Blair talked Bush out of bombing al-Jazeera

Politics International Politics
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Ok this message is edited by myself as I was not aware of a specific rule here. I apologize for this. Anyway, this story was originally reported by UK newspapers and not french or german media :wink:

I wonder what s the reaction of Al Jazeera will be

news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051122/wl … diajazeera

guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0, … 88,00.html

news.scotsman.com/international. … 2282672005

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This is a very interesting event, isn’t it? Not surprisingly, few major American media are following this one very closely. An indignant denial from the White House is all it takes to keep those chihuahuas from suggesting that their great leader could be unhinged.

Try this link to Google News, and notice how nearly all the sources are outside the U.S.

tinyurl.com/cx2xn

Since Britain used its official secrets act to silence any further reporting of this event, it seems it is probably true. Britain did however permit the original story to run, although they were consulted first. It seems to me they wanted the story out, but then to look as if they were against it coming out.

3

Calling Brits “chihuahuas” and Tony Blair a “great leader” is rare indeed on this board.

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Isn’t the OP’s post against the rules???

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It is. She’s been asked to flesh it out.

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Isn’t it against the rules to question in the thread if the OP’s post is against the rules???

:wink:

OK, I’ll go to bed. :unamused:

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It may even be against the rules to question whether or not it is against the rules to question whether or not it is against the rules for all I know.

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Thankfully, you didn’t make that last statement into a question.

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Here’s another bit on this story from my absolutely favorite source of info, Amy Goodman of Democracynow.org: Al Jazeera London Bureau Chief Responds to Report of British Memo Alleging Bush Wanted to Bomb Network HQ in Doha

[quote]AMY GOODMAN: You have been commenting for your network, Al Jazeera, on various talk shows since this was revealed yesterday. One of the people you were up against was arguing that it was right to attack Al Jazeera, saying it’s state media.

YOUSRI FOUDA: Well, it’s his opinion, and I wouldn’t actually generalize that every American would like to murder journalists for reporting whatever they are reporting. Even if I begin to agree or accept any allegation against Al Jazeera, which I totally refute, I certainly – no decent human being on earth would even begin to justify murdering journalists. And in the name of what? In the name of spreading freedom in our part of the world? I mean, you just can

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So this is another allegation. Has it been proved? No? Well then…

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Well, since the British government is using the Official Secrets Act to prohibit the newspaper from publishing the memo itself, it’s rather hard to get that proof, isn’t it?

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Fair point Vay but we do not know all the reasons behind this decision either so it is a bit of damned if you do and damned if you don’t because now many posters will assume that the allegations were true when other factors could be behind the decision. No?

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Ajoooo, free press in Arabia is a good thing,

on the other hand we have to watch the latest “BinLaden dances a 3 step Foxtrott in morning gown” videos from this damned station.

So, OK, a little bomb or so wouldn’t matter.

BobEvil

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[quote]In Ramallah, staff members of Al Jazeera TV chant,

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‘Al Jazeera with its cleverness and expertise?’ Well they’re sounding a bit smug, aren’t they? After all, it wasn’t they who uncovered this story. They just read it in the newspaper like everyone else!

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Gee, all this fuss just because Bush wanted to murder them- some people get upset over the smallest things.

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Is there any hope? Do we all just have to accept that there will be no further details provided in this particular case? Somebody find the secretary who took notes during the meeting!

Has Tony Blair made any comment? Does anyone know a a good blog for watching the details of this case?

(Sorry for all the questions.) :s

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To attack a TV newschannel in a country which is your friend, I doubt the people of Qatar would find this amusing

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To attack a TV newschannel in a country which is your friend, I doubt the people of Qatar would find this amusing[/quote]

Shouldn’t that be “TV Newschannel?”

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To attack a TV newschannel in a country which is your friend, I doubt the people of Qatar would find this amusing[/quote]

Shouldn’t that be “TV Newschannel?”[/quote]

What’s a Schannel?

… sorry :blush: