Bob- My opinion on Peter Arnett even offering an opinion on the war to Iraqi TV is that it was completely unprofessional, and he deserves to be fired for it. As to your question on whether I accept it as fact -- no I think it was offered as opinion. Now if you want to know whether I agree with that opinion, I haven't read the entire transcript. There are some parts of what I have read that I might agree with within a certain context -- but that's just a matter of opinion. I think the AMerican people underestimated the resolve of the Iraqi people. I'm not sure whether I think the government ever underestimated it. I do think the government was willing to allow the American people underestimate that resolve because it made the war an easier sell.

But the main point here is that Arnett was unprofessional in sharing his beliefs in a forum where he's identified as a representative of a news organization. I have never filed a story on the war for any news organization, yet even in those circumstances I would never publicly air my opinions on the war in a context where I identified any organizations I've ever worked for. If I were involved in a story on the war, I would never reveal my opinions on it in any context, even anonymously on the Internet. What he did is inexcusable from a journalistic standpoint.