Confessions of a Misguided Trio

If you can't beat them, bomb them?

BOMBING AL-JAZEERA....President Bush planned to bomb Arab TV station al-Jazeera in friendly Qatar, a "Top Secret" No 10 memo reveals.
But he was talked out of it at a White House summit by Tony Blair, who said it would provoke a worldwide backlash.
....A Government official suggested that the Bush threat had been "humorous, not serious". But another source declared: "Bush was deadly serious, as was Blair. That much is absolutely clear from the language used by both men."
....Bush disclosed his plan to target al-Jazeera, a civilian station with a huge Mid-East following, at a White House face-to-face with Mr Blair on April 16 last year. At the time, the US was launching an all-out assault on insurgents in the Iraqi town of Fallujah.
At first this sounded like just another bizarre British tabloid fantasy, but apparently it's quite real. That is, the conversation was real; the transcript is real; it was leaked to a guy who is now being prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act; and the Daily Mirror, which published the story on Tuesday, has been ordered not to publish any further details about the memo. - Washington monthly

In addition to a few printed articles on this, I just finished watching a blurb about it on the BBC news regarding the pending trial. Most of us already find Mr. Bush's logic and policies questionable, but this threat constitutes what would effectively be premeditated murder. It is no secret that the U.S. administration isn't fond of Al-Jazeera tv because of their "supposed" negative portrayal of the U.S., which they see as spreading anti-American sentiment. However, the thought of killing innocent people over their differences in opinions seems quite hypocritical especially when one considers that the U.S. claims that the aim of their foreign policy and pre-emptive strike policies is to spread democracy. I believe freedom of speech and of the press would be considered a large part of democracy, however obviously the U.S. wants people to be free to speak their minds only when it doesn't include any commentary on U.S. policy.

posted by Bonyo @ 3:20 PM