European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 28, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Peter Arnett the ultimate War correspondent by Ken Ringle ,. Washington Post to appreciate Peter Arnett you have to remember not just that the can correspondent. Was one of a Small contingent of reporters in Baghdad when the bombs began to fall or that he is the last Western reporter in the capital today. What you have to remember is that while the bombs were falling and the explosions thundering and the flak flying and others were diving for cover Arnett was the one standing up. Arguing with the iraqi trying to get in the door. Arnett was the one laughing a a a Quot of course he stayed in Baghdad Quot said George Esper an associated press colleague who was with Arnett during the fall of Saigon. Quot he s the ultimate War correspondent a where else would he be Quot. A. A. A i remember him messaging me in new York that Day in. 1975 that the Viet Cong had just walked into the Bureau with him Quot remembers the former a foreign editor Nate. Polowetzky. Quot i told him to pull the plug and get out of there. He told me in effect to go screw a a a a a a a a can t Arnett get enough of War was t 13 years a and a pulitzer prize a in Vietnam enough Wasny to Nicaragua. Enough and Al Salvador was t Afghanistan for nearly 30 years the Pride of Waiyaki College in Oamaru new zealand has been dodging bullets in the War Corners of the world eyewitness to Slaughter and salvation chronicler of the killing Fields. No major figure in journalism has been taking so Many risks for so Long. He was thrown out of Indonesia by one government in 1962 Many believe him the inspiration for the film the year a of living. Dangerously and beaten up in Moscow by. A a a a a a a ��.-. Map. Can correspondent Peter Arnett is the last Western reporter in Baghdad. Another in 1987,. A. A a a a a a a a a a Quot in Vietnam Quot remembers lbs correspondent Terry. Smith Quot if you Ever got caught up in a firefight and Arnett Wasny to already there he would be along the difference these Days is that while most of his. Younger Vietnam colleagues have moved on to More restful Fields like editing Book writing and speech making Arnett who s pushing 60, is still out there on the ragged Edge. Quot How can he ? How Many bombs and bullets has he seen Quot said Smith. Quot my guess is he still gets that Rush from combat. Nothing else gives him that adrenaline. You could see it that first night on television in Baghdad in the Middle of it he laughed and Bernie Shaw said no this is serious Quot and Arnett said you done to understand. That s nervous a a. A a a the was scared a said the author. Neil Sheehan another. Arnett Friend from Vietnam. Quot he was the Only person in that. Room who understood the True danger they were in. How easy it would be for one of the planes to hit that hotel John a Holliman said maybe should smash the Light and Peter said it does t matter Bernie Shaw said a we could Pray for. Fog and Peter said it wont do any Good a he was the. Only. One who understood what was really going Arnett said Esper Quot is totally dedicated to being an eyewitness Quot in times of violence and danger he just can t. Quot a sit Back and take somebody s word for what happened. He has to be a yet those who know him insist Arnett is no daredevil nor they say does he nurse any Sod of death wish. Quot he a. Actually a very careful Guy. A said Sheehan. He weighs the a a. A. In the new age journalism of blow in ers. And. Style my mousse toward which much of to news was Drifting in the 1980s Peter Arnett is a major throwback a balding wiry fellow maybe 5 feet 8. For whom reality has always been More important than appearance. He spent most of his life As a print journalist a tireless driven reporter whose eloquent ironic compelling stones a from Vietnam Iii fenced a generation. If Sheehan and David a Halberstam in the new York times influenced the United Quot states policy makers in those Days it was Arnett with his y \ wide readership in the ,.who wrote for Middle America ,. It was Arnett in 1988, who most famous line of the War a the one that More than any other seemed to sum up the tragedy of Vietnam. it was in the Mekong Delta Quot remembers Esper. Quot Peter asked an american adviser Why he had used so much firepower Quot on the Village of Centre. Quot it had blown away the marketplace and killed All these civilians. And the officer told him it was necessary to destroy the Village in order to save a Vyvy y a Esper believes Arnett was Quot just born with the particular. Instincts of a War correspondent. He sees and experiences. The same things others do but he a somehow Able to focus them i remember once he was covering an infantry action with some other reporters and the others wrote great. V Pete William Pentagon s Man in the Middle by Lois Romano Washington Post. Ete Williams chief Pentagon spokesman and. Iff primary link with a desperate Media corps looked remarkably As i he just stepped out of a the pages of go on the third evening of War. His banker a Gray suit showed no signs of the Marathon meetings and phone Calls he had endured with Dick. Quot Cheney Colin Powell Marlin in saudi Arabia and the first editors to Challenge the so. Called Pentagon a censorship Quot rules a a y a his Crisp White shirt bore no witness to the dozens of a reporters who had accosted him hungry for any scraps of. Information and the perfect placement of every Brown Quot hair on his. Head did nothing to suggest two nights of. A napping on his office . A a a actually a he conceded with a sheepish Grin Quot i went Home to bed at which happened to be about an hour before the second wave of iraqi missiles hit Tel Aviv Early saturday morning Quot they tried to Wake me at 1 20 but i slept so soundly i never up until 9.&Quot. Williams prime time exposure has been limited As defense Secretary Dick Cheney joint chiefs of staff chairman Gen. Colin Powell and other Pentagon officials Are Happy to Brief on the successes of the desert storm operation. But generally believed become the most familiar face in America if the news starts to sour and casualties escalate. A. A a a a a a Quot its the hardest part of the Job Quot he said of delivering bad news. Quot it makes it Clear that military operations Are. Carried out by a Vindeed these Are times that would try even the coolest Flack s soul. And Williams say journalists who Deal with him every Day is about As Cool As they come. I ,. He a 38 and looks 10 years younger a although he very Well May have aged a decade in the past four Days. He s single used to take tap dance lessons is a Mountain climber and avid bicyclist and for the past 14 years has emceed the local Jerry Lewis telethon in his Hometown of Casper a. A y. t. A this is the same Man who at 5 30 last saturday y evening had a half dozen reporters clamouring for a piece of him had just instructed his Secretary to track Down. Powell and asked another aide to Contact some military. Men who could review a soon to be published news Story out of Dhahran Over which Pentagon officials in saudi Arabia were jittery. There were five silent televisions a Quot running in his office which he managed to glance at every minute or so. A. A. \ Quot. A -. In the months leading up to the War it was Williams who spent countless hours with news executives trying to Iron out the rules that would govern , and Williams who took the heat Over those rules when the Pentagon mandated that All Pool reports coming out of the would be subject to military review and it was also Williams who with remarkable equanimity accepted the blame last year when the handling of the Media during the Panama invasion turned into a fiasco. Quot with Panama we just weren t there in the initial phase to the operation Quot he said of the Pentagon a ineffective and very late movement of reporters into the area. Quot what to tried to do this time is be much More prepared. Here we had a Pool on the aircraft Carrier before it started we had a Pool on the battleship before it started we had a Pool out on air Force bases to watch planes take off. The Panama situation was obviously very constructive. I remember it being a ceaseless Chain of since then Williams has won Back the Confidence of a Media corps known for its cynicism. He is considered an advocate in the Media a own private War for information. A. Though there Are doubts about his effectiveness with the military Stop. Brass. Still in an Agency that has Little use for the dissemination of news reporters appreciate that a. Williams May be the Best they be got. A Quot a a a a a "1 Trust him a said Timothy Russert Abc s Washington. Bureau chief. Quot he makes an impossible Job possible. He understands the needs of the press. I do feel we get a fair hearing and that we have a Friend in court. Its just that the things that he tries to do on our contrary to what his superiors want done. -. Quot this week we Felt that Powell and Cheney have told us if our Coats were on fire a said George a a Watson abcs Bureau chief Quot their tactic in dealing with. Reporters is to say As Little As possible. Pete genuinely tries to be helpful. We rely on him to take our Case Back to his. People think he gives it his Best . Williams knew. Cheney from Wyoming where both. Men were alumni of the same Public High school years apart. After graduating from Stanford University in 1970. Williams returned to Casper to work for the largest television station inthe state. He spent his 11 years at the station As news director but ultimately. A became an on air correspondent and somewhat of a local celebrity a on March 10,1986, he started work As then s press Secretary and when Cheney was it Csc a to head the department of defense by president Bush Williams followed. A a Williams clearly loves this Job if that s possible considering the grim conditions under which he must operate these Days. Quot if i had to Deal with this stuff a year a ago Quot he sighed Quot i just Don t know that i would have been Able to do it Quot. A. \ a of course this is no time to think about that. A Page 14 a a a the stars and stripes Monda
