Wednesday, November 30, 2005
The Brits Trying to Hide Bush's Crazy Plan
AmericanProgressAction.org
The British tabloid the Daily Mirror reported that President Bush revealed a plan "to bomb the Arab TV station al-Jazeera in friendly Qatar...at a White House face-to-face with Prime Minister Tony Blair on April 16 last year." (At the time, the Bush administration was infuriated with the al-Jazeera coverage of the battle in Fallujah.) According to the Mirror , Blair talked him out of it. The details of the conversation are allegedly contained in "a 'Top Secret' No 10 Downing St. memo." One source cited by the Mirror said Bush's threat to bomb the al-Jazeera TV station as "humorous, not serious." Another claimed, "Bush was deadly serious, as was Blair. That much is absolutely clear from the language used by both men."
The report remains largely not corroborated and unconfirmed. But, surprisingly, the British attorney general Lord Goldsmith threatened to prosecute, under the Official Secrets Act, newspapers that publish the exact contents of the memo. The Guardian reports that it is "the first time the Blair government has threatened newspapers in this way." Previously, the British government had "never prosecuted editors for publishing the contents of leaked documents, including highly sensitive ones about the run-up to the invasion of Iraq." Furthermore, Leo O'Conner, a former researcher for a British MP, and David Keogh, a former Cabinet Office official, have already been charged under the act for receiving and passing the document.
Boris Johnson, a Tory MP, said that he was "quite prepared to believe that the Daily Mirror is wrong." But, "if there is one thing that would seem to confirm the essential accuracy of the story is the Attorney General's threat."
Both the Bush administration and the British government have reacted to the news as if they have something to hide. Could it be that what they are hiding is Bush's inaptitude, inability to make sound judgments and possibly poor state of mental health?
*************************************************************************
AmericanProgressAction.org
The British tabloid the Daily Mirror reported that President Bush revealed a plan "to bomb the Arab TV station al-Jazeera in friendly Qatar...at a White House face-to-face with Prime Minister Tony Blair on April 16 last year." (At the time, the Bush administration was infuriated with the al-Jazeera coverage of the battle in Fallujah.) According to the Mirror , Blair talked him out of it. The details of the conversation are allegedly contained in "a 'Top Secret' No 10 Downing St. memo." One source cited by the Mirror said Bush's threat to bomb the al-Jazeera TV station as "humorous, not serious." Another claimed, "Bush was deadly serious, as was Blair. That much is absolutely clear from the language used by both men."
The report remains largely not corroborated and unconfirmed. But, surprisingly, the British attorney general Lord Goldsmith threatened to prosecute, under the Official Secrets Act, newspapers that publish the exact contents of the memo. The Guardian reports that it is "the first time the Blair government has threatened newspapers in this way." Previously, the British government had "never prosecuted editors for publishing the contents of leaked documents, including highly sensitive ones about the run-up to the invasion of Iraq." Furthermore, Leo O'Conner, a former researcher for a British MP, and David Keogh, a former Cabinet Office official, have already been charged under the act for receiving and passing the document.
Boris Johnson, a Tory MP, said that he was "quite prepared to believe that the Daily Mirror is wrong." But, "if there is one thing that would seem to confirm the essential accuracy of the story is the Attorney General's threat."
Both the Bush administration and the British government have reacted to the news as if they have something to hide. Could it be that what they are hiding is Bush's inaptitude, inability to make sound judgments and possibly poor state of mental health?
*************************************************************************
Comments:
Post a Comment
