MSNBC's ARNOT SEES IRAQIS ANGRY AT TV COVERAGE, WHO "LOVE" BUSH(TRANSCRIPT)

MRC ^ | Friday, November 14, 2003 11:24:19 | BrentBaker

[fight_truth_decay]

U.S. TV network news about Iraq as distorted as al- Jazeera?
Checking in from Iraq on Wednesday's Hardball with Chris Matthews as part of that show's look this week at "Iraq: The Real Story," Bob Arnot highlighted a Muslim ayatollah in Iraq who "is furious at the press coverage. He says not only American television, but Arabic satellite TV, such as Al-Jazeera and the Abu Dhabi station, have mis-portrayed the great success that is Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein."

Arnot, MRC analyst Geoffrey Dickens noticed, documented how "Iraqis themselves are angrier than the American administration about the barrage of negative stories coming out of Iraq" on Arab television.

The night before, on Tuesday's Hardball, Arnot contrasted the negative TV news image of widespread destruction and disgust for Americans with the reality he sees of Iraqis who "love the Americans and their President for cleaning up their streets, providing clean water, opening the schools." Arnot explained: "The conventional picture you see out here in Iraq is of angry Iraqis jeering at Americans. But we went to a town right in the heart of the Sunni Triangle which easily could have gone just as bad where they love Americans. Helicopters shot from the sky, military vehicles destroyed by roadside bombs, midnight raids on suspected terrorists. For many Americans watching from home, this is the American military's fate in Iraq. But there is another reality."

(On Monday's Hardball, the November 12 CyberAlert recounted, Arnot contradicted the image of chaos in Iraq hyped by the media. Launching Hardball's week-long series, "Iraq: The Real Story," Arnot recounted the challenges faced by troops in hostile areas, but countered the negative image of the Iraqi situation he knows Americans get from TV news. Arnot argued: "The fact is in 85 percent of the country, it's calm, it's stable, it's moving forward." Touring a shopping area, Arnot relayed how, "from what you see on TV from Baghdad you'd think that, with the mortars and rockets, that this was a city under siege." In fact, he contended, "nothing could be further from the truth in many neighborhoods." http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2003/cyb20031112.asp#4

On the November 12 Hardball, Arnot provided a glimpse into how Iraqis view the anti-U.S. bias of Arab TV news:
"This is one of the most beautiful mosques anywhere in the world. It's the main mosque in the holy city of Khadamiya, third most religious city in Iraq. We've been invited here by the ayatollah. Why? He is furious at the press coverage. He says not only American television, but Arabic satellite TV, such as Al- Jazeera and the Abu Dhabi station, have misportrayed the great success that is Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. The people of Khadamiya tell us that the picture painted by Al-Jazeera and other Arab satellite stations is a bleak one of daily death and destruction.

"Khadamiya's leaders are so eager to show Iraq's real story that the ayatollah himself sends his top lieutenant with us, Haji Ali [sp]. He acts as our guide, showing us a city of thriving outdoor markets, mosques and schools. In Khadamiya's main shopping district, business is booming, from sidewalk vendors and vegetable stands, to gold merchants. On the streets, the U.S. Army patrols side by side with Iraqi soldiers, dismounted and at ease. At Khadamiya's central mosque, pilgrims come from all over Iraq, Iran, even Afghanistan, eager to enjoy the religious freedom they were denied for decades. Khadamiya's schools are in session, filled with happy children.

"15-year-old Daham [sp] says TV news reports he watches don't tell the truth."

Daham: "A lot happens good in Iraq when Saddam gone."
Arnot: "So a lot happens good in Iraq."
Daham: "The smile come back in Iraqi kids."
Arnot: "After school, we visit a new radio and TV station run by Shia, an unheard-of freedom under the old regime. At the station, everyone we talked to agrees the Arab media is not telling the truth about what's happening here. And Al-Jazeera tops the list. What do you think of Al-Jazeera?"

[Unidentified Iraqi man starts speaking in Arabic]

Arnot: "In English. In English."
Unidentified man: "I hate them!"
Arnot: "Iraq's new minister of industry and minerals had this theory about Al-Jazeera."
Minister: "Well, I don't know. Probably, they have something against the Americans."
Arnot concluded: "As we've seen, Iraqis themselves are angrier than the American administration about the barrage of negative stories coming out of Iraq, so angry that the ayatollah himself broke the rules and allowed to us come into this, one of the holiest sites in all of Shia Islam, right during the height of Ramadan. Chris, back to you."

The night before, on the November 11 Hardball, Arnot passed along what he saw in Tachi and Horia in the Sunni triangle where he found improvements made my Americans and an appreciation for it by the local Iraqis:

"Children used to drink filthy water from this ditch. Many sick, some dying of dysentery. Now a new pipeline, built by the Americans, brings the village clean water. But it's not all waving children and happy smiles. Colonel Slate lives in one of the most dangerous parts of Iraq. Nearly every night he's attacked, his base hit by mortars. Criminals, Iraqi themselves will soon be tracking down. Better security, clean water, education, more jobs part of a formula Colonel Slate hopes will win the toughest fight of his life."

In a second segment, Arnot found Iraqis who "love" Americans:
"Chris, you know, the conventional picture you see out here in Iraq is of angry Iraqis jeering at Americans. But we went to a town right in the heart of the Sunni Triangle which easily could have gone just as bad where they love Americans. Helicopters shot from the sky, military vehicles destroyed by roadside bombs, midnight raids on suspected terrorists. For many Americans watching from home, this is the American military's fate in Iraq.

But there is another reality." "American G.I.s swarmed by friendly children, who want to speak English and love the Americans and their President for cleaning up their streets, providing clean water, opening the schools. They meet with cooperative village leaders, keeping the banks up and running, and get regular leads on who the bad guys are.

"Meet Captain Gabe Barton, 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, on patrol in Horia [sp], a village just outside Baghdad. His day begins at the local school, where his soldiers are protecting schoolchildren threatened by terrorists, side by side with enthusiastic Iraqi soldiers of the new civil defense corps. At the police station, heavily defended against suicide bombers, he confers with a cordial chief of police, a police force patrolling Horia by themselves, using the U.S. military only as a backup. Next the bank, which his men help Iraqis keep safe enough, that locals deposit their money willingly and where there's never been a run on the bank."

Arnot, over video of Capt. Gabe Barton having discussion with an Iraqi soldier: "That cooperation between American soldiers and Iraqi police has kept Horia's economy up and running."
Barton: "People need to have confidence that, if they deposit their money here, they're gonna be able to come back and get it out."
Arnot: "Back on the streets, these Iraqi army officers are standing post for the first time, a development welcomed by Gabe."
Capt. Barton: "It shows the Iraqi people that we are not here for ourselves. We are not here for other reasons, we are here to help them create a better place to live."
Arnot acknowledged not all is perfect: "Horia is a spectacular success, but there are also bad towns, Abu Ghraib among the worst, called, 'Little Mogadishu,' by G.I.s. Here, 3rd Brigade conducted the largest military operation since the war, with over a dozen Kiowa gunships, M1-A1 tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles, airborne and infantry companies side by side. Hours later, they conduct this nighttime raid in search of a man financing attacks on coalition soldiers. This is more a money guy, is it?"
Barton: "He is involved in the financing and support of the cell that he operates, yes."
Arnot: "So this is who you might call the head of the snake?"
Barton: "Yes."
Arnot: "The combined operations yield a treasure trove of weapons and cash used to finance terrorism. That combination of targeted strikes and community development has turned over 85 percent of this country into an under-reported success. Money is what allows these commanders to basically win hearts and minds. Now, the key source of that, Chris, was something called the Commanders Emergency Relief Fund. Those funds have virtually dried up, leaving commanders without the most important weapon they have in terms of winning hearts and minds and winning this war here in Iraq, Chris."

# Jessica Lynch will be a guest Friday night on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman.

-- Brent Baker

[fight_truth_decay]

Dr. Bob Arnot - Known for his cutting-edge medical and health reporting for over a decade, Dr. Arnot is now NBC’s special foreign corresponden seen regularly on NBC and MSNBC. Arnot has captured the public’s attention with his compelling reports from all fronts on the War on Terrorism. A fluent speaker of Arabic and a student of Arab Studies, Arnot is getting behind the- scenes access unlike any other American journalist covering the war. Often traveling alone in dangerous locations with just his video camera and laptop computer, he is getting to the heart of the story whether reporting from an al Queda stronghold in Pakistan or on a U.S. aircraft carrier on the Persian Gulf.

[hankbrown]

MSNBC must really hate this guy. I am surprised they keep airing his reports, especially on the Chris Matthews show.

[Paradox]

Bob Arnot has been simply heroic, especially considering he works for MSNBC.

[Allan]

SuperBump

[Qwinn]

Bob Arnot -rocks-. He's actually my favorite journalist alive today.

Qwinn

[mewzilla]

He used to work for CBS, if I remember correctly. Wonder if he left or was let go?

[Wright is right!]

Notice that the MAIN network, NBC, is totally ignoring his reports...except to promo them during the evening news. None of the material is making it to the main network.

Michael

[ExpatCanuck]

I had always enjoyed watching his medical reports. I had no idea until recently that he had moved into other areas of journalism. Pray for his safety.

[Coop]

Bump

[Levante]

"Pray for his safety."

AMEN!!!!!

[Ann Archy]

Dr. Bob Anot is THE GREATEST!!!!! What a rennaissance man.....doctor, pilot, and a terrific journalist!! (and a cutie pie).

[upchuck]

As I was reading this I kept thinking, "Gee, this guy needs to work for Fox." But I finally concluded, "No, he's helping our cause a lot more by staying where he is."

Bob Arnot BUMP!

[Allan]

ping

[eleni121]

Bump!

[cars for sale]

Arnot will be a FOX after his contract expires,that is why NBC only plays live Arnot work

[KellyAdmirer]

I hope he has good security, the terrorists don't like this sort of reporting....

[Southack]

[lawgirl]

Neither do the network heads I am sure!!!

[Travis McGee]

JH2, can you mega-ping this one? Thanks.

[fight_truth_decay]

"No, he's helping our cause a lot more by staying where he is."

Agree, Arnot reaches more Liberal ears on MSNBC. However, being in Iraq, the Democrats don not have to worry about him making guest appearances all over the networks spoiling their fun.

[freeangel]

This info is sure to go nowhere.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

"..Bob Arnot -rocks-..." Over to fox, hopefully.

[kidd]

Arnot was one of the embedded journalists. About a week into the fighting, he gave an absolutely Pulitzer-quality report on a local fight and a young couple with a child running for cover.

He is what journalism ought to be.

[Qwinn]

He's doing more good where he is, I think.

Besides, man, I don't get FNC. Leave me -something-... *sob*

Qwinn

[XJarhead]

Arnot was one of the embedded journalists.

Come to think of it, how many of the embedded journalists were negative? Letting those guys get close with our troops and seeing reality for themselves was one of the best ideas anyone has had in government for a long time. Simply brilliant.

[Toespi]

Absolutely the truth! There are still plenty of areas in the US that do not get Fox!

[talleyman]

Mega-Bump!

[kevao]

The last three hotels I've stayed at didn't have Fox News. MSNBC, yes. CNN, yes. CNBC, yes. But not Fox News!

The most recent hotel was right in Manhattan's Financial District. Three nights without Fox News, with the Fox studio just up the street. Frustrating.

[PISANO]

MSNBC's Arnot.........

He does a very good job and he truly is an UNBIASED reporter showing both sides of the IRAQ situation. The PROBLEM is that ONLY about 500,000 people watch the programs in which his reporting is featured. Just too few to make a difference considering the major news networks have 20 million viewers.

[Wild Irish Rogue]

" Arnot contrasted the negative TV news image of widespread destruction and disgust for Americans with the reality he sees of Iraqis .."

Last weekend on Fox,Bob Newman,ex Marine and author of "Guerillas in the Mist", voiced my feelings.He said that the purposefully negative media coverage and the anti mission,anti military comments by the "politicians" ( read Democrats and Chuck Hagel) are tantamount to aiding and abetting. The terrorists have access to our news coverage and relish anything negative about Iraq.The hysterically negative coverage and DNC talking points, gives them encouragement to continue planting their IEDs and shooting their RPGs into American patrols. It could make a big difference,if the Democrats and the media became outraged at the killing of our guys by these bastards and actually stood with the Commander in Chief and the troops. Instead they rush to the microphone to condemn Bush,the military planners who "never gave a thought to post war Iraq ", Rumsfeld,etc. Never once do they denounce the terrorists. Never once.

[Scenic Sounds]

Arnot argued: "The fact is in 85 percent of the country, it's calm, it's stable, it's moving forward." Touring a shopping area, Arnot relayed how, "from what you see on TV from Baghdad you'd think that, with the mortars and rockets, that this was a city under siege." In fact, he contended, "nothing could be further from the truth in many neighborhoods."

Obviously, there's a lot of truth in what he's saying. Of course, pretty much the same can be said for domestic news coverage.

Do you think that even FoxNews would be willing to broadcast mostly peaceful images of Iraq on its news shows?

[agrace]

For your archives.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Thank you. This is important, and so welcome...dang, me without kleenex again.

Hardball? Bless Dr. Bob Arnot. In the middle of the quagmire, as the media gave us rent-a-Baathists raising weapons in anger at the American troops as our heroes marched to Baghdad, Dr. Bob helped save an Iraqi mother and children from other "angry Ba'athist victims ~ favorite interview subjects of anti-American media" ~ and showed the world who the real heroes were.

---

"15-year-old Daham [sp] says TV news reports he watches don't tell the truth."

Daham: "A lot happens good in Iraq when Saddam gone."
Arnot: "So a lot happens good in Iraq."
Daham: "The smile come back in Iraqi kids."
Arnot: "After school, we visit a new radio and TV station run by Shia, an unheard-of freedom under the old regime. At the station, everyone we talked to agrees the Arab media is not telling the truth about what's happening here. And Al-Jazeera tops the list. What do you think of Al-Jazeera?"

[Unidentified Iraqi man starts speaking in Arabic]

Arnot: "In English. In English."
Unidentified man: "I hate them!"

[FairOpinion]

Thanks for the ping. Great article -- nice to see the truth told.

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[Calpernia]

BTTT!!!!

[blackie]

Bump for the truth!

[ravingnutter]

Just love his name...when they announce him on TV before his report and say "Bob Arnot in Baghdad", I immediately reply "Are Too!". Doesn't take much to amuse me... :)

[Consort]

I am surprised they keep airing his reports, especially on the Chris Matthews show.

Matthews has shown Arnot's positive reports but the rest of his broadcasts were often filled with negativity about Iraq.

[betty boop]

Thanks for the fine post, and the Arnot biography, fight_truth_decay. The bio didn't mention that Dr. Arnot is a former trumpet student of my father-in-law. I understand Arnot still plays his ax from time to time....

[Positive]

Biography

Dr. Bob Arnot is one of the most recognized names in the medical and health professions. Formerly NBC Chief Medical Editor, Arnot has just been named NBC Special Foreign Correspondent. In this new capacity he will be reporting from the front lines on any and all major foreign developments. Recently on duty covering the War on Terrorism, Arnot has returned from Pakistan and Somalia and is now seen frequently on the NBC News network broadcasts, including MSNBC and CNBC.

Priorto joining NBC in December 1996, Dr. Arnot was health correspondent for the CBS Evening News and CBS This Morning. He is also a veteran foreign correspondent, having covered the Gulf War, the Rwandan genocide, and civil wars in Burundi, the Congo, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, Mozambique, Uganda, and Kosovo. He has covered epidemic disease from Ebola in Central Africa and AIDS in Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Malawi to Cholera in Bangladesh, Somalia, and Turkey. Partly because of his undergraduate degree in Islamic Studies, he was reporting from Pakistan prior to the U.S. retaliation to the September 11th terrorist attacks. He is also reporting extensively on the threat of biological and chemical attacks and the anthrax scare that has gripped the nation.

He plays an active role in international relief and serves on the Board of Directors of Save The Children and the U.N. high Commission for refugees (USA). He is a veteran 6,000-hour pilot and has covered air disasters including that of JFK Jr., Egyptair, Alaska Air, and the Concorde.

He won the Dupont Award for its insider's look at the use and abuse of crack (48 Hours on Crack Street) and the Overseas Press Club award for NBC’s team coverage of the floods in Mozambique.

A native of Boston, Massachusetts, Dr. Bob received a bachelor of medical science degree from Dartmouth College in 1972 and a medical degree from McGill University in Montreal in 1974.

He began his medical career as the founder and chief of the Lake Placid Sports Medical Center, where he not only served as administrator, but also as the physician for the 1977-80 U.S. Ski Team and the 1980 Winter Olympic Games. He continues as an active member of the U.S. Ski Team Board of Directors.

From 1980 to 1984, Dr. Bob served as national medical director of the National Emergency Service, where he was responsible for the education and quality control of 2,500 physicians in 116 hospitals across the country and for the planning and implementation of emergency services.

A successful author, Dr. Arnot has published eight books: Sports Selection (1985), a comprehensive sports science book; The Best Medicine (1992), a book which gives concrete, practical advice on how to receive the best medical treatment possible; Dr. Bob Arnot's Guide to Turning Back the Clock (1995), a complete fitness program for men featuring nutrition, sports and exercise; Dr. Bob Arnot’s Revolutionary Weight Control Program (1997), a groundbreaking step-by step diet program; The Breast Cancer Prevention Diet (1998), The Biology of Success (2000), a book which focuses on the role that positive mental energy plays in living a successful and satisfying life, The Prostate Cancer Protection Plan (2000), and the Healthy Breast Cook Book (2001), and Wear and Tear: Stop the Pain and Put the Spring Back in your Body (2002).

A veteran lecturer, he has spoken before business organizations and conventions, colleges, sports groups, and community hospitals from Massachusetts to Florida, to California and Hawaii. Giving a motivational speech or discussing the threat of biological warfare, Dr. Bob captivates audiences with intelligence, energy, and charm. His medical career is one that has set standards, changed accepted ideas, and created a greater ability to understand our own physical being.

[Eva]

Bob Arnot is not just heroic, he's a real cutie. I wonder how I've missed him. I am going to have to tune in to MSNBC.

[Paradox]

Bob Arnot is not just heroic, he's a real cutie. I wonder how I've missed him. I am going to have to tune in to MSNBC.

LOL. MSNBC has a few male "cuties" as you put it, the late David Bloom was a cutie (if I may say so, my wife agreed anyways......)..

[Aquinasfan]

Thanks for "the rest of the story."

[GOPJ]

Good news bump. Arnot might be worth watching...

[SW6906]

"The last three hotels I've stayed at didn't have Fox News. MSNBC, yes. CNN, yes. CNBC, yes. But not Fox News!

The most recent hotel was right in Manhattan's Financial District. Three nights without Fox News, with the Fox studio just up the street. Frustrating."

Yes, but did you complain? Things aren't going to change unless your complaints are heard. Threaten to take your money to the hotel that does have Fox!

[kevao]

Yes, but did you complain?

Just imagine, no Fox News. Damn right, I complained!

[MissAmericanPie]

I never thought MSNBC would allow this kind of coverage to air. Wish we were seeing more of it on Fox instead of fluff pieces.

[Spok]

Any journalist, especially one who is associated with any organization which contains the letters NBC, who admits that there are ANY Iraq's who like GWB, is in serious career trouble. I suspect he'll be nominated for the Bernie Goldberg Concrete Overshoes Award this year.

I don't know what makes me more angry-when the press spews its liberal nonsense as news, or when it pretends that it doesn't.

[Dog]

MSNBC has been showing some awesome video from Bob Arnot this afternoon....he is nearby as a AC-130 gunship is wiping out a bunch of the bad guys holed up in a building.