Bush wanted to bomb Al Jazeera?

[RACooper]

Surprised this hasn't shown up on the site already...

Anyways I'm sure we've all heard about how an alleged memo purporting to detail Blair talking Bush out of bombing Al Jazeera's HQ. I also assume that most know the White House has called the allegations so outlandish they deserve no response. But now it has taken an interesting new twist, at least in the UK - while neither confirming nor denying the document's authenticity or allegations, the British government has now effectively placed a publication ban on the story... citing violation of the Official Secrets Act if the publish the memo or further details. So if it's not real how can they be violating the Official Secrets Act? hmmm....

Warning over Jazeera bombing report
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain has warned media organizations they are breaking the law if they publish details of a leaked document said to show U.S. President George W. Bush wanted to bomb Arabic television station Al Jazeera.

The government's top lawyer warned editors in a note after the Daily Mirror newspaper reported on Monday that a secret British government memo said British Prime Minister Tony Blair had talked Bush out of bombing the broadcaster in April last year.

Several British newspapers reported the attorney general's note on Tuesday and repeated the Mirror's allegations, which the White House said were "so outlandish" they did not merit a response. Blair's office declined to comment.

Al Jazeera, which has repeatedly denied U.S. accusations it sides with insurgents in Iraq, called on Britain and the United States to state quickly whether the report was accurate.

"If the report is correct then this would be both shocking and worrisome not only to Al Jazeera but to media organizations across the world," the Qatar-based station said in a statement.

The story would also be a shock for Qatar, a small Gulf state which cultivates good relations with Washington.

more at:
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsAr...SA-JAZEERA.xml

[hoosier]

I'm glad they are considering all options, and hopefully choosing the best ones.

[_Q_]

Not too surprising, given that U.S. forces have bombed al-Jazeera before, though they claimed that it was unintentional. This memo makes that even harder to believe.

[RACooper]

Actually what I'm most shocked by is the UK government's actions... threatening legal action for breaching the Official Secrets Act is probibly the worst thing to do to kill the story - I mean come on you might as well announce the documents are true in the House, issuing a statement like that...

Now personally if they are true I'd like to read the transcript - it'd give some interesting insight into Bush's and Blair's thinking and policy.

Originally posted by _Q_
Not too surprising, given that U.S. forces have bombed al-Jazeera before, though they claimed that it was unintentional. This memo makes that even harder to believe.

Well in their defense it was a warzone... at worst I'd say it was a trigger happy tanker.

Originally posted by hoosier
I'm glad they are considering all options, and hopefully choosing the best ones.

Which options? Deciding how to deal with what is becoming a damaging story by more or less confirming it by making the legal announcement... best case the story proves to be only partially true - or slanted somehow... worst case it is true and serious questions arise regarding UK support of US policy - afterall it's hard to justify having to talk an ally out of a war crime (I don't know how bombing journalists in a neutral allied country could be justified under any international law).

[DeltAlum]

Originally posted by RACooper
Surprised this hasn't shown up on the site already...

I saw it last week and almost posted -- but I've had enough drama recently.

[Kevin]

Originally posted by RACooper

Which options? Deciding how to deal with what is becoming a damaging story by more or less confirming it by making the legal announcement... best case the story proves to be only partially true - or slanted somehow... worst case it is true and serious questions arise regarding UK support of US policy - afterall it's hard to justify having to talk an ally out of a war crime (I don't know how bombing journalists in a neutral allied country could be justified under any international law).

Al Jazeera is an interesting group -- have you read their website? Attacking it would be legally equivelant to attacking the propaganda machine of the enemy. The only difference here is that we're not fighting another nation, we're fighting a loosely defined network. Go read their website and their "stories", one of which recently accused the US of blowing up the WTC just for an excuse to invade Iraq.

I'm not ready to support bombing Al-Jazeera, but I can definitely see why such an option should be on the table.

[DeltAlum]

Bush wants to bomb Al Jazeera.

Bin Laden wants to bomb Fox.

Just kidding...but...

[Optimist Prime]

Bush needs to calm down.


That dude is way too intense.

my advice...lay off the nose candy