Editing Peter Arnett (section)

==Gulf War==
Beginning in 1981, Arnett worked for [[CNN]] for 18 years, ending in 1999. During the [[Gulf War]], he became a household name worldwide as the only reporter to have live coverage directly from [[Baghdad]], especially during the first 16 hours. His dramatic reports often were accompanied by the sound of air raid sirens blaring and US bombs exploding in the background. Together with two other CNN journalists, [[Bernard Shaw (journalist)|Bernard Shaw]] and [[John Holliman]], Arnett brought continuous coverage from Baghdad for the 16 initial intense hours of the war (17 January 1991). Although 40 foreign journalists were present at the [[Royal Tulip Al Rasheed Hotel|Al-Rashid Hotel]] in Baghdad at the time, only CNN possessed the means — a private phone line connected to neighbouring Amman, Jordan — to communicate to the outside world.<ref>{{cite news|last1=McDOUGAL|first1=DENNIS|title=How CNN Won Battle for a Phone Line : Television: A 'four-wire' system allowed the all-news network to achieve a coup in its war coverage from Baghdad.|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-01-25-ca-710-story.html|access-date=15 May 2016|work=Los Angeles Times|date=25 January 1991}}</ref> CNN broadcast Arnett's extended call live for several hours, with a picture of Arnett as video. Soon the other journalists left Iraq, including the two CNN colleagues, which left Arnett as the sole remaining reporter.

His accounts of civilian damage caused by the bombing were not well received by the coalition war administration. Its spokesmen had emphasized terms such as "smart bombs" and "surgical precision" in their public statements, in an effort to project keeping civilian casualties would be at a minimum. [[White House]] sources would later attack Arnett, saying that he was being used as a tool for Iraqi disinformation.

Two weeks into the war, Arnett was able to obtain an exclusive, uncensored interview with [[Saddam Hussein]].<ref name="cnn2001">{{cite web |date=16 January 2001 |url =http://www.cnn.com/COMMUNITY/transcripts/2001/01/16/arnett/|title =Peter Arnett: A look back at Operation Desert Storm |publisher = [[CNN News]]| access-date = 12 September 2007 | first=Peter |last=Arnett }}</ref> Due to Arnett's reporting from the "other side", for a period of five weeks, the Gulf War was the first to be broadcast live on TV.

About halfway through the war, representatives of the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] approached Arnett. They believed that the Iraqi military was operating a high-level communication network from the basement of the Al Rashid Hotel, which is where Arnett and other staff from CNN were staying. The CIA wanted him out so the Air Force could bomb the hotel, but Arnett refused. He said he had been given a tour of the hotel and denied there was such a facility.<ref>Rosenkranz, Keith, ''Vipers in the Storm'' (McGraw Hill), p. 299</ref>