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Peter
Arnett |
The
images seen and news reported on television matters. Those who control the flow
of information control the minds of the public. This has become acutely apparent
as the war in Iraq moves into its third week. Just ask former NBC and National
Geographic correspondent Peter Arnett. The Pulitzer Prize award-winning
journalist was unceremoniously terminated by NBC after he granted an interview
to Iraqi television in which he simply made some honest and frank analytical
comments about U.S. miscalculations in the war.
But
in the realm of the information war surrounding the current crisis, Arnett's
comments were spun by certain media personalities and other critics to appear
unpatriotic and anti-American.
By
terminating Arnett, NBC sent a clear message that truth is indeed the first
casualty of war. For most Americans, the truth about the war in Iraq is most
assuredly being obscured. Although there has been wall-to-wall, 24-hour coverage
of the conflict, much of that information has been filtered and shaped by the
type reporting that is being done in Iraq.
Most
of the major television news media continue to rely upon so-called embedded
journalists, or embeds, who travel with military units. In exchange for this
frontline privilege, journalists are censored and forced to follow strict
operating procedures that prohibit the actual free flow of information. As
a result, the American public receives visually stunning images of the war along
with certain engaging and heartrending stories of courage and combat; but this
information has been crafted and filtered by the U.S. military to provide the
public with as positive an image of the United States as possible.
The
truth does slip out of Iraq from time to time, however. Occupying all but two
columns above the fold of the April 3, 2003 edition of the Arab News was a
picture of Luis Castro and Victor Silva. The two men are journalists with
Portugal’s RTP television. Unlike many of their American counterparts, they
were in Iraq as independent journalist, not embedded with any military forces.
The price they paid for their independence was quite high, however.
Silva
and Castro entered Iraq close the beginning of the conflict carrying the
requisite Unilateral Journalist credentials that are issued by the military
coalition at Central Command. They proceeded to both Basra and Umm Qasr where
they reported for RTP. However, when they moved northward to the city of Najaf,
they were arrested by U.S. military police. Castro told the Arab News that when
he objected to being detained, he was pushed to the ground and kicked in the
ribs. The two were then held for four days and then were escorted out of the
country by members of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division.
Speaking
to the Arab News, Castro was frank in his assessment of why he was detained.
“I believe the reason we were detained was because we are not embedded with
the U.S. forces,” said Castro. “Embedded journalists are always escorted by
military minders. What they write is controlled and, thought them, the military
feeds its own version of the facts to the world. When independent journalists
such as us come around, we pose a threat because they cannot control what we
write.”
Thankfully,
Castro has not been deterred by his ordeal and intends to reenter Iraq as soon
as possible to “tell the truth to the world about what is happening there.”
Arnett
will also get a reprieve as he has been retained by both Greek and Dutch
television as well as London¹s Daily Mirror tabloid to continue his work in
Iraq.
Most
Americans will not, however, have Arnett’s and Castro’s reporting available
to them, as the fog of the media war will continue to cloud perceptions in the
United States.
