Over at Blairwatch they are getting pretty hot under the collar about the memo(s) where Bush contemplates bombing Al Jazeera. A blogospheric campaign is under way to sign up bloggers to breach the Official Secrets Act online in a web-wide act of defiance. Boris Johnson promises to do the same at the Speccie. Well Guido is always up for that kind of thing…
Except, well, Al Jazeera do give succour to the enemies of freedom don’t they? They are the Lord Haw Haws of the War on Terror (actually George Galloway is the Lord Haw Haw of our age). I was told some years ago by a British source that the Americans were stupid complaining about the station (Al Jazeera was banned from the press gallery of the New York Stock Exchange). The source said it was heavily infiltrated by MI6 (hence the proliferation of “ex-BBC” staff who work at Al Jazeera) and that for an Arab news station it was moderate and liberal, to the extent that it was actually a relatively moderating force for Western values in the Arab world. The anti-Israeli propaganda is low key compared to the rest of the region, with Israeli spokesman given airtime.
Over at “Don’t Bomb Us” a blog run by Al Jazeera staffers they say;
- Al Jazeera was the first Arab station to ever broadcast interviews with Israeli officials.
- Al Jazeera has never broadcast a beheading.
- George W. Bush has received approximately 500 hours of airtime, while Bin Laden has received about 5 hours of airtime.
Confusing? So which button should I display?
