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Non Gaming Discussions => Off-Topic => Topic started by: videoholic on March 31, 2003, 06:18:04 AM

Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: videoholic on March 31, 2003, 06:18:04 AM
What an idiot.  I liked some of his stuff on National Geographic too.  What a putz.  After the things he said on Iraqi TV about our war not working and that we are having to reinvent our war plan is so ludicrous.  How in the F would Arnett know that we are changing our war plan?  

It looks to me that we are just resupplying and regrouping.  Why should the ground troops go into Baghdad already when the air power is pounding them.

Anyway, he said a ton of other things to that were terribly inapropriate and way off base.  

He was fired from NBC, MSNBC, and NAtional Geographic.  I wonder if he will stay in Baghdad?


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,82656,00.html

http://www.nbc4columbus.com/news/2074832/detail.html
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: GigaShadow on March 31, 2003, 06:23:31 AM
Nice apology too...

Arnett, on NBC\'s Today show on Monday, said he was sorry for his statement but added "I said over the weekend what we all know about the war."
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: videoholic on March 31, 2003, 07:33:44 AM
Telling Iraq that they are doing well and that we are having to rethink our war plan is an awful thing to do.  Even if it were true.
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: GigaShadow on March 31, 2003, 07:39:12 AM
He is getting paid by Saddam.
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: Coredweller on March 31, 2003, 09:21:54 AM
I\'d have to say that all things considered, I probably wouldn\'t have fired him.  I just generally don\'t like the policy of firing someone (or taking other punative measures) because you don\'t like their opinion.  That\'s basically what happened.  Of course that\'s the reality in a world of corporate-owned media, and Arnett should have expected it, but that doesn\'t mean I have to agree with it.
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: videoholic on March 31, 2003, 09:33:29 AM
The guy is an arogant asshole.  He actually thinks that his reports are fueling anti war protests.  What an idiot.

I do like the guy and I normally find him very knowledgable about the middle east, but this was just plain stupid.

You just don\'t say to the enemy, "You guys are doing great.  Keep it up!!  You are obviously doing the right thing because they are having to rework their plan."

I use quotes in jest.
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: GigaShadow on March 31, 2003, 09:39:16 AM
No arguing that he has considerable knowledge of Iraq and the Middle East, but in this case I think he has gone native.
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: Coredweller on March 31, 2003, 09:57:41 AM
Why do you say he\'s arrogant?  Here are his words:

Quote
"Maybe some people think I\'m insane, but I\'m not anti-military," he added. "This is the biggest story of my life."

Asked what the future held for him, Arnett said: "There\'s a small island, inhabited in the South Pacific that I will try to swim to."

"I\'ll leave, I\'m embarrassed," he said.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030331/tv_nm/media_iraq_arnett_dc_3


Doesn\'t sound very arrogant to me.
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: GigaShadow on March 31, 2003, 10:00:49 AM
That part isn\'t, but see my first post in this thread about him being the voice of America so to speak.
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: videoholic on March 31, 2003, 10:11:01 AM
Quote
Originally posted by Coredweller
Why do you say he\'s arrogant?  Here are his words:



Doesn\'t sound very arrogant to me.


You picked a couple quotes where he wasn\'t being arrogant.  You should be a journalist.
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: Coredweller on March 31, 2003, 10:18:49 AM
:)  So show me the other quotes.
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: GigaShadow on March 31, 2003, 10:33:29 AM
Arnett is the Lord Haw Haw of Iraq
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: videoholic on March 31, 2003, 10:56:36 AM
I don\'t have time to look right now, but here is one....

"Our reports about civilian casualties here, about the resistance of the Iraqi forces, are going back to the United States," he said. "It helps those who oppose the war when you challenge the policy to develop their arguments."


Does he really think his reports have any effect on us?
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: mjps21983 on March 31, 2003, 02:25:11 PM
Maybe he can find himself a job at Iraqi tv or Al-Jazeera???
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: Toxical on March 31, 2003, 03:34:28 PM
Free ****ing speech. I could care less what he had to say, but why the **** shouldn\'t he say it?
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: jp6666 on March 31, 2003, 04:01:32 PM
i think its wrong to fire someone over his opinion ..... discrimination
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: Living-In-Clip on March 31, 2003, 05:10:02 PM
Here is a case of you guys wanting to live with things blinded from you. You disagree with what he said - so he is arrogant and should be fired. Yet, you all love this "freedom" of speech thing when it comes in hand..for YOU and people who SHARE YOUR OPINION.
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: Coredweller on March 31, 2003, 06:03:55 PM
Good point L-I-C.

Bottom line:  He was fired because the executive branch didn\'t like his opinion.  The networks have no balls, so they sacked him.  Seriously, this interview didn\'t hurt anyone.  Power supports the First Amendment only when it\'s convenient.
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: Avatarr on March 31, 2003, 06:19:20 PM
I woulda fired his ass for being a smug, attention seeking, arsehole. :)
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: Mr. Kennedy on March 31, 2003, 06:49:07 PM
[nelson]Ha ha[/nelson]

oh man, sucks for him
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: videoholic on March 31, 2003, 07:27:12 PM
The guy single handedly risked the lives of many many soldiers.  If the Iraqi people began feeling like they should surrender because they have no shot, well they have reason to fight now.

Whatever..  This forum lives on giving out false info so no wonder you guys don\'t see my point.
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: Coredweller on March 31, 2003, 08:27:11 PM
Hah ha ha.  Arnett risked soldiers\' lives because he conviced Iraqis that maybe they shouldn\'t give up after all?   I think you overestimate the power of a dorky balding white man.  It\'s just more opinion control.  No one\'s allowed to have an opinion differing from the US Goverment view, not even the Iraqis!  LOL!
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: Event Horizon on March 31, 2003, 09:17:44 PM
He has the right to say what he wants. Nobody will throw him in jail. His bosses have the right to choose whether or not to keep him on the pay roll. Freedom of speech is all well and good, but other people\'s freedom of choice can bite you in the ass at times.
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: mjps21983 on March 31, 2003, 11:45:23 PM
If these people have any doubt in their minds that they could quite possibly stop U.S. and Allied forces(speaking of the freedom fighters or fundamentalist muslims) then yes what he said was wrong and if they believe in a harsh brutal religion that they believe in then who\'s to say that they wouldn\'t believe some bald dorky white guy.
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: videoholic on April 01, 2003, 04:36:05 AM
Quote
Originally posted by Coredweller
Hah ha ha.  Arnett risked soldiers\' lives because he conviced Iraqis that maybe they shouldn\'t give up after all?   I think you overestimate the power of a dorky balding white man.  It\'s just more opinion control.  No one\'s allowed to have an opinion differing from the US Goverment view, not even the Iraqis!  LOL!


You wouldn\'t see the point of a pencil if it was shoved up your ass.  I\'m not saying that he shouldn\'t be allowed to say how he feels.  I\'m saying that what he said on Iraqi TV was wrong to say.  He said that what the Iraqis were doing is working and is making the US rethink their plan.  

That is completely false.  The Iraqis have lost thousands and thousands of men.  This is giving tremendous false hope to the Iraqis.

Imagine if you were living in Iraq and you saw a westerner repeatedly over and over agin on the TV saying that you were doing well in the war.  Follow that up with tons of shots of Saddam that you think are from that day, but are more than likely weeks old.  You then listen to music saying Saddam is wonderful.  I\'m sorry, but these people are certainly going to believe what he is saying and not only that, could rally falsely around what he says.  

The US war effort is based on hoping the Iraqi people take down Baghdad on their own from the inside. There is no way they will do that if they have even the tiniest incling of a notion that we won\'t take Saddam out.


I\'m not at all saying that Peter can\'t say whatever he wants, but I wouldn\'t want him representing my company either.  The guy is an arrogant old fuddy duddy anyway.  If you\'ve seen any of his NG reports you\'d see how much he thinks he is better than all of the other journalists.  He just kisses the Iraqi gov\'t\'s ass the most.  

PS: Sorry about the pencil joke.  :)
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: Coredweller on April 01, 2003, 09:43:26 AM
It\'s not that I don\'t understand your point, it\'s that I don\'t agree with it.  There is a difference.  Constantly harping about people missing your point is a little insulting.

The Iraqis are continuously subjected to propaganda, and if Arnett made any tiny contribution to it by stating the obvious, it was like spit in a river.  He didn\'t say anything that wasn\'t a simple observation any outsider could make.  Oh and by the way, he was right.

If the US war plan depends on the Iraqis revolting agains Saddam, then our military leaders are stupider than I thought they were.  It would be much wiser to assume the worst case scenario, and depend on the Iraqis fighting for every inch of their country.  To expect otherwise is to not respect our enemy, which leads to underestimations and screw-ups.
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: GigaShadow on April 01, 2003, 09:49:07 AM
Um how was he right?  The US changed its war plan?  The battle plan for war is an ever evolving process.  To say there is one plan and it has been changed is ridiculous.  The tactics change day to day based on enemy troop positions and intelligence data.  I find his whole comment ignorant as he has no knowledge of military planning.
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: videoholic on April 01, 2003, 10:00:06 AM
Quote
Originally posted by Coredweller
It\'s not that I don\'t understand your point, it\'s that I don\'t agree with it.  There is a difference.  Constantly harping about people missing your point is a little insulting.

The Iraqis are continuously subjected to propaganda, and if Arnett made any tiny contribution to it by stating the obvious, it was like spit in a river.  He didn\'t say anything that wasn\'t a simple observation any outsider could make.  Oh and by the way, he was right.

If the US war plan depends on the Iraqis revolting agains Saddam, then our military leaders are stupider than I thought they were.  It would be much wiser to assume the worst case scenario, and depend on the Iraqis fighting for every inch of their country.  To expect otherwise is to not respect our enemy, which leads to underestimations and screw-ups.


Well you keep expounding on points I never made so that\'s why I thought you missed my point.  My bad.

And he was right.  The Iraqis are catching the US off gaurd by doing suicide bombings, dressing up like civilians, etc...  Problem is that shit like what happened today will happen more and more.  Innocent civilians are going to get shot up because we don\'t know if they are militant or not.  Although they will probably die anyway cause their military likes to put tanks next to daycares and shit.

And the US war plan doesn\'t depend on the Iraqi\'s revolting.  It would just make this thing end quicker.
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: EmperorRob on April 01, 2003, 03:02:10 PM
he was fired b/c he is only interested in making people turn that channel.  doesn\'t care about the lives of the people he may endanger.  Geraldo is same.  Give both of em a ride on a tomahawk.
Title: Peter Arnett, you are OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Post by: Coredweller on April 01, 2003, 03:23:55 PM
Quote
Originally posted by EmperorRob
he was fired b/c he is only interested in making people turn that channel.  doesn\'t care about the lives of the people he may endanger.  Geraldo is same.  Give both of em a ride on a tomahawk.
I don\'t think you can say that about Arnett; he\'s a pretty boring fellow.  Geraldo on the other hand, well I agree I wouldn\'t mind sending him to do an expose on potential Iraqi bombing targets.