Bush Threatened to Bomb al-Jazeera

[toasty]

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1123/dailyUpdate.html

highlights:

The Times of London reports that the attorney general of Britain has warned British papers that they will be prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act if they publish details of a conversation between Tony Blair and George Bush in which Mr. Bush is alleged to have suggested bombing Al Jazeera, the Arab satellite TV channel based in Qatar.

...

On Tuesday, the British paper the Daily Mirror published the details of a government memo, marked Top Secret, that recorded a conversation between Bush and Mr. Blair that took place in the White House last April 16. The Daily Mirror's editor said he informed Downing Street that he was going to print details of the memo, but was not told at the time to stop. That order did not come until the day after the first story appeared in the paper.

The Evening Standard reports that the unnamed sources who leaked the memo to the Mirror say it records "Bush suggesting that he might order the bombing of Al-Jazeera's studios in Qatar."

...

"An attack on al-Jazeera would also have been an attack on Qatar, where the US military has its Middle East headquarters. So the possibility has to be considered that Bush was in fact making some kind of joke and that this was not a serious proposition."

Boy I hope Bush was just joking about this, or that it simply isn't true. It's one thing to be unhappy about the press coverage we're getting abroad, but to bomb a civilian media network -- in a friendly country no less -- just because Bush didn't like what they were saying is inconceivable.

Dumbass...

[KarmaticOne]

Re: Bush Threatened to Bomb al-Jazeera

I wonder what’s more shocking, the thought of the act, or the fact that it wouldn’t surprise me if he DID end up doing it

[KarmaticOne]

Re: Bush Threatened to Bomb al-Jazeera

I wonder what?s more shocking, the thought of the act, or the fact that it wouldn?t surprise me if he DID end up doing it

[KarmaticOne]

Re: Bush Threatened to Bomb al-Jazeera

sorry about the double post.

[DragonFire]

Re: Bush Threatened to Bomb al-Jazeera

OMG!! but u know what ! totally expected from a dumbass .. he lost the love of the world , and even his people .. soo freakin dum

[Lorn]

Re: Bush Threatened to Bomb al-Jazeera

Definitely a dumbass...

[Yao]

Re: Bush Threatened to Bomb al-Jazeera

This is hurting is image outside the US sooooo badly...

[Localizer]

Re: Bush Threatened to Bomb al-Jazeera

I highly doubt he would say that. The president may not be up to par, but he's not that stupid.

[cosmo]

Re: Bush Threatened to Bomb al-Jazeera

I highly doubt he would say that. The president may not be up to par, but he's not that stupid.

I agree. But it isn't Bush that is hurting the US badly, it's the press that's against him. It's almost unbelievable how many twisted press reports have been unleashed to harm this administration, though when it gets rebutted by conflicting evidence, the rebuttals are hardly, if ever, reported.

It doesn't matter if it's false, so long as the press gets it out there. Consistent untruths and the distortion of reality, however small, over time does the greatest damage.

[Yao]

Re: Bush Threatened to Bomb al-Jazeera

Well, with such a polarized media field that was to be expected Cosmo...the the same happened when Billy C was in office, so there's nothing new here.

I disagree over Bush though: him and his administration are damaging the image of your country beyond belief, although I know you will strongly disagree since you pretty much back his policies as far as I know

[cosmo]

Re: Bush Threatened to Bomb al-Jazeera

although I know you will strongly disagree since you pretty much back his policies as far as I know

I backed his tax cuts, which have helped the economy enormously, and I back this war, and his intention to put originalists on the court. To be frank, Bush is not a conservative, albeit his opponents call him one. He's a mold of a 1970's liberal. I'd respect a move to secure the northern and southern border. And his spending is out of control. And his team of political advisors suck ass at making the case for just about ANYTHING. I could definently do a better job.

Besides that, the only thing that could tarnish his image is the foreign policy, and we can tell which international political figures oppose him regarding his agenda.

So, how exactly is he damaging our image around the world? For pursuing a strong foreign policy agenda? For going to war with Iraq?

He's pledged countless billions in foreign aid to African nations, and has forgiven their debts, so I think he's okay there.

[dig72]

Re: Bush Threatened to Bomb al-Jazeera

So, how exactly is he damaging our image around the world? For pursuing a strong foreign policy agenda? For going to war with Iraq?

Are these trick questions?

[Yao]

Re: Bush Threatened to Bomb al-Jazeera

I backed his tax cuts, which have helped the economy enormously, and I back this war, and his intention to put originalists on the court. To be frank, Bush is not a conservative, albeit his opponents call him one. He's a mold of a 1970's liberal. I'd respect a move to secure the northern and southern border. And his spending is out of control. And his team of political advisors suck ass at making the case for just about ANYTHING. I could definently do a better job.

Besides that, the only thing that could tarnish his image is the foreign policy, and we can tell which international political figures oppose him regarding his agenda.

So, how exactly is he damaging our image around the world? For pursuing a strong foreign policy agenda? For going to war with Iraq?

He's pledged countless billions in foreign aid to African nations, and has forgiven their debts, so I think he's okay there.

No he's not okay there, sorry to tell you that. But even Blair is not okay there, even though many people think so. For that matter the whole of the US and Europe are NOT okay there, but i'll explain that later.

Where to begin on Bush...there's too much to tell. I am at this point convinced that in the end war in Iraq was inevitable for example, it's just the way he has let it come to that.

'Bad Intelligence', just forgetting about catching Bin Laden (well..diverting the bulk of the resources available to a less pressing matter), the stupid remarks he has made over time about his God and now bombing AL-Jazeera and shit like that.

Iraq itself was not the mistake, but the way he brought it to that. Calling out other countries for not being 'with him' is a big fucking mistake: he alienated quite some trade parters who may in the future be focusing more on the Asian markets rather than the American market. He did not sign Kyoto, neither did China, basically telling the world they can 'fuck off' with their environmental measures and that economical growth is more important than keeping this planet inhabitable.

He's totally acting like a trigger-happy redneck in the field of politicians man, and even though I can clearly appreciate a politician that is not afraid to show some balls (that's why I piss on my own prime minister, the king of pussies), I do resent people that are blind and deaf to what is happening around them and that just keep going like a battering ram.

[thesightless]

Re: Bush Threatened to Bomb al-Jazeera

they should have planted some ppl there to see just how they obtain these al queda tapes. are they dropped off, mailed in, or emailed? either way im sure the millitary has the technology to trace the dropped off ones or emailed ones. the mail would have been nearly impossible.

[toasty]

Re: Bush Threatened to Bomb al-Jazeera

It doesn't matter if it's false, so long as the press gets it out there. Consistent untruths and the distortion of reality, however small, over time does the greatest damage.

Sorry to have to break it to you, but the Bush administration has used the media's failure to do any fact checking to its advantage in a big way as well. Now, the message we get from the press is, "the left says X, and the right say Y," without any requirement that X or Y be grounded in fact or anything more than a suggestion.

One of the more popular techniques being used to combat any negative public sentiment regarding something the White House has done is to "suggest" an alternative with a positive spin, but stopping short of actually presenting it as fact -- for example, something to the effect of "a senior Bush administration official suggests that this may be due to [insert reason here]." Inevitably, it gets played over and over again as part of an attempt to present both sides of the story, and before you know it, it is accepted as fact despite the fact that there may not have been any support for the proposed explanation in the first place.

The media are so obsessed with appearing unbiased that they have become nothing more than puppets for the talking heads of both parties. This is not a case of "the liberal media vs the right" as is so often suggested. It is the right vs the left, with the media being the weapon of choice.