Monday 28 November 2005

Bush Team Denies Plans To Bomb Al-Jazeera

Just "Kibitzing" With Blair; Says Only Had Contingency Plans To "Revive Anthrax Scare Campaign"

After issuing statements last week, calling the reports "outlandish" and "absolutely absurd", White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, in a press briefing, flatly denied that President Bush called for the bombing of the headquarters of the Arab television network, Al-Jazeera.

"The President advocated no such action," said McClellan. "After a long meeting, President Bush and Prime Minister Blair, were talking, kibitzing and joking around. Any remarks suggesting the bombing of Al-Jazeera were just non-sensical humor on the part of the President."

McClellan indicated that a self-depreciating comment attached to the remark went unreported.

"The President finished his comment on Al-Jazeera, saying that the military wanted the President to deliver the bomb by bicycle, but then ruled that out, fearing that, God-Knows-What, would end up being the targeted."

As was widely reported last week, back in April of 2004, President Bush allegedly told British Prime Minister Tony Blair of his desire to bomb the Al-Jazeera television station in Qatar. According to sources, Blair talked Bush out of such action, saying it "would cause a big problem."

The Arab television network, which began broadcasting in 1996, has been a source of disdain for Western governments, for their stories and images from a pro-Muslim viewpoint, including behind-the-lines reports of civilian casualties, as well as terrorist footage of beheadings and messages from Al-Qaeda and Osama bin-Laden.

Al-Jazeera, based in downtown Doha, the capital of Qatar, is the only independent television station operating in the Middle East and has a global audience that rivals the BBC. Despite the controversy of its' content, the station was recently voted the fifth most influential global brand behind Apple, Google, Ikea and Starbucks.

The Bush Administration thought the story would die with the initial explanation and denial, however, over the weekend, various British media and publications have threaten to publish the transcripts of the conversation between Blair and Bush, prompting the British Government to say they would impose the Official Secrets Act. Already, two civil servants have been charged with violating the act for allegedly disclosing the document.

McClellan also denied that the United States had plans to contaminate Al-Jazeera with Anthrax.

"That is a total fabrication," said McClellan. "We have no plans to revive the Anthrax Scare Campaign."

The Anthrax Scare Campaign was last used in the weeks following the terrorist attack of September 11th.

Beginning exactly one-week later, September 18th, letters containing a high grade of Anthrax were mailed to ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, the New York Post and the National Enquirer. A few weeks later, on October 9th, Anthrax letters were mailed to two Senators, Tom Daschle (D-SD) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT).

There were 22 infections and five deaths related to the Anthrax letters mailed.

During this time, while the nation was both paralyzed and transfixed over the Anthrax attacks, the Bush Administration and Justice Department rounded up and jailed hundreds of Arab-Americans for questioning, and pushed through Congress the Patriot Act.

McClellan would only say that the Anthrax Scare Campaign was one of "hundred-and-hundreds" contingency plans the government has and "when dealing with the terrorist threat, nothing is off the table".

"Vice President Cheney thought it to be reprehensible, that we would waste our Anthrax supply on the citizens of Qatar. We have no beef with Qatar."

McClellan went on to say that the Administration "wouldn't be surprised", if in Congressmen Murtha's immediate withdrawal plans, "something happened to Al-Jazeera."

'We have heard of some Far left plots … A stray rocket strike, or tank shell hits Al-Jazeera and they turn around and blame the President. That sounds like something Michael Moore would dream up."













Answering Republican charges that he's "out of his mind", Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) interupted a press conference to ask the assembled media if a UFO was hovering behind him.