Correspondent Says Coverage of Iraq Doesn't Give Full Story

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Correspondent Says Coverage of Iraq Doesn't Give Full Story
By MARK MOREY
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC


News reports from Iraq have focused too much on the dramatic tales behind prisoner rescues or deadly battles, a television correspondent who covers the region told a Yakima audience Wednesday afternoon.

MSNBC's Bob Arnot said journalists haven't paid enough attention to the progress made in rebuilding Baghdad ? seen in the city's bustling markets and revived schools. Or the individual efforts of the troops, such as a sergeant killed when he fell on a grenade to save the girl who handed him the ticking device she'd innocently picked up.

"That's the tremendous amount of split-second courage you hear so little about," Arnot said, speaking to members of the Washington Farm Bureau during their annual convention, held at the Yakima Convention Center.

The weakness of the reporting comes from inexperienced journalists who cover easy stories from their hotels and from a lack of perspective on the Middle East and combat itself, he believes.

Arnot said he avoids stating his opinion about the pre-emptive strike against Saddam Hussein's regime, but he noted that history will probably reflect positively on the conflict if the Bush administration reaches its goal of stabilizing Iraq.

The military action itself likely won't seem as significant if that happens, he said.

"What will history write? If it all comes out right, this will be a footnote," Arnot said.

Arnot became a special foreign correspondent for NBC in 2001. He speaks Arabic and has an extensive background in Islamic studies and the Middle East.

A medical doctor by profession, he has covered health issues and foreign affairs for national television networks since 1981.

Arnot, who left Iraq last weekend and plans to return after Thanksgiving, was an embedded reporter assigned to the First Marine Expeditionary Force as the unit marched on Baghdad.

He reported live as the first forces entered the city, and later caught a taxi to a downtown hotel for the fall of Saddam's statue, even though his military escorts turned back because too many bullets were flying.

He sometimes provided first aid for soldiers and wounded Iraqis.

He said the military's commitment to restoring Iraq shows in a variety of ways: force commanders who help to craft water systems, Purple Heart honorees who refuse stateside breaks to continue their missions, nurses who battle severe aircraft turbulence to make sure Iraqi war prisoners receive needed treatment.

Arnot also saw his first combat death: a Marine sergeant hit from behind by an Iraqi sniper after securing a foxhole for his squad.

"When you see a Marine killed in action, it's just unfathomable," the journalist said.

Once he shaved and ate with helicopter crewmen who he later saw crash to their deaths as he was in the air behind them.

"You have a great sense of the patriotism of these Marines and a great sense of the sacrifice they make," he said.

He said the troops deserve respect for the job they are doing.

Broadcasting live while soldiers were trying to secure a bridge, he asked a top commander how he responded to ordnance smacking into his Humvee as the man stood outside.

The growled reply: "It's a good day to be a Marine."