Bush is going after Al Jazeera

This is very important. This is serious news.

Let me guess, you think that Al Jazeera is a news channel for terrorists. They are our enemy. They should be shut down!

Yes, Al Jazeera has played execution tapes in their entirety. It turns my stomach that footage of that kind is openly viewed in a news program. If CNN played it 6 times an hour, I would never turn the TV on again. It seems barbaric.

BUT, I am also an American who believes in the right to free speech, particularly when that speech is as close to the plain truth as possible. So far, this administration had tried to cut back our right to free speech and has LIED to us all with propaganda! I can no longer accept what my news stations tell me as being true on face value. I have to turn to the BBC or Australian newspapers to get more perspective. And Al Jazeera is probably the best resource, considering most of the employees of Al Jazeera understand the culture and nuances that other journalists might not understand.

Excerpt from the article:

The tiny state of Qatar is a crucial American ally in the Persian Gulf, where it provides a military base and warm support for American policies. Yet relations with Qatar are also strained over an awkward issue: Qatar's sponsorship of Al Jazeera, the provocative television station that is a big source of news in the Arab world.

Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and other Bush administration officials have complained heatedly to Qatari leaders that Al Jazeera's broadcasts have been inflammatory, misleading and occasionally false, especially on Iraq.

The pressure has been so intense, a senior Qatari official said, that the government is accelerating plans to put Al Jazeera on the market, though Bush administration officials counter that a privately owned station in the region may be no better from their point of view.

"We have recently added new members to the Al Jazeera editorial board, and one of their tasks is to explore the best way to sell it," said the Qatari official, who said he could be more candid about the situation if he was not identified. "We really have a headache, not just from the United States but from advertisers and from other countries as well." Asked if the sale might dilute Al Jazeera's content, the official said, "I hope not." Continue...