Guest guest Posted November 30, 2005 Report Share Posted November 30, 2005 S Tue, 29 Nov 2005 22:52:12 EST Bush V Al-Jazeera: Fact or Fancy? http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2005/11/23/19120/600 Bush V Al-Jazeera: Fact or Fancy? by jpol Sat Nov 26th, 2005 at 07:58:11 PM EST The internet is abuzz over a leaked memo quoted yesterday by the London Mirror alleging that President Bush told British Prime Minister Tony Blair that he " planned to bomb Arab TV station al-Jazeera in friendly Qatar, " according to a transcript of an April 16, 2004 conversation between the two at the White House. The Mirror reported that Bush was " talked out of it " by Blair. The real significance of these new allegations is not that the Bush administration was contemplating taking action against Al-Jazeera, for it is now abundantly clear that there has long been a concerted effort to intimidate and harass the Qatar-based news organization. Rather, this new bombshell demonstrates that this pre-existing agenda has its roots at the very top of the Bush administration, and that a major escalation of that operation was being contemplated. If it had been carried out it would have constituted an attack on a sovereign ally nation and almost certainly would have risen to the level of a serious violation of international law. Little wonder that Blair saw a need to talk Bush out of it. If true, the Mirror report illustrates the extraordinary lengths to which the Bush administration is willing to go in dealing with its perceived enemies. According to the Mirror: Al-Jazeera's HQ is in the business district of Qatar's capital, Doha. Its single-storey buildings would have made an easy target for bombers. As it is sited away from residential areas, and more than 10 miles from the US's desert base in Qatar, there would have been no danger of " collateral damage " . Dozens of al-Jazeera staff at the HQ are not, as many believe, Islamic fanatics. Instead, most are respected and highly trained technicians and journalists. To have wiped them out would have been equivalent to bombing the BBC in London and the most spectacular foreign policy disaster since the Iraq War itself. The White House has issued a non-denial denial, saying that it would not dignify " something so outlandish " with a response, but Blair cabinet civil servant David Keogh has been charged with the leak under the British Official Secrets Act, lending credence to the authenticity of the Mirror report. (UPDATE: The British media is being threatened with prosecution if they pursue the matter further). This is also not the first time Bush has confided his plans to Blair only to have them leak. Only last month a note of a phone conversation that occurred on January 30, 2003 (weeks before the invasion of Iraq), between the two was also leaked. In it, Bush allegedly told Blair that he " wanted to go beyond Iraq in dealing with WMD proliferation, mentioning in particular Saudi Arabia, Iran, North Korea, and Pakistan. " As alluded to earlier, the most persuasive argument for the authenticity of these revelations is the overwhelming evidence that the Bush administration has long had an obsession with Al-Jazeera... and still does. In a just-published article for Rolling Stone Magazine, journalist James Bamford outlined an elaborate plan for media manipulation involving Al-Jazeera, that the Bush administration out-sourced to The Rendon Group: The Man Who Sold the War -- Meet John Rendon, Bush's general in the propaganda war By JAMES BAMFORD ...The top target that the pentagon assigned to Rendon was the Al-Jazeera television network. The contract called for the Rendon Group to undertake a massive " media mapping " campaign against the news organization, which the Pentagon considered " critical to U.S. objectives in the War on Terrorism. " According to the contract, Rendon would provide a " detailed content analysis of the station's daily broadcast . . . [and] identify the biases of specific journalists and potentially obtain an understanding of their allegiances, including the possibility of specific relationships and sponsorships. " The secret targeting of foreign journalists may have had a sinister purpose. Among the missions proposed for the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Influence was one to " coerce " foreign journalists and plant false information overseas. Secret briefing papers also said the office should find ways to " punish " those who convey the " wrong message. " One senior officer told CNN that the plan would " formalize government deception, dishonesty and misinformation. " According to the Pentagon documents, Rendon would use his media analysis to conduct a worldwide propaganda campaign, deploying teams of information warriors to allied nations to assist them " in developing and delivering specific messages to the local population, combatants, front-line states, the media and the international community. " Among the places Rendon's info-war teams would be sent were Jakarta, Indonesia; Islamabad, Pakistan; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Cairo; Ankara, Turkey; and Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The teams would produce and script television news segments " built around themes and story lines supportive of U.S. policy objectives. " Let's examine the specific record as it pertains to Al-Jazeera: THE ADMINISTRATION IN ITS OWN WORDS: * October 20, 2001: " Vice-President Dick Cheney alerted the emir of Qatar that Al-Jazeera will be seen as 'Osama's outlet to the world' since it aired bin Laden's video dispatches from Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. " * January 20, 2004: Without mentioning Al-Jazeera by name, President Bush makes a certain allusion to it in his State of the Union Speech: " To cut through the barriers of hateful propaganda, the Voice of America and other broadcast services are expanding their programming in Arabic and Persian -- and soon, a new television service will begin providing reliable news and information across the region. " * March 17, 2004: " Donald Rumsfeld has called Al Jazeera's coverage 'outrageous' and 'inexcusably biased' and implied that he'd like to see the satellite channel thrown out of Iraq. * April 15, 2004: " Secretary Rumsfeld: 'I can definitively say that what al-Jazeera is doing is vicious, inaccurate and inexcusable.' " [These comments were made in reaction to Al-Jazeera coverage of the U.S. attack on Falluja. The coverage included graphic footage of alleged widespread casualties among the civilian population. The next day Bush told Blair of his intentions to bomb the Qatar headquarters of Al-Jazeera. Following the attack on Fallujah there were reports in the Arab media (and The Washington Post) of U.S. use of White Phosphorous as a weapon, a charge repeatedly denied by the Bush administration, but admitted to only last week after articles written at the time in military journals emerged in which the use of White Phosphorous by out military was confirmed]. * May 1, 2004 Following talks at The White House with Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, " Qatar's foreign minister said on Thursday he would seek a review of Arabic television station al Jazeera's coverage of Iraq after Washington complained it was inaccurate and anti-American...The Bush administration has warned Qatar its relations with the United States were clouded by what it called 'inflammatory' coverage of Iraq by Jazeera, whose satellite broadcasts have a wide Arab audience. " * June 7, 2004: speaking at an international economic summit, then national security advisor Condoleeza Rice " criticized Arabic-language broadcaster Al-Jazeera for 'purely inaccurate' reporting, suggesting the Qatar-based satellite station was presenting a biased account of developments in the Middle East. " (The nation of Qatar was not invited to the conference in what administration officials later acknowledged was a deliberate snub designed to bring pressure on Qatar to reign in Al-Jazeera) * September 16, 2004: " US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says journalists have received tip-offs from terrorists of impending attacks in Iraq, singling out Al-Jazeera television as 'Johnny-on-the-spot a little too often for my taste.' " Clearly, the rhetoric directed toward Al-Jazeera has been unambiguously hostile and direct. Against that backdrop one must seriously consider whether the trials and tribulations suffered by Al-Jazeera form a deliberate pattern: * November 2001: The Al-Jazeera offices in Kabul are bombed by US forces during the war against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Reporters Without Borders ask US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld at the time for an explanation of the attack but get no answer. * December 15, 2001: Sami Muhyideen al-Haj, an assistant cameraman for Al-Jazeera, is arrested by Pakistani authorities along the Afghan-Pakistani border while on assignment for the network. He is later transferred to U.S. custody at Guantanamo Bay, where he is still being held to this day without formal charges. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has expressed concern over allegations that U.S. military interrogators told him that he would be released if he agreed to inform about Al-Jazeera's activities. In September 2002, CPJ wrote to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld calling on the Pentagon to detail the basis for al-Haj's detention and received no response. " We're troubled by these latest reports, but most disturbing is the U.S. military's long-term detention of Sami al-Haj without putting forward evidence that he has committed a crime, " CPJ Executive Ann Cooper said. " The implication here is that the military can detain a journalist in the field, as it does with other suspects, and hold him for months or years without due process or establishing a legal basis for his incarceration. " Cooper added: " The United States should credibly explain the basis for Sami al-Haj's detention or release him immediately. " * March 29, 2003: Four members of the Al-Jazeera crew in Basra, the only journalists inside the city, come under gunfire from British tanks as they are filming distribution of food by Iraqi government officials. One of the station's cameramen, Akil Abdel Reda, goes missing and is later found to have been held for 12 hours by US troops. * April 7, 2003: A clearly marked Al-Jazeera vehicles comes under fire from US forces on a motorway near Baghdad. * April 8, 2003: Al-Jazeera cameraman reporter Tareq Ayoub is killed when a US missile slams into the station's Baghdad bureau. Reporters Without Borders expresses outrage at the US bombing: " We strongly condemn this attack on a neighborhood known to include the offices of several TV stations, " said secretary-general Robert Ménard in a letter to Gen. Tommy Franks, commander of US military operations in Iraq. " To ensure the safety of its journalists, Al-Jazeera's management has been careful to inform the Americans of the exact location of its crews right from the start of the war. The US army cannot therefore claim it did not know where the Baghdad offices were. " An Al-Jazeera journalist who was in Baghdad until a few days before told Reporters Without Borders that " it couldn't've been a mistake. We've told the Pentagon where all our offices are in Iraq and hung giant banners outside them saying 'TV.' " * April 21, 2003 (link no longer active): British forces detain Al-Jazeera TV correspondent Mohammad Al-Sayed Mohsen in the Iraqi city of Basra where he is covering the US-led occupation... Mohsen says a British soldier " became furious " when he read the cards, issued from the Iraqi Information Ministry, and confiscated his camera... The Al-Jazeera correspondent says it was the third time British forces had harassed him... They were escorted to a British camp where a soldier addressed them in Arabic and told them they would not be allowed to work in the area until further notice. Mohsen said the soldier repeatedly asked him how he could be an Iraqi and be working for Al-Jazeera. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the arrest. " For US-led forces to detain a journalist working in Iraq is a violation of press freedom and coalition forces are obligated to respect the right of journalists of all outlets to work in the country. " * September 10, 2003 U.S. troops detain Al-Jazeera correspondent Atwar Bahgat and her cameraman, Yasser Bahgat (no relation), in the Ghazaliya section of Baghdad. They were filming near the Ghazaliya Bridge, which had been sealed by U.S. troops after an explosion allegedly took place earlier in the day. When a U.S. soldier approached them and ordered them to back away from the bridge, the journalists complied but when they continued filming, the soldiers put both journalists into a Humvee and took them to a detention center at Baghdad Airport, where U.S. forces asked them how they had learned about the explosion. One interrogator accused the journalists of knowing about the explosion before it happened. They were released after spending the night in detention. The Associated Press quoted an unnamed military spokesman as saying that the journalists had violated unspecified " ground rules. " * November 2003: Coalition troops detain two Al-Jazeera staffers covering an explosion at a police station in western Baghdad on allegations they had prior knowledge of the car bombing. Al-Jazeera dismissed the charges as ridiculous, and the men were later freed. * November 3, 2003: Salah Hassan, an Al-Jazeera cameraman, is arrested while interviewing people at the scene of a roadside bomb attack on a US military convoy in Dialah, near the eastern Iraqi city of Baquba. US troops repeatedly accuse him of knowing in advance about the bomb attack and of lying in wait to get footage. " I told them to review my tapes, that it was clear I had arrived thirty or forty minutes after the blast. They told me I was a liar, " says Hassan. He is taken to the military base at Baghdad International Airport, held in a bathroom for two days, then flown hooded and bound to Tikrit. After two more days in another bathroom, he is loaded onto a five-truck convoy of de-tainees and shipped south to Abu Ghraib prison. Once inside, Hassan says, he is greeted by US soldiers who sing " Happy Birthday " to him through his tight plastic hood, strip him naked and address him only as " Al Jazeera, " " boy " or " bitch. " He is forced to stand hooded, bound and naked for eleven hours. In the morning, Hassan says, he is made to wear a dirty red jumpsuit that is covered with someone else's fresh vomit and interrogated by two Americans in civilian clothes. They make the usual accusations that Hassan and Al Jazeera were in cahoots with " terrorists. " He was later released for lack of evidence. The Nation's Christian Parenti was told by one source at the civilian Coalition Provisional Authority: " Anything about Al Jazeera is very sensitive, so any on-the-record comment would have to come from pretty far up in the hierarchy. Only a very senior person can deal with this. " But repeated calls to the CPA's senior spokesperson, Dan Senor, produced no response. * November 7, 2003: Sami Awad, a Lebanese cameraman working as a freelancer for a German TV network, says that when he and his crew tried to check out a report Friday about hand grenades being thrown at a U.S. patrol in Baghdad, U.S. soldiers threw them to the ground and pointed their weapons at their heads. " They checked our identity badges and then let us go, saying they thought we were with Al-Jazeera, " * January 2004 (link no longer active): Iraq's then-Governing Council bans Al-Jazeera reporters from entering its offices or covering its news conferences for a month because it had reportedly shown disrespect toward prominent Iraqis. * May 21, 2004: Al-Jazeera employee, Rashid Hamid Wali, is shot and killed covering fighting in the city of Karbala. * August 5, 2004 (link no longer active): The Iraqi government suspends Al-Jazeera's Baghdad operations, accusing it of inciting violence. * September 4, 2004 (link no longer active): The Iraqi government shuts down Al-Jazeera's Baghdad operations indefinitely because al-Jazeera had failed to offer an explanation of its editorial policies. The station's spokesman, Jihad Ballout, said the office in Baghdad was stormed by Iraqi security forces hours before the order was announced. " Members of the Iraqi security forces attacked our office, although it's been closed for nearly a month now. They took photographs and sealed it, " Ballout said. " They positioned nearly 14 security officers outside Al-Jazeera. " Last February CNN's top news executive Eason Jordan was forced, under pressure, to resign his position after a major furor erupted over remarks he had made on a January 27, 2005 panel. Jordan had reportedly suggested (in an " off-the-record " panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland) that coalition forces had deliberately targeted some journalists in Iraq. A few months later, Linda Foley, national president of The Newspaper Guild, likewise incurred the ire of conservatives for similar comments contained in a letter she had sent to President Bush, and in a panel discussion at the National Conference for Media Reform in St. Louis on May 13, criticizing the U.S. investigation into the deaths of journalists in Iraq. Foley drew fire from, among others, Newsmax, The Washington Times, and Sinclair Broadcasting for saying: " Journalists are not just being targeted verbally or politically. They are also being targeted for real in places like Iraq. And what outrages me as a representative of journalists is that there's not more outrage about the number and the brutality, and the cavalier nature of the U.S. military toward the killing of journalists in Iraq. I think it's just a scandal. " In view of recent revelations, especially those involving George W. Bush's apparent willingness to deliberately bomb Al-Jazeera's Qatar headquarters, it would seem Eason Jordan and Linda Foley have been vindicated and are owed an apology. The public is owed a Congressional investigation. Display: Bush V Al-Jazeera: Fact or Fancy? | 36 comments (36 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden) Re: Bush V Al-Jazeera: Fact or Fancy? (4.00 / 2) You've done it. Hickok: " You know the sound of thunder. Can you imagine that sound if I ask you to? Ma'am, listen to the thunder. " by susanhu (susanhuatearthlinkdotnet) on Wed Nov 23rd, 2005 at 07:42:45 PM EST UK has imprisoned the person who leaked this (4.00 / 3) for violating the Official Secrets Act. Washington has called it outlandish. US has bombed Al Jaz bureau offices twice, so I guess that means it is just an urban legend that has been officially debunked. one man's conspiracy is another man's business plan Blog updated 11-6 by DuctapeFatwa (DuctapeFatwa) on Wed Nov 23rd, 2005 at 07:59:26 PM EST Re: UK has imprisoned the person who leaked this (4.00 / 4) Actually three times. Kabul, Baghdad, and Basra. jpol by jpol on Wed Nov 23rd, 2005 at 09:04:30 PM EST [ Parent ] Re: UK has imprisoned the person who leaked this (4.00 / 2) To have been charged, an ex-civil servant and the assistant to a former MP who he is alleged to have sent the paper to. They are currentlyon bail but are due to appear in court next week. I am not sure if this is a magistrate's court hearing but if so they are likely to be remanded on bail to a higher court for a jury trial. British juries have the right to find a defendant not guilty if they consider the law unjust or if the defendant is clearly guilty but his actions are justfied as being for the public good (and have done so in previous official secrets cases). by Londonbear (bearATzooDOTcoDOTuk) on Wed Nov 23rd, 2005 at 09:27:14 PM EST [ Parent ] Re: UK has imprisoned the person who leaked this (none / 0) I will bet on dismissal. UK juries have a long and glorious history of dismissing blatantly unfair political prosecutions. I am thinking of a famous case in the late 18th century, whose name escapes me in the clouded state of my present mind. On the substance. I almost think that the antiwar movement would have been immeasurably reinforced, had Blair kept his mouth shut, which is all the more reason for believing that he went into this operation with eyes eyes open and his mouth watering. Knut by Knut Wicksell (b_didnn) on Wed Nov 23rd, 2005 at 10:11:12 PM EST [ Parent ] Re: UK has imprisoned the person who leaked this (none / 0) I posted an update comment. The British government is threatening to prosecute any British media outlet that pursues this story further. jpol by jpol on Wed Nov 23rd, 2005 at 09:18:31 PM EST [ Parent ] Wow!! (4.00 / 2) Best diary I've ever read. Thank you, jpol. .... and to think that all this time i've been enjoying the cartoons on their website! I want to buy a small car powered by a solar-charged battery. by cotterperson on Wed Nov 23rd, 2005 at 08:00:23 PM EST Re: Wow!! (4.00 / 5) No. Thank you. That's quite a compliment. jpol by jpol on Wed Nov 23rd, 2005 at 08:03:01 PM EST [ Parent ] Truly. I've been reading compulsively (4.00 / 5) for quite a while. You just make such an excellent case for the truth, and it's such an important topic. Besides targeting those you listed, they've done the same thing in the US, imho. Since they can't bomb them, they go after the credibility of the NYT, CBS, etc. That's the lifeblood of media outlets, and they sure don't want us knowing what's going on. I want to buy a small car powered by a solar-charged battery. by cotterperson on Wed Nov 23rd, 2005 at 08:14:13 PM EST [ Parent ] Just thought you might like to know (4.00 / 4) Juan Cole said: There is a detailed and very valuable timeline of Bush administration- Aljazeera relations at Booman Tribune. in his article on this subject today He also linked the comment to this diary Now that's quite an accomplishment and compliment to your excellent work KUDOS Misled Into War: A Timeline/DowningStreetMemo.com IraqFact by Duke1676 (IraqFact) on Thu Nov 24th, 2005 at 02:50:53 AM EST [ Parent ] Re: Just thought you might like to know (4.00 / 3) Thanks for the heads up. I am very honored. jpol by jpol on Thu Nov 24th, 2005 at 05:16:46 AM EST [ Parent ] Re: Just thought you might like to know (none / 0) Tomorrow London's Sunday Times (11.27) brings into the picture Rumsfeld and his Rendon PR Group-to " monitor media in the Islamic world. " The piece points to some coincidence --Rumsfeld's briefing the day before famous Bush/Blair meet discussing the bombing? " The article " Rumsfeld's Al-Jazeera outburst " is here: http://timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1892464,00.html interesting. by idredit on Sat Nov 26th, 2005 at 09:17:28 PM EST [ Parent ] Re: Bush V Al-Jazeera: Fact or Fancy? (4.00 / 4) Thursday's Guardian has some insight why the Attorney General weighed in after the Mirror had published the first article: Fears that fresh revelations about disputes between Tony Blair and George Bush about the Iraq conflict could damage Downing Street's intimate relationship with the White House prompted this week's unprecedented threat by the attorney general to use the Official Secrets Act against national newspapers. Senior MPs, Whitehall officials and lawyers were agreed yesterday that Lord Goldsmith had " read the riot act " to the media because of political embarrassment caused by a sensitive leak of face-to-face exchanges between the prime minister and the US president in the White House in April 2004. While not quoting from the memo, the Guardian can give background that may well indicate the nature of the discussion that Blair wants to suppress from public knowledge: The meeting between Mr Bush and Mr Blair took place at a time[April 2004} when Whitehall officials, intelligence officers, and British military commanders were expressing outrage at the scale of the US assault on the Iraqi city of Falluja. Pictures of the attack shown on al-Jazeera had infuriated US generals. The government was also arguing with Washington about the number of extra British troops to be deployed in Iraq at a time when it was feared they would be endangered by what a separately leaked Foreign Office memo called " heavy-handed " US military tactics. There were British anxieties that US bombing in civilian areas in Falluja would unite Sunnis and Shias against British forces. The criticism came not only from anti-war MPs, but from Mr Blair's most senior military, diplomatic, and intelligence advisers. When Mr Blair met Mr Bush in Washington, military advisers were urging the prime minister to send extra forces only on British terms. General Sir Mike Jackson, head of the army, said while British troops had to fight with the Americans, " that does not mean we must be able to fight as the Americans " . You may also like to consider the body language in the photo from the White House press archives for 16 April 2004 that shows the two on their way to the press conference after this meeting. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/04/images/20040416-4_012t0127-515h.\ jpg (link posted as may be too big) While Bush has his usual " good ole boy " goofy grin, Blair's smile is more of a grimace and is clearly forced. He looks like he is glad the meeting is over. You may also like to consider the words of a former Blair adviser on foreign policy issues and Ambassador to the EU, Sir Stepehn Wall. In a speech at the British embassy in Paris on Wednesday he gave a speech on the future of the EU. He worked with Blair before and during the War . He is the second diplomat to criticise Blair. Wall specifically mentioned the damage that Blair had done to UK/rest of EU relations. What he said is not relevant to April 2004 but certainly relates to the lead-up to war. In a pre-released copy of the speech quoted in Thursday's Daily Telegraph he says: I don't think we understood at the time the degree to which this was going to polarise Europe. We didn't want the split with Germany, didn't intend the split with France. " The crisis was " not inevitable " , he said. " Tony Blair took a certain view, and I think would stand by it, about the urgency of the threat represented by Saddam Hussein. But we could have decided we were going to pursue a longer game with Iraq, pursued the second resolution [asking the United Nations to agree to the use of force to enforce controls on banned weapons]. It may be that we would have come to a point further down the road where we realised that Saddam Hussein was stringing us along. But our policy was not one that let us even take that fork in the road. " " Tony Blair did not want to brook delay, and I am arguing there is a price to pay for that, because most of the things we want to do internationally involve the EU, " said Sir Stephen, now a lobbyist with the US consultancy firm Hill and Knowlton. by Londonbear (bearATzooDOTcoDOTuk) on Wed Nov 23rd, 2005 at 09:16:49 PM EST Brilliant Job! (4.00 / 2) Cannot praise this enough, simply awe-inspiring. Just shows that old CIA operations never die, they just get polished off every generation, and reworked to operate on an even grander scale. This is nothing but Operation Mockingbird raised to a global level. Anyway, thanks for this piece, words fail me as to its high quality. Intelligent Design is neither. by JJB on Wed Nov 23rd, 2005 at 09:27:03 PM EST Re: Bush V Al-Jazeera: Fact or Fancy? (4.00 / 3) Bush is like the malevolent, petulant neighborhood adolescent who, when slighted, retaliates by killing your dog or burning down your house or cutting the brake line on your car so you die in a crash. There are textbooks written that describe this exact form of clinical pathology in great detail. If ever there was a regime based on deception and disinformation, if ever there was a regime more hostile to the truth, this Bush regime is it. My relations with Orthodoxy are generally adversarial. by sbj on Wed Nov 23rd, 2005 at 09:30:03 PM EST And then, as adults ... (4.00 / 3) ...they become serial killers. " George Bush wanted to go into Iraq in the worst way. And he did. " -- Nancy Pelosi by Meteor Blades (MeteorBlades) on Wed Nov 23rd, 2005 at 09:45:30 PM EST [ Parent ] Re: And then, as adults ... (none / 0) That's the trajectory all right! My relations with Orthodoxy are generally adversarial. by sbj on Wed Nov 23rd, 2005 at 10:22:04 PM EST [ Parent ] Re: Bush V Al-Jazeera: Fact or Fancy? (4.00 / 2) P.S. Don't forget the attempt to kill the Italian reporter on her way to the airport. They got her rescuer, but she survived. This issue has not been resolved to the satisfaction of the Italian government. Knut by Knut Wicksell (b_didnn) on Wed Nov 23rd, 2005 at 10:13:53 PM EST Re: Bush V Al-Jazeera: Fact or Fancy? (4.00 / 4) I did not forget that, but this piece was about the Bush administration's war against Al-Jazeera, not the media in general. Al-Jazeera seems to have been the principle media target, but by no means the only media target. jpol by jpol on Wed Nov 23rd, 2005 at 10:23:57 PM EST [ Parent ] Dima Ayyoub may sue US (4.00 / 2) THE widow of an al-Jazeera journalist killed in Iraq by an American attack is considering suing the US Government. Kuwaiti-born Tariq Ayyoub, 35, died when the station's Baghdad office was bombed in April 2003. Now his wife Dima may take legal action. On Tuesday the Daily Mirror reported that George Bush planned to attack al-Jazeera's HQ in Doha, capital of Qatar. Dina said: " The report proves the cold-blooded murder of my husband. " America always claimed it was an accident. But I believe the new revelations prove that claim was false or at least not trustworthy. " I will seek legal advice in light of this new information to achieve justice. " The UK Government has banned the media from publishing details of documents telling how the President wanted to bomb the Doha station... nerdified link one man's conspiracy is another man's business plan Blog updated 11-6 by DuctapeFatwa (DuctapeFatwa) on Thu Nov 24th, 2005 at 11:09:43 AM EST Re: Bush V Al-Jazeera: Fact or Fancy? (4.00 / 2) Brilliant timeline and summary. American MSM have been complicit with the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld cabal because: 1. They are owned by large corporations that benefit from the obscene tax cuts. 2. Reporters from major outlets " thought " they had that mystical commodity called " access " -privilege to talk with the powers that be. The London " Mirror " memo leak has shown them that the poem that starts " First they came for... " applies. Perhaps NOW the MSM will be incensed enough to FINALLY do some real investigative reporting!! One can always hope they will take this as a wake up call. by Grandma M on Thu Nov 24th, 2005 at 11:26:46 AM EST Re: Bush V Al-Jazeera: Fact or Fancy? (none / 0) Meanwhile Kurtz has already brushed this off in the Washington Post. I don't expect the media to do any mea culpas over this. They've lost many of their own under questionable circumstances in Iraq and still brand any one who suggests a deliberate pattern a " conspiracy theorist. " jpol by jpol on Thu Nov 24th, 2005 at 10:28:25 PM EST [ Parent ] Re: Bush V Al-Jazeera: Fact or Fancy? (none / 0) wow...great round-up! Why Are We Back In Iraq? by Ron Brynaert on Wed Nov 23rd, 2005 at 08:54:24 PM EST Re: Bush V Al-Jazeera: Fact or Fancy? (none / 0) What you missed from your excellent analysis is what has happened to Sami Muhyideen al-Hajj whilst at Guantanamo Bay. His lawyer, Clive Stafford-Smith (well known in the US for fighting against death sentences) visited Al-Jazeera in June this year when in addition to physical abuse, evidenced by a scar, he told them: al-Hajj witnessed the Quran being flushed down the toilet by US soldiers in Afghanistan, and also witnessed expletives being written on the Muslim holy book Stafford-Smith had the notes of his meetings with al-Haji declassified so that the Guardian could report attempts to recruit him as a spy on the TV network. An interview with the lawyer was also shown during the UK Channel 4's news broadcasts in which he stated that the interrogators had insisted that Al-Jazeera was an arm of Al Qaeda. by Londonbear (bearATzooDOTcoDOTuk) on Wed Nov 23rd, 2005 at 09:49:48 PM EST Re: Bush V Al-Jazeera: Fact or Fancy? (none / 0) Believe me, I only scratched the surface. There came a point when I stopped researching because it would have become a book instead of a diary. jpol by jpol on Wed Nov 23rd, 2005 at 09:55:57 PM EST [ Parent ] Re: Bush V Al-Jazeera: Fact or Fancy? (none / 1) Kudos! A superb job of tying a lot of scattered information together and a real contribution to what I suspect will become an important issue in this war. As many as 13 deaths of journalists in Iraq have been due to US troops - second only to deaths from insurgent attacks. The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts - Bertrand Russell by Psyche on Wed Nov 23rd, 2005 at 11:36:04 PM EST [ Parent ] Re: Bush V Al-Jazeera: Fact or Fancy? (none / 0) I did mention the attempted recruitment of Al Haj. It is the second item in the chronology of events. jpol by jpol on Thu Nov 24th, 2005 at 10:33:20 PM EST [ Parent ] Re: Bush V Al-Jazeera: Fact or Fancy? (none / 0) I've been hoping someone would bring Eason Jordan's affair into this. Wow, Jerry. Great summary of all the events that make the memo credible. And as you say - if they're going to prosecute the journalist under the official secrets act, that's tantamount to an admission that this is all true, and important. Way to go, Jer! " If you look for the social economic motive, you will not have to wait for history to tell you what was propaganda and what was truth. " - George Seldes by Real History Lisa (lpeaseRemoveThis) on Wed Nov 23rd, 2005 at 10:02:38 PM EST Re: Bush V Al-Jazeera: Fact or Fancy? (none / 0) The contract called for the Rendon Group to undertake a massive " media mapping " campaign against the news organization, which the Pentagon considered " critical to U.S. objectives in the War on Terrorism. " According to the contract, Rendon would provide a " detailed content analysis of the station's daily broadcast . . . [and] identify the biases of specific journalists and potentially obtain an understanding of their allegiances, including the possibility of specific relationships and sponsorships. " This is the scariest part... To be frank I feel this is what has happened to the left blogosphere... " We've been MAPPED " by the DLC/NDN... rendered a mere puppet of their agenda. Freemdom of information is more dangerous to a regime than WMD. Let's beat the Republicans by by electing our own... Republicans. by Parker on Thu Nov 24th, 2005 at 03:06:13 AM EST This is great work (none / 1) I'm thankful today that you post here. " I just had the basic view of the American public -- it can't be that bad out there. " Marine Travis Williams after 11 members of his squad were killed. by Steven D on Thu Nov 24th, 2005 at 10:50:27 AM EST Re: Bush V Al-Jazeera: Fact or Fancy? (none / 0) From CNN this morning, headline on front page ;0 Protest over 'bomb Jazeera' memo (CNN) -- Employees of the Arabic news network Al-Jazeera have been protesting over a recent report by a British tabloid that the U.S. allegedly planned to bomb the network's headquarters in Qatar -- a report vehemently denied by the White House. Men and women stood outside Al-Jazeera's Doha, Qatar offices on Thursday holding signs in Arabic and in English, one reading " Don't bomb the messenger. " Another sign read " Hostage of Truth " over a photo of Sami al-Hajj, an Al-Jazeera cameraman imprisoned at the U.S. military facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. There's also a poll at the link: Do you believe President Bush talked about bombing the HQ of Arabic-language TV network al-Jazeera? (So far, about 2/3 say yes.) I want to buy a small car powered by a solar-charged battery. by cotterperson on Thu Nov 24th, 2005 at 12:43:52 PM EST Re: Bush V Al-Jazeera: Fact or Fancy? (none / 1) Wait a minute... If this is true about al-Jazeera, wouldn't this in fact be an act of terrorism? How come no one's discussing this from the standpoint that there's no real difference between blowing up a building with a car bomb or a suicide vest and a missile? Both surely kill innocent civilians and non-combatents. What's the difference? If this story is in fact true, where's the outrage about this being an act of terrorism? by Mike20169 on Thu Nov 24th, 2005 at 01:27:15 PM EST Outrage should be on the way (none / 0) One of my favorites, Tom Reagan at the CS Monitor, has an excellent roundup of sources. Most are British, since " editors in Britain threatened with jail if they publish leaked memo. " He also links to stories from the Associated Press and the Washington Post. He also points to this: CNN reports that during the 1999 air campaign over Kosovo, " US warplanes targeted Yugoslavia's state television network. NATO officials argued it was a legitimate target as the propaganda arm of the Yugoslav government. " The Chinese embassy in Belgrade was also hit during the same air campaign, which killed three Chinese journalists. NATO later said the bombing was due to faulty intelligence given to it by allies. I want to buy a small car powered by a solar-charged battery. by cotterperson on Thu Nov 24th, 2005 at 01:48:01 PM EST [ Parent ] Re: Bush V Al-Jazeera: Fact or Fancy? (none / 1) There's an article over at Information ClearingHouse by Stephen Soldz that has a few more items for your timeline: As the US launched its " shock and awe " Iraq invasion, it also launched a propaganda attack on Al-Jazeera. In July 2003, US Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz accused Al-Jazeera of " endangering the lives of American troops " in Iraq, while in November 2003, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld accused Al-Jazeera of cooperating with Iraqi insurgents. [When the American press do this, it's called " embedding. " ] In September 2003, the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council banned Al-Jazeera [and the Al-Arabiyah station] for two weeks, and in February 2004 they were banned for a month. Later in 2004, the US/UN appointed Iyad Allawi banned Al-Jazeera from working in Iraq. The claim that Al-Jazeera was pro-Saddam was patently absurd, as was attested to by the fact that, during the war, the Iraqi Information ministry banned two Al-Jazeera correspondents, leading the station to suspend reports from Iraq. The station reiterated their independent position. As their spokesperson told the BBC: " We faced lots of things like that before from the Iraqi Government and from other governments in the Arab region, because this is a way they think. They think they can impose some conditions on Al-Jazeera or they think they can change the reporters, they can put their own criteria on our work. " He goes on to call for " an independent international investigation into those journalists killed by US forces in Iraq " as well as all " other American efforts to avoid independent reporting from Iraq. " Even absent subpoena owers, this sounds better than another congressional whitewash. Given the extent of attacks on civilians that have characterized the US invasion and occupation in general, it is understandable that the US would want to make independent reporting from Iraq so dangerous that few will attempt it. <snip> The evidence that suppression of a free press was a major strategy in this war is yet another nail in the coffin of the claims that liberating Iraqis had anything to do with US war aims. A country that enshrines press freedom into its constitution should not be allowed to suppress the press in other countries with impunity. <snip> Wars are always dirty. Those engaged in war seldom admit the truth about the brutal means they are using. Those conducting an unpopular occupation are tempted to use all possible means to suppress those who resist occupation. The press, to the degree that it functions as an independent force, serves as one factor providing disincentives to the use of the most barbarous techniques available. Given the extent to which the American corporate press has often echoed obviously false US claims long after their absurdity became apparent, the international press like Al-Jazeera plays a critical role in limiting US brutality. By suppressing the press in Iraq, the US has increased its ability to kill with impunity. Evidence that many tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians have died at US hands suggest that the US has actively seized the opportunity. Of course this is terrorism. But it won't be called that when done in Our Name. Or by our Friends. Witness the Posada case this summer. I remarked on this elsewhere, but it's always brought a wry smile to my face that reports from the NYT or BBC are almost always given greater crediblity than those emanating from Al Jazeera or Xinhua. by Arcturus on Thu Nov 24th, 2005 at 03:53:28 PM EST a few more (none / 1) Linda Heard: It's also interesting to note that prior to the invasion of Iraq former BBC war correspondent Kate Adie one of the most respected journalists in her field - told Irish Radio that the Pentagon had threatened to fire on the satellite uplink positions of independent journalists in Iraq. Adie also said that when she questioned a Senior Pentagon office concerning the consequences of this action, he replied, 'Who cares? They've been warned " . <snip> In June this year, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld accused Al Jazeera of pounding the United States' image " day after day " . In his 2004 State of the Union address, Bush referred to Al Jazeera and other Arab networks as " hateful propaganda coming out of the Arab world " . Concerning the US 'pacification' of Fallujah when Al Jazeera reported US marines had killed hundreds of civilians which according to the leaked British memo triggered Bush's desire to finish off al Jazeera Rumsfeld said: " I can definitely say that what Al Jazeera is doing is vicious, inaccurate and inexcusable. " In March 2003, Gen. John Abizaid lashed out at an Al Jazeera reporter during a press conference because marines captured by the Iraqi military were aired sitting around drinking tea. Abizaid called the coverage " totally unacceptable " and " disgusting " prompting an American reporter to ask the general whether Al Jazeera should be classed as " hostile media " . In March 2002, Vice President Dick Cheney said the network ran the risk of being labeled " Osama's outlet to the world " <snip> She also remarks: Excuse the repetition but I would like to stress that Al Jazeera is owned by an ally of the US and staffed with respected editors and journalists from around the world, including many who formerly worked for the BBC. These people are not terrorists or insurgents; they are not uniformed military or intelligence personnel. They are simply people trying to tell it like it is in an environment plagued by censorship, and judging by Al Jazeera's 50 million regular viewers and the ire they provoke from regional governments, they are doing something right. I'll leave you with a hypothetical question based on Bush's alleged plan having been given the green light to proceed. Would the US have confessed to its role in the aftermath or would the mythical Abu Musab Al Zarqawi have been set up to take the fall? Think about it. That last sounds ever more likely. by Arcturus on Thu Nov 24th, 2005 at 04:21:01 PM EST [ Parent ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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