting in the United States. ...

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." NBC, (Formerly an acronym for the National Broadcasting Company until 2004), is an American television and radio network based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... The National Geographic Society was founded in the USA on January 27, 1888, by 33 men interested in organizing a society for the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Combatants Coalition Forces: United States United Kingdom Poland Australia South Korea Romania Spain Portugal Italy others. ... March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (91st in Leap years), with 275 days remaining. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Combatants Coalition Forces: United States United Kingdom Poland Australia South Korea Romania Spain Portugal Italy others. ...

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. The current version of the article or section reads like an advertisement. ... The National Geographic Society was founded in the USA on January 27, 1888, by 33 men interested in organizing a society for the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge. ...

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." A corporation is a legal person which, while being composed of natural persons, exists completely separately from them. ... Braun HF 1, Germany, 1958. ...

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. Newspaper sizes in August 2005. ... Alternate newspaper: The Daily Mirror (Australia) The Daily Mirror is a popular British tabloid daily newspaper. ... VTM or Vlaamse Televisie Maatschappij is the main commercial television station in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking north of Belgium. ...

Quotes

• Arnett quoting a U.S. army officer in Vietnam, when asked about the background for the use of much heavy artillery against a small village.

"We had to destroy the village in order to save it."

(A number of researchers and observers, including prof. Victor Davis Hanson and Mona Charen, believes this quote is a fabrication of Arnett's. Arnett has refused to say anything about which officer he allegedly quoted. They have further pointed out that the village in question (Ben Tre) was destroyed by hostile Vietnamese forces rather than US forces.) American historian Victor Davis Hanson on C-SPAN Victor Davis Hanson (born September 5, 1953 in Fowler, California) is an American military historian and political essayist of Swedish descent, best known as a scholar of ancient warfare as well as a commentator on modern warfare. ... Mona Charen is a nationally syndicated columnist, political analyst and a best selling author of two books Useful Idiots: How Liberals Got it Wrong in the Cold War and Still Blame America First (2003), and Do-Gooders: How Liberals Harm Those They Claim to Help — and the Rest of Us... see Ben Tre Province ...

• When asking Saddam Hussein if he realized he had made a mistake by not withdrawing from Kuwait at the insistence of the coalition, Saddam answered:

"I don't care of the consequences, Allah is beside me in this struggle."

• When asked what he intended to do after being fired from NBC in 2003:

"There's a small island, inhabited in the South Pacific, that I will try to swim to."

• After being fired, Arnett wrote in the Daily Mirror, lampooning the Bush Administration's IRAQ strategy:

"I am still in shock and awe at being fired."

View of the Pacific Ocean from Oregon. ...

Trivia

• Arnett's daughter, Elsa, is married to conservative law professor John Yoo.
• The Journalism School at the Southern Institute of Technology is named after him.

Conservatism or political conservatism is any of several historically related political philosophies or political ideologies. ... See also Wikipedias Law Portal. ... John Yoo is a professor of law at the University of California, Berkeley (Boalt Hall), and is best known for his work from 2001 to 2003 in the United States Justice Departments Office of Legal Counsel. ... The Southern Institute of Technology is the most well recognized Tertiary Education Institution of the province of Southland, New Zealand. ...

External links

• CNN interview with Arnett, looking back at Operation Desert Storm
• Arnett on his Osama bin Laden interview
• National Geographic Fires Peter Arnett
• CNN transcript of Arnett's controversial remarks made in 2003
• Try Arnett for treason, senator says - article in the Cincinnati Enquirer
• Fired CNN journalist on dismissal of Arnett
• FAIR: CNN's "Tailwind" and Selective Media Retractions
• Mona Charen on the provenance of "We had to destroy the village in order to save it"