"Exclusive: Bush Plot to Bomb His Arab Ally," by Kevin Maguire and Andy Lines - The Mirror (UK), 22 Nov 2005
President Bush planned to bomb Arab TV station al-Jazeera in friendly Qatar, a "Top Secret" No 10 memo reveals.
But he was talked out of it at a White House summit by Tony Blair, who said it would provoke a worldwide backlash.
A source said: "There's no doubt what Bush wanted, and no doubt Blair didn't want him to do it." Al-Jazeera is accused by the US of fuelling the Iraqi insurgency....
A Government official suggested that the Bush threat had been "humorous, not serious."
But another source declared: "Bush was deadly serious, as was Blair. That much is absolutely clear from the language used by both men."
Yesterday former Labour Defence Minister Peter Kilfoyle challenged Downing Street to publish the five-page transcript of the two leaders' conversation. He said: "It's frightening to think that such a powerful man as Bush can propose such cavalier actions.
"I hope the Prime Minister insists this memo be published. It gives an insight into the mindset of those who were the architects of war."
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.
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.
The station, watched by millions, has also been used by bin Laden and al-Qaeda to broadcast atrocities and to threaten the West....
It does seem plausible that Bush meant any reference to bombing Al Jazeera as a joke. It seems in keeping with other pulling-your-leg kind of jokes he's made to foreign leaders (one of which I read about somewhere not long ago but which, of course, I can't recall a word of now...) Even if that is the case, though, the Mirror story is an interesting example of the kind of thing that can become a public diplomacy crisis -- I was going to say mini-crisis, but I'm not sure this story doesn't have the potential to grow.
The story also gives a good example of the way that public image and context can give a story wings. There are a lot of people who will find this story credible because they already have a fixed image of Bush as a bellicose man.
Added later on 22 Nov:
"US: Al-Jazeera Bomb Story 'Outlandish'" - CNN (CNN.com), 22 Nov 2005
LONDON, England (CNN) -- The White House characterized as "outlandish" Tuesday a British newspaper report that President Bush once discussed bombing the headquarters of Arabic-language television network Al-Jazeera with Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Al-Jazeera, based in Qatar, called on the British government to confirm or deny the report, which appeared Tuesday in the Daily Mirror, a London tabloid....
The Daily Mirror reported that Blair talked Bush out of launching an airstrike against Al-Jazeera's headquarters in Qatar -- a U.S. ally -- during an April 16, 2004, meeting at the White House.
Citing a top-secret memo from Blair's office, the tabloid said Bush was angered by the network's coverage of the uprising in the western Iraqi city of Falluja.
U.S. Marines had been deployed to the city about 35 miles west of Baghdad on the Euphrates River to restore order after four American security guards had been killed and their bodies mutilated by insurgents.
"We are not going to dignify something so outlandish with a response," a White House official told CNN. A Pentagon official called the Daily Mirror report "absolutely absurd."
Al-Jazeera said it wanted to be "absolutely sure" the memo cited in the report is genuine and urged 10 Downing Street to confirm the information if true.
If the memo is accurate, the network's statement said, "it would be incumbent on them to explain their positions on statements regarding the deliberate targeting of journalists and news organizations."
Downing Street spokesman Ian Gleeson said Blair's office would have no comment since the memo the Daily Mirror cited is the subject of court action.
The newspaper reported that two people have been charged with violating British secrecy laws in connection with its release....
"Bush Al-Jazeera 'Plot' Dismissed" - BBC News, 22 Nov 2005
The White House has dismissed claims George Bush was talked out of bombing Arab television station al-Jazeera by UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The allegations were made by an unnamed source in the Daily Mirror newspaper.
A White House official said: "We are not going to dignify something so outlandish with a response...."
BBC News website world affairs correspondent Paul Reynolds said: "An attack on al-Jazeera would also have been an attack on Qatar, where the US military has its Middle East headquarters. So the possibility has to be considered that Mr Bush was in fact making some kind of joke and that this was not a serious proposition."
According to The Mirror, the transcript is the document which allegedly turned up in the constituency office of former Labour MP Tony Clarke in May 2004.
Mr Clarke - who voted against the Iraq War and lost his Northampton South seat in this May's election - said he returned the document to the government because of fears British troops' lives could be put at risk if it became public.
Cabinet Office civil servant David Keogh has been charged under the Official Secrets Act of passing it to Mr Clarke's former researcher Leo O'Connor.
Both men are bailed to appear at Bow Street Magistrates Court next week.
Mr Clarke refused to discuss the contents of the document which he received, telling the Press Association his priority was supporting Mr O'Connor, who he said did "exactly the right thing" in bringing it to his attention.
Added 23 Nov 2005:
"Law Chief Gags The Mirror on Bush Leak," by Kevin Maguire - The Mirror (UK), 23 Nov 2005
THE Daily Mirror was yesterday told not to publish further details from a top secret memo, which revealed that President Bush wanted to bomb an Arab TV station.
The gag by the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith came nearly 24 hours after the Mirror informed Downing Street of its intention to reveal how Tony Blair talked Bush out of attacking satellite station al-Jazeera's HQ in friendly Qatar.
No 10 did nothing to stop us publishing our front page exclusive yesterday.
But the Attorney General warned that publication of any further details from the document would be a breach of the Official Secrets Act.
He threatened an immediate High Court injunction unless the Mirror confirmed it would not publish further details. We have essentially agreed to comply....
"Editors Are Threatened Over TV Station Bombing Claim," by Rosemary Bennett and Tim Reid - The Times (London), 23 Nov 2005
Newspapers editors were threatened with prosecution under the Official Secrets Act last night if they published details of a conversation between Tony Blair and George Bush in which the President is alleged to have suggested bombing al-Jazeera, the Arab news network. Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney-General, informed newspapers editors including that of The Times that “publication of a document that has been unlawfully disclosed by a Crown servant could be in breach of Section 5 of the Official Secrets Act.”
The Blair Government has obtained court injunctions against newspapers before but it has never prosecuted editors for publishing the contents of leaked documents....
Last night Peter Kilfoyle, the Labour MP for Liverpool Walton and a former Defence Minister, tabled an early day motion urging Mr Blair to publish the conversation. He said that what Mr Bush said was a “matter of great interest” to MPs and the public....
He also dismissed comments by Whitehall officials that any suggestion of an attack would have been in jest.
“This is a matter of great interest. There was an attack on the hotel in Baghdad used by al-Jazeera journalists which caused great controversy. The US also attacked a Serbian TV station (during the Kosovo war). It is easy to dismiss this as a glib comment, but I don’t find it very funny at all,” he said....
Added 25 Nov 2005:
"Jazeera Wants Bomb Memo Answers," by Peter Graff - Reuters (London), 25 Nov 2005
Arabic news channel Al Jazeera's general manager flew to London on Friday to demand the British government explain a leaked report that President George W. Bush wanted to bomb the TV station....
"I have come to London in order to reach out to British officials, to investigate about the memo that some claim exists during the past week," Al Jazeera managing director Waddah Khanfar told Reuters by telephone after his arrival in London.
"It is a matter of deep concern for all of us in al Jazeera, and the Arab world and the media."
He said a delegation from the channel would deliver a letter to Blair on Saturday asking for an interview....
Blair's spokesman said the prime minister's office had not yet received a formal request from Al Jazeera for an interview, but the British government would be willing to talk to Al Jazeera as it would to any other news organization.
"This is the first I suspect that Downing Street has heard of this request. It is somewhat short notice," he said.
"We are quite happy to talk to Al Jazeera just as we are quite happy to talk to other broadcasters and media operations. In terms of who talks to them I think that depends on who is available and how much time he will give us to set up meetings."
Al Jazeera has repeatedly denied U.S. accusations it sides with insurgents in Iraq. Khanfar said it was time the United States stopped accusing it of supporting terrorism.
"We demand to know the facts about this document and we demand a (cessation) of all kinds of accusations from the American administration."
Asked if he thought it was true that Bush wanted to bomb the station, Khanfar said:
"We are going to suspend any judgment until we find out if that document is correct or not. But I can say we were attacked twice, once in Kabul and once in Baghdad, and two of our colleagues were killed...."
Added 29 Nov 2005:
"Blair Denies Knowing of US Bomb Plans" - AP (London), 28 Nov 2005
Prime Minister Tony Blair said Monday he had received no information suggesting the United States planned to bomb the Al-Jazeera television network.
The Daily Mirror last week published a document it said was a transcript of an April 2004 meeting between President Bush and Blair in which Bush spoke of attacking Al-Jazeera's headquarters in Doha, Qatar.
The newspaper, citing unidentified officials, said Blair argued against an attack. It quoted officials as disagreeing about whether Bush's alleged comment was a joke or was meant seriously.
A White House spokesman last week called the claims "outlandish and inconceivable."
Lawmaker Adam Price asked Blair in a written question made public Monday "what information you received on action that the United States administration proposed to take against the Al-Jazeera television channel."
Blair replied: "None."
Added 1 Dec 2005:
"'Don't Bomb Al-Jazeera,'" by Shirine Bahaa - Al Ahram Weekly (Cairo), 1 - 7 Dec 2005
"It was not as much surprising news as it was peculiar timing," one Arab observer remarked during an interview on Al-Jazeera this week.
For many, reports that United States President George Bush has considered bombing Al-Jazeera fits only too well with norms of the US administration and its neo-cons. By now, their method of dealing with any irk -- whether person, place or institution -- has become somewhat familiar: just bomb it out of existence.
One has to view this recent incident in the same frame as Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and secret prisons scattered throughout Europe. And US aggression against Al-Jazeera -- whether its offices, reporters, or cameramen -- carries a long history....
Soon after, news of the memo spread, Al-Jazeera set up a blog in its defence. "Don't bomb us" ( www.dontbomb.blogspot.com ) spelled things out in facts and figures: while Bush has received about 500 hours of airtime, Bin Laden has received only five....
"It does seem plausible that Bush meant any reference to bombing Al Jazeera as a joke"
Shouldn't this kind of humor be of concern?
Imagine Bush and Blair are not two statesmen who want to bring freedom of speech, a free press and democracy and the rule of law to the Middle East, but instead are two highschool teachers, who teach an ethics, or philosophy or civics class. During the class they talk about some high and mighty moral principles. And just after class, when both of them are still in the highschool building, one is telling the other: "I really want to f*** student xyz."
Most students, parents and other highschool teachers, who overheard this "joke" would be concerned.
In fact the highschool teacher could loose his job.
Even a highschool student who jokes about killing his classmates faces expulsion from school or even criminal charges.
You quote the Mirror: "A Government official suggested that the Bush threat had been "humorous, not serious.""
They mean a British gov official, right?
The White House would be extremely stupid to say that Bush was indeed joking about this.
Let's hope the Mirror got it wrong.
Posted by: Atlantic | 23 November 2005 at 03:42 AM
"The story also gives a good example of the way that public image and context can give a story wings. There are a lot of people who will find this story credible because they already have a fixed image of Bush as a bellicose man."
I agree. It helps to reinforce prejudices.
However, even if you don't have consider Bush a bellicose man and have any particular prejudices against him, you would be concerned about such "humor." Even parents, who like their daughters highschool teacher, would be concerned, if this teacher jokes about wanting to f*** some highschool student.
Posted by: Atlantic | 23 November 2005 at 03:57 AM