Bush to Bomb Al-Jazeera

[Abood]

I know this article is old, but i found it by coincedence and it REALLY freaked me!
Bush to bomb Al-Jazeera?!?!?! (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=16397937&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=exclusive--bush-plot-to-bomb-his-arab-ally-name_page.html)

[loveme4whoiam]

Wow, for once Blair did something right :o


A Government official suggested that the Bush threat had been "humorous, not serious".

Well, that's just plain disturbing. If I'd had any respect for Bush and his Administration, I would have just lost it.


I hope the Prime Minister insists this memo be published.

I assume this didn't happen, did it?

[Abood]

I assume this didn't happen, did it?
why would it be?! that's committing suicide...

The weird thing is, it&#39;s an old article, and eventhough i dont watch Al-Jazeera News, it shouldve been made famous in here&#33;&#33;&#33; But i guess Kuwait says: Nah, that&#39;s pure bullshit, Bush is a great guy... <_< Kuwait is so blindened by the US govt.

[Wanted Man]

A Government official suggested that the Bush threat had been "humorous, not serious".
Which is cute, except that leaders don&#39;t commonly chit-chat about bombing buildings. But then again, bombing news agencies is nothing new for the US, they already did it back in Yugoslavia.

[romanm]

The U&#036; did bomb aljazeera on more than one occasion.

[Abood]

The U&#036; did bomb aljazeera on more than one occasion.
When did that happen? i never heard of it before.
do u have any articles about it?&#33;

[bolshevik butcher]

Blair didn&#39;t do something right, he did something that stoped him from looking like even more of an imperialist lapdog. If this had happened the reaction from hte libreals and even conservatives nevermind his own party would have been awful for him. He mgiht well have been ousted.

[Abood]

Blair didn&#39;t do something right, he did something that stoped him from looking like even more of an imperialist lapdog. If this had happened the reaction from hte libreals and even conservatives nevermind his own party would have been awful for him. He mgiht well have been ousted.
i agree, comrade. if blair did agree with bush, evry1 would see whats "behind the scenes" and the whole truth would be prevailed - now would blair want that? i dont think so.

[bolshevik butcher]

Originally posted by Socialist [email protected] 29 2006, 12:16 PM

The U&#036; did bomb aljazeera on more than one occasion.
When did that happen? i never heard of it before.
do u have any articles about it?&#33;
Ther have been many cases of Al Jazzera reporters being killed by American forces. It&#39;s mentioned in john Simpsons book; THe wars against Saddam.

[Abood]

Originally posted by Clenched Fist+Jan 29 2006, 12:33 PM--> (Clenched Fist @ Jan 29 2006, 12:33 PM)
Socialist [email protected] 29 2006, 12:16 PM

The U&#036; did bomb aljazeera on more than one occasion.
When did that happen? i never heard of it before.
do u have any articles about it?&#33;
Ther have been many cases of Al Jazzera reporters being killed by American forces. It&#39;s mentioned in john Simpsons book; THe wars against Saddam. [/b]
But that doesnt mean the US bombed Al Jazeera. :unsure:

[Andy Bowden]

The US bombed the Al Jazeera offices in Afghanistan, fortunately no one was in it at the time though.

[Abood]

I don&#39;t know, there probably was still government it was just done by a coproration instead - which would not be libertarian.
Do u have any article about that?&#33;

[Intifada]

The War on al Jazeera (http://www.thenation.com/doc/20051219/scahill)

[romanm]

This article has a paragraph in it that discusses various ttacks on journalists in Iraq and Afghanistan.


Freedom of the press is a joke: United &#036;nakes wanted to bomb critics in the media

By Maoist, December 1, 2005

Posted on mimnotes.info December 1, 2005

President George Bu&#036;h planned to bomb and destroy the offices of Aljazeera, according to recent reports published in the British press. This November, a memo marked top-secret was leaked to the British media.(1) This is just the latest news regarding past wrongdoings in the imperialist war against the media in the Middle East. Protests against Bu&#036;h were held in Qatar in response to the allegations of the United &#036;tates plotting to ruthlessly repress media outlets in the Third World. Aljazeera is said to be considering and exploring legal options against the administration.

The leaked memo details an alleged conversation between Amerikan President Bu&#036;h and British Prime Minister Tony Blair on April 16, 2004, in Washington, D.C. In the conversation, they discussed launching a military attack on the Aljazeera satellite news channel&#39;s headquarters in Doha, Qatar. Qatar, however, is an ally of both the United &#036;tates and Britain, and it is reported that Blair was worried such an attack would lead to revenge attacks.(1) At least, the attack on Aljazeera in Qatar would have probably led to dozens of deaths of those employed by the news agency in its offices in Qatar&#39;s capital city, Doha.

A source told the Daily Mirror that Bu&#036;h "made clear he wanted to bomb Aljazeera in Qatar and elsewhere. Blair replied that would cause a big problem.. There&#39;s no doubt what Bush wanted to do -- and no doubt Blair didn&#39;t want him to do it."(1)

The Bu&#036;h government&#39;s reaction has varied from dismissing it as a joke or nonsense to calling such allegations "outlandish."(1)(2) Blair also denied that the allegations were true, saying he had no knowledge of any proposed Amerikan action.(2) But yet, charges have now been placed against two men who are alleged to have leaked the document to the media. Civil servant David Keogh and Leo O&#39;Connor have now received charges related to the disclosing of official information.(2)

This recent news, if true, reflects the lengths that the imperialists will go and have gone to silence their critics. If the United &#036;tates is willing to bomb the offices of a media out let; it is willing to do take measure to repress critics in the Third World that are not so drastic as bombing. Aljazeera is a long-time critic of U.&#036;. policy in the Arab world. Aljazeera was critical of the wars against Afghanistan and Iraq. Aljazeera was one of the most vocal in getting out stories of U.&#036;. atrocities in Iraq, such as the use of chemical weapons against civilians in Falluja.(3) In the past, Aljazeera has been accused by Amerikan generals of broadcasting anti-United &#036;tates propaganda. For example, General Kimmet had demanded the removal of Aljazeera from Falluja in Iraq. The alleged conversation between Bu&#036;h and Blair happened at a time when British officials were said to have been appalled by U.&#036;. actions in Falluja to repress national liberation fighters and the people supporting them.(4)

What makes imperialists&#39; denials of the memo hard to believe is that Aljazeera along with other journalists have been targeted in the past. In 2001, for instance, there was an attack by the United &#036;nakes on Aljazeera&#39;s offices in Kabul, Afghanistan. Again, this time in November of 2002, Aljazeera&#39;s offices in Kabul were destroyed by a U.&#036;. missile. In just one day, April 8, 2003, Amerikan forces killed three journalists in separate incidents. Taras Protsyuk, working for Reuters, died when a U.&#036;. tank fired on the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad. Jose Couso, of Spain&#39;s Telecinco television, was also killed at the hotel. And Tariq Ayoub, an Aljazeera correspondent, was killed by a U.&#036;. air strike against the Aljazeera office in Baghdad. Although the United &#036;tates claimed the deaths were an accident, critics claim that the attacks were a message aimed at silencing journalists. Rashid Hamid Wali, of Aljazeera, was possibly killed by the United &#036;tates while filming a gun battle in May 2004. Many other journalists have been killed under similar circumstances, such as one Palestinian, Mazin Dana, working for Reuters, who was filming outside of Abu Ghraib prison. Also, at least two from al-Arabiya television, Ali Abdul Aziz and Ali al-Khatib, were shot dead by the imperialists in 2004.(5)(6) This list is far from exhaustive of all the journalists whom the imperialists have killed and gotten away with killing.

In addition to silencing their critics, the imperialists are paying Iraq newspapers to run favorable stories written by U.&#036;. information officers. Stories are placed in Iraq papers with the assistance of defense contractors. These stories praise the United &#036;tates and denounce those who resist the occupation. These stories are very common. They have titles such as "Iraqis Insist on Living Despite Terrorism."(8)

This is just more of the same, just in a different place and targeting different people. The Bu&#036;h administration has been criticized for paying for favorable op-ed pieces about its policies in the United &#036;tates. This is just an extension of the same trend represented by Fox News&#39; embedded journalists. The media always serves the imperialist system.

Imperialists murdering their critics in the media is also nothing new. There is a long history of the United &#036;tates murdering journalists across the Third World. These latest events show the bloody truth about imperialism -- this war is about power and imperialist profit. The imperialists have no real concern about the liberal-democratic freedoms they claim to uphold. Nor do they have any interest in free speech in Iraq nor anywhere else. In reality, the imperialists allow freedom of the press only so long as the press doesn&#39;t step too far out of line and threaten the position of the ruling class.

The claims by the imperialists that they want a free society in Iraq is a total lie. Imperialists have no concern for Iraqis nor any oppressed peoples. Imperialists use rhetoric about humyn rights and freedom to justify their wars of aggression. In reality, imperialists themselves do the most to suppress freedom; they are the greatest violators of humyn rights. Those resisting imperialism deserve our support. Those journalists who risk their lives for truth deserve our support -- whether it is Mumia Abu Jamal who sits on death row for daring to speak the truth about U.&#036;. violence against the Black Nation, or those who in effect risk their lives to bring us the truth about U.&#036;. imperialist crimes in Iraq.

Notes

1. "Memo: Bush wanted Aljazeera bombed," Aljazeera.Net, 22 November 2005.

2. "Pair charged in UK bomb memo leak," Aljazeera.Net, 29 November 2005.

3. Maoist, "Chemical Weapons Used by Amerikkkan Military against Iraq," mimnotes.info, 9 November 2005.

4. Richard Norton-Taylor, "Al-Jazeera demands answers after claim that Bush wanted to bomb headquarters," The Guardian, 26 November 2005.

5. "Journalists killed in Iraq: Profile," Aljazeera.Net, 21 March 2004.

6. "Aljazeera crew member killed in Iraq," Aljazeera.Net, 22 May 2004.

7. Richard Norton-Taylor, "Al-Jazeera demands answers after claim that Bush wanted to bomb headquarters," The Guardian, 26 November 2005.

8. Mark Mazzetti and Borzou Daragahi, "U.S. paying Iraqi press to run favorable stories," 30 November 2005, http://news.ft.com/cms/s/3ca72216-6179-11d...00779e2340.html (http://news.ft.com/cms/s/3ca72216-6179-11da-8470-0000779e2340.html)

[which doctor]

Al Jazeera isn&#39;t much better than our own news networks.

On another note there is this arab news network, funded by the US government, taped in america, and broadcasted to the middle east. It is very pro-america, I once watched a special about it but I forgot the name.

[Abood]

On another note there is this arab news network, funded by the US government, taped in america, and broadcasted to the middle east. It is very pro-america, I once watched a special about it but I forgot the name.

Is it Al Hurra iraqi channel? cuz i heard that its actually pro-america and tries to brainwash iraqis...

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Bush wanted to bomb satellite TV headquarters in Qatar
U.S. President George W. Bush suggested bombing the headquarters of Al-Jazeera, an Arab satellite TV station, in Doha, Qatar, when he met British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the White House on April 16, 2004. The U.S. government has regularly accused the television station of being "anti-American".

The Daily Mirror originally reported the story, attributing its information to unidentified sources in the British government who said the conversation was recorded in a top secret memo.. "Bush was deadly serious," it quoted one source as saying.

Al-Jazeera is taking the report seriously after one of its journalists was killed in April of 2003, when the channel&#39;s Baghdad office was hit during a bombing campaign and another office in Kabul, Afghanistan was destroyed by a U.S. missile in November 2002. The State Department said both strikes were mistakes.

A few weeks after the report broke, two men were charged with "damaging disclosure of a document" under Britain&#39;s Official Secrets Act for their involvement in the leak of the memo.

Several British newspapers have also reported government threats attempting to gag them. Lord Goldsmith, the United Kingdom&#39;s attorney-general, has banned newspapers from publishing any details of the memo under the Official Secrets Act.

Both the U.S. and UK governments have refused to respond to the reports.

http://freepeoplesmovement.org/fp16t.html

[FULL METAL JACKET]

Originally posted by Socialist Advocate+Jan 29 2006, 01:02 PM--> (Socialist Advocate @ Jan 29 2006, 01:02 PM)
Originally posted by Clenched [email protected] 29 2006, 12:33 PM

Socialist [email protected] 29 2006, 12:16 PM

The U&#036; did bomb aljazeera on more than one occasion.
When did that happen? i never heard of it before.
do u have any articles about it?&#33;
Ther have been many cases of Al Jazzera reporters being killed by American forces. It&#39;s mentioned in john Simpsons book; THe wars against Saddam.
But that doesnt mean the US bombed Al Jazeera. :unsure: [/b]
Yes it does. The U.S bombed the Al Jazeera offices in Afghanistan in 2001.

Read this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1653887.stm