Posted on 11/22/2005 11:21:30 AM PST by West Coast Conservative
A civil servant has been charged under Britain’s Official Secrets Act for allegedly leaking a government memo that a newspaper said Tuesday suggested that Prime Minister Tony Blair persuaded President Bush not to bomb the Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera.
The Daily Mirror reported that Bush spoke of targeting Al-Jazeera’s headquarters in Doha, Qatar, when he met Blair at the White House on April 16, 2004. The Bush administration has regularly accused Al-Jazeera of being nothing more than a mouthpiece for anti-American sentiments.
The Daily Mirror attributed its information to unidentified sources. One source, said to be in the government, was quoted as saying that the alleged threat was “humorous, not serious,” but the newspaper quoted another source as saying that “Bush was deadly serious, as was Blair.”
Blair’s office declined to comment on the report, stressing it never discusses leaked documents.
In Washington, a Pentagon official described the story as "totally absurd."
In Qatar, Al-Jazeera said it was aware of the report, but did not wish to comment. The U.S. Embassy in London said it was making no comment.
The document was described as a transcript of a conversation between the two leaders.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
We need a similar law, with the death penalty, enacted here.
Bush: Ya know Tony, sometimes I feel like bombing Al Jizzera.
Blair: You don't say? Well of course, one couldn't blame you if a munition were to fly off course and inadvertently strike their compound...
Bush: Nope, happens all the time.
Blair: Of course, we'll have none of that, will we.
Bush (pausing): Nawwww!
This gets entered into the memo, BLAIR STOPS BUSH FROM BOMBING AL JIZZEERA.
I think bombing al-Jazeera would have been a good start. I, frankly, would sleep well if televison were filled of images of those terrorist propagandists being blown to shreds and their remains litting the streets.
This just sounds ridiculous. They are talking about the headquarters in Qatar, not an office in Baghdad. (BTW, didn't the Baghdad office actually get hit?)
In the runup to the war, our headquarters were in Doha, Qatar, if you recall. Qatar is the most pro-Western country in the gulf. I can't imagine that such a suggestion would have been made.
well i wouldn't bomb aljazerra until after we'd taken out the NY Times
Kinda one in the same, aren't they?
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