Did Bush seek to bomb al-Jazeera? We are not allowed to know

[G_j]

according to the following,

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1921328,00.html

For their eyes only

New evidence clears up whether Bush sought to bomb al-Jazeera. But we are not allowed to hear it

Richard Norton-Taylor
Friday October 13, 2006
The Guardian


Two men are to be tried behind closed doors in an Old Bailey courtroom in a move that will stop the public finding out whether George Bush proposed what would have been a war crime and how Tony Blair reacted. The evidence the government does not want us to hear is in an official record of a meeting in Washington in April 2004, when the situation in Iraq was deteriorating fast. The memo, it has been reported, refers to Bush's alleged proposal to bomb the Arabic TV channel al-Jazeera, and is said to reveal how far Blair went in criticising US military tactics in Iraq at a time when troops were bombarding Falluja.

David Keogh, a former civil servant, is charged with unlawfully disclosing the memo. Leo O'Connor, a former Labour researcher, is charged with disclosing a classified document. The way the government went about demanding a private trial, and the arguments used by the judge to allow it, are deeply disturbing.

Sir Nigel Sheinwald, Blair's foreign-policy adviser, who was present at the Washington meeting, told government lawyers that the disclosure of the memo "could have a serious impact upon the international relations" of the UK, and was likely to have damaged the "promotion or protection" of British interests, including those of British citizens in Iraq.

Sheinwald signed a certificate necessary to persuade the judge that the trial should be held in secret before Keogh and O'Connor were charged at the end of last year. We now know that, soon after the men were charged, government prosecutors requested an adjournment of the pre-trial hearings until April 2006. They said they needed a certificate from the foreign secretary. Two weeks later Margaret Beckett replaced Jack Straw. In June she signed the required certificate. The government has not explained why Straw failed to sign one when he was foreign secretary.

<snip>

[Selatius]

1. They call that the judicial system???

[leftchick]

2. killing the messengers!

God, this is so sad. :(

[Richard Steele]

3. The need for SECRECY actually ANSWERS the question, you know...

It can be boiled down to this:

Q: Did bush seek to bomb al-Jazeera, yes or no?

A: "The answer to that question is being kept secret
because it "could have a serious impact upon the
international relations" of the UK, and is likely to
damage the "promotion or protection" of British interests.

So, if all that is true, there's just no way in hell the answer is "no".

[TheBaldyMan]

7. to answer 'no would be a straight lie, it would also embarass UK govt.

The spinless excuses that pass for politicians in Westminster nowadays will dump on anyone if that means they can avoid an adverse headline in tomorrows press.

In this case, any evidence that would make Tony Blair look bad is held in camera.

[izzie]

4. I wonder if it was that home they hit? The paper said it was the

only news place around and they army knew where they were. I recall it well as a lot was said about this house with the station in it at the time. Bad move to keep it undercover as every one will be sure it is true now. Always seems to work like that.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. This was about bombing them in Qatar

and they didn't actually do it. They did bomb Al Jazeera in Kabul in 2001, and again in Baghdad in 2003; in 2004 Balir seems to have been able to persuade Bush it wasn't a good idea to try it outside a war zone - it's even more difficult to find an excuse for bombing civilians in a friendly country that's at peace.

[izzie]

6. I missed that one. Bomb them in a friendly country?

Bush must be a nut if he even said that to some one in his closet. The numb had to know that would get out. The slapstick group that seem to be playing in the WH and DOD is just beyond me any how. I think most of the world is just shacking its head and going right around us.

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. The spin at the time it came out was that Bush wasn't serious

Bush disclosed his plan to target al-Jazeera, a civilian station with a huge Mid-East following, at a White House face-to-face with Mr Blair on April 16 last year (ie in 2004).

At the time, the US was launching an all-out assault on insurgents in the Iraqi town of Fallujah.

Al-Jazeera infuriated Washington and London by reporting from behind rebel lines and broadcasting pictures of dead soldiers, private contractors and Iraqi victims.
...
Its single-storey buildings would have made an easy target for bombers. As it is sited away from residential areas, and more than 10 miles from the US's desert base in Qatar, there would have been no danger of "collateral damage".

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

As that article says, Bush's defenders claim he wasn't serious, but those who have seen the wording say he was - which is why seeing the actual memo would be important to us (and embarrassing to the US government). I doubt an off hand remark by Bush would get written down, anyway - only the 'real' discussion he and Blair had would be.

[izzie]

9. I think I recall that now. It just went into my mind a crazy Bush

He seems to joke about a lot of odd things. What do you think? Lots about the constitutions and then seems to do every thing to get what he wants done.