Psyche, Science, and Society

Press freedom or freedom to bomb the press? The Bush plan to bomb Al-Jazeera

November 23rd, 2005

My article, Press Freedom or Freedom to Bomb the Press? The Bush Plan to Bomb Al-Jazeera has appeared on ZNet. An extract:

The British Daily Mirror newspaper reported today that, in April 2004, President Bush planned to bomb the independent Al-Jazeera television network headquarters in US ally Qatar. Tony Blair reportedly talked him out of it. In case one doubts this report, the fact that the British government has already indicted a civil servant for leaking this document confirms its validity. In typical fashion, the White House press spokesman Scott McClellan issued one of his typical nondenials in an e-mail to the Associated Press, writing: “We are not interested in dignifying something so outlandish and inconceivable with a response.”

In evaluating this report, we should remember that on April 8, 2003, Al-Jazeera ’s office in Baghdad was bombed by US forces, killing a journalist, Tarek Ayoub, an event movingly described in the movie Control Room. This attack was despite the coordinates of the office being given to US forces, and despite huge markings being placed on the roof. [On the same day, a US tank slowly aimed and fired in broad daylight on the Palestine Hotel, killing two journalists.]

The April 8th attack was not the first or the only time the US attacked Al-Jazeera….

Read the full article here.

Entry Filed under: Iraq, Social Issues, War and Peace