Did The President Propose To Take Out Al Jazeera? Did George Bush seriously suggest that coalition forces should bomb
al-Jazeera headquarters because he was unhappy over their coverage of
the siege of Fallujah in 2004? The story seems confirmed because Britain is prosecuting these guys
under the Official Secrets Act. Since there's no case unless real
secrets are revealed, that's a rock-solid confirmation that the story
is accurate.
If the story were false in any way, they'd be charged with libel instead.
LONDON (AP) — 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.
Al-Jazeera said in a statement that it was
investigating the report. "If the report is correct then this would be
both shocking and worrisome not only to Al-Jazeera but to media
organizations across the world," it said.
The network said that if true the report would
"cast serious doubts" on the Bush administration's explanations of
earlier incidents involving Al-Jazeera journalists and the American
military.
The document was described as a transcript of a conversation between the two leaders.
"A good reason for believing in the authenticity of the memo is
that an unnamed spokesman for Blair was quoted in the original story as
saying that Bush's remark was "humorous, not serious." This is as much
as to concede that some such conversation did in fact take place. It is
of course not always possible to tell when the president is joking, but
another who saw the transcript claimed that he was "deadly serious, as
was Blair." (This by the way is a rebuke to those who routinely taunt
the prime minister as "Bush's poodle.")
Another and again somewhat inductive reason is the response of Colin
Powell, who was finally asked about the meeting to his face outside St.
John's Episcopal Church in Maclean, Va., on Sunday morning. The Daily
Mirror's reporter, Ryan Parry, asked him a question that contained the
date and subject of the meeting, and was successively told "I can't
remember every meeting," … "I don't know, you'll have to forgive me," …
"I don't recall this," … "I don't remember the Al Jazeera thing,
frankly," along with several more brushoffs of the same "nondenial
denial" sort. I am not the world's greatest fan of Powell or of his
secretaryship, but the chief steward of American foreign policy might
be expected to remember a proposal to bomb the territory of a friendly
neutral that is the site of U.S. Central Command, as well as a sharp
dispute about it between his president and his country's chief
political and military ally. If he doesn't feel confident enough to
say: "That is too absurdly untrue to deserve even a comment from me,"
then he is not doing much better than stalling.
It is high time that this question was ventilated by people other
than British editors and journalists who labor under the repressive
conditions of the Official Secrets Act. Al Jazeera is not describable,
perhaps, as a strictly objective station, but it is the main source of
news in the Arab world because it is not the property of any state or
party, and it has given live and unedited coverage of things like the
elections in Iraq. In 2001, its office in Afghanistan was destroyed by
"smart" bombs. In 2003, its correspondent in Baghdad was killed in an
American missile strike. If it becomes widely believed that it has been
or is being targeted, the consequences in the region will be rather
more than Karen Hughes' "public diplomacy" can handle."
The very fact that so many people allow for the distinct possibility
that Bush may have been serious tells you a lot about Bush. People do
not have much confidence in his judgement.
What happens when you put words in Jehovah's mouth? He takes away your right to build a Jesus playground. It's a bummer, Pat. We feel your pain. JERUSALEM - Israel won't do business with Pat
Robertson after the evangelical leader suggested Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon's massive stroke was divine punishment, a tourism official said
Wednesday, putting into doubt plans to develop a large Christian
tourism center in northern Israel.
Avi
Hartuv, spokesman for Israel's tourism minister, said officials are
furious with Robertson's suggestion that the stroke was retribution for
Sharon's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip last summer. "We can't accept
this kind of statement," Hartuv said.
Robertson
is leading a group of evangelicals who have pledged to raise $50
million to build the Christian Heritage Center in Israel's northern
Galilee region, where tradition says Jesus lived and taught.
Under a tentative agreement, Robertson's group
was to put up the funding, while Israel would provide land and
infrastructure. Israeli officials believe the project will generate
tens of millions of tourism dollars.
But the project now is in question in light of Robertson's comments, said Hartuv.
"We
will not do business with him, only with other evangelicals who don't
back these comments," Hartuv said. "We will do business with other
evangelical leaders, friends of Israel, but not with him."
A
day after Sharon's stroke on Jan. 4, Robertson suggested the prime
minister was being punished for "dividing God's land," a reference to
the August pullout from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements.
"God
considers this land to be his," Robertson said on his TV program "The
700 Club." "You read the Bible and he says 'This is my land,' and for
any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and
give it away, God says, 'No, this is mine."'
Robertson's comments also drew condemnation from other Christian leaders and even U.S. President George W. Bush.
The ministry's decision was first reported in Wednesday's edition of The Jerusalem Post.
Christian center planned near Galilee Robertson's
Christian Heritage Center was to be tucked away in 35 acres of rolling
Galilee hills, near key Christian sites such as Capernaum, the Mount of
the Beatitudes, where tradition says Jesus delivered the Sermon of the
Mount, and Tabgha -- on the shores of the Sea of Galilee -- where
Christians believe Jesus performed the miracle of the loaves and fish.
The
project underlines how ties have strengthened in recent years between
Israel and evangelical Christian groups that support the Jewish state.
Israel
was considering leasing the land to the Christians for free. Tourism
Minister Avraham Hirschson predicted it would annually draw up to 1
million pilgrims who would spend $1.5 billion in Israel and support
about 40,000 jobs.
Hirschson,
however, is one of Sharon's biggest supporters, and a member of the
centrist Kadima party recently founded by the prime minister.
Hartuv left the door open to continuing the project, but only with people who don't back Robertson's statements.
What a shock it must be to Robertson to be actually held accountable
for his bizarre statements. Maybe eventually the media here will get
around to acting as forthrightly around him as the Israelis have. The
idea of this Christian center in Galilee sounded like a mistake anyway
(speaking as a Catholic); there are enough tensions in that part of the
world without a bunch of right-wing evangelical Americans making it
worse. Pilgrims of all religions should be able to visit Galilee
without having to endure proselytizing and (no doubt), getting hit up
for "donations" from Robertson's cabal.
Hahahaha! Of course, I think everyone but Pat saw that coming. To bad, Pat, no Jesus World for you!
LONDON (AP) — 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 
JERUSALEM - Israel won't do business with Pat
Robertson after the evangelical leader suggested Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon's massive stroke was divine punishment, a tourism official said
Wednesday, 
