PHOTOS: Al Jazeera staff not amused by George's supposed "joke"

[Bluebear]

Al-Jazeera TV Lebanon staffers protest during a sit-in outside the pan-Arab satellite channel's offices in Beirut against alleged plans by US president George Bush to bomb their headquarters in Qatar.(AFP/Joseph Barrak)


Employees of Qatari satellite channel al-Jazeera display protest in front of their headquarters in Doha. Journalists in several Arab capitals staged protests over reports that US President George W. Bush wanted to attack Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera's Doha headquarters.(AFP/Karim Jaafar)

Jordanian journalists and politicians stand behind a banner which reads, 'No to American ideological terrorism in the world', during a protest outside the Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera's office in Amman. Journalists in several Arab capitals staged protests over reports that US President George W. Bush wanted to attack Al-Jazeera's Doha headquarters.(AFP/Khalil Mazraawi)

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. You know that this station was started

because they admired CNN and the wanted to show the world news from an Arab standpoint. They actually admired Americans for their freedom of the press. And now this. Would it help if we told them Bush really doesn't believe in the Constitution? I can't see how he does, seeing how he has done his best to tear it to shreads via the Patriot Act, Gitmo, and "enemy combatants".

[Straight Shooter]

2. Gawd.

:cry:

What happened to my country? Where are my leaders?

[meti57b]

3. george bush .... winning hearts and minds.....

[Bluebear]

4. They will have to send Karen Hughes out again.

To "repair our image". :crazy:

[CanOfWhoopAss]

17. She may be armed just in case diplomacy doesn't work and they have to go

through with it anyway :sarcasm: (I hope).

[Jamastiene]

30. The dominatrix.

That's what James Carville calls her. I'll never forget how hard I laughed the first time I heard him say that. Just thought I would share the funny.

[Supersedeas]

38. Yea, she's so in touch with the Middle East

[Rick Myers]

5. Tell the people of Qatar 'America does NOT stand with GW Bush"

You can sign their guestbook and post a message here:

http://english.mofa.gov.qa/guest_book_entry.cfm

[Dunvegan]

12. See y'all at Gitmo...

...I'm seething over this.

Al Jeezera is somewhat considerably less prejudiced in their reporting than FOX News...this said after reading weekly at Al Jeezera since their English site launch.

Yes...they wanted no more than to be the CNN of the Middle East.

Democracy...schemocracy...according to Bush the VERY FIRST Amendment to the Constitution is a major pain in the a$$ to his more fascist ambitions.

I defend the First Amendment, and I defend the right of any republic (such as Qatar) that implements freedom of the press.

I wrote them this:

I am an American citizen who is appalled at the recent revelation that the President of the Untied States called for the destruction of the free press in Qatar, and an act of aggression against Al Jazeera.

I did not vote for the Bush Administration, as did half of the American people. According to recent polls, Bush does not have the confidence of over half the nation.

I stand behind the First Amendment to the Constitution...the very first...which guarantees freedom of the press.

The philosophy of this amendment is that the media, according to the American Constitution, best acts as the fourth branch of government

The notion of the press as the fourth branch of government is sometimes used to compare the press (or media) with Montesquieu’s three branches of government, namely an addition to the legislative, the executive and the judiciary branches.

Edmund Burke is quoted to have said: “Three Estates in Parliament; but in the Reporters’ Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth estate more important far than they all”.

The development of the Western media tradition is rather parallel to the development of democracy in Europe and the United States.

On the ideological level, the first advocates of freedom of the press were the liberal thinkers of the 18th and 19th centuries. They developed their ideas in opposition to the monarchist tradition in general and the divine right of kings in particular.

These liberal theorists argued that freedom of expression was a right claimed by the individual and grounded in natural law.

Thus, freedom of the press was an integral part of the individual rights promoted by liberal ideology.

Other lines of thought later argued in favor of freedom of the press without relying on the controversial issue of natural law; for instance, freedom of expression began to be regarded as an essential component of the social contract (the agreement between a state and its people regarding the rights and duties that each should have to the other).

I call for the President to personally address this issue, and personally address both the people of the State of Qatar, and the journalists of Al Jezeera in regards to this issue. Now.

Bastards...Jefferson was so very right...a little revolution every twenty years is necessary.

2006: Take Back the House!

[Rick Myers]

14. Excellent!

I told them Dubya is NOT a well man... See ya at Gitmo!!!

[Straight Shooter]

20. My letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is rather brief:

It is with deep sorrow that I express my regret, as a citizen of the United States, that george w. bush initiated a discussion about attacking (bombing) the Arab satellite channel of Al-Jazeera's Doha headquarters. It is a matter of record that george w. bush as a young boy would shove firecrackers into frogs and then light the firecracker to watch the frogs blow up. So, believe me, he was not kidding when he talked about bombing Al-Jazeera!

Please do all you can to get those documents which reveal the details of the discussion between tony blair and george w. bush. May you find the truth, and may the truth bring you justice.

[AlecBGreen]

26. done

I am so sorry...our "president" does not represent the majority of Americans. Most of us are peaceful, loving human beings who wish no ill will upon our arabic brothers and sisters. His plan to bomb the Al-Jazeera news station is a disgrace to his office and our country. Please, for what its worth, accept my apologies.

-AlecBGreen

[proud2BlibKansan]

39. Thanks for posting that

Great idea!

[mod mom]

6. May I suggest sending over * et al to explain and apologize. nt

[jeff30997]

8. Why should he apologize ?

After all he NEVER makes mistakes.:sarcasm:

[marbuc]

7. "joke?"

The only thing more wreckless than this statement is the possibility that it was made in jest. Bombing international media outlets is not funny, and I question the character of those that think it is.

[jeff30997]

10. Imagine if you went to an airport and told a custom officer that...

you want to blow up a plane...What a great joke it would be! George is so funny.

[AspenRose]

18. NOW I see where Bill O'Reilly gets it from! *sarcasm*

Is threatening to blow up people/things always the republican response to everything/everyone they have problems with?

Geez.

[julianer]

27. Stalin had a similar sense of humour n/t

[Rex]

9. Do you have a link to this story?

I'm really interested to read what Boosh said. I guess he feels embolden by Pat Robertson's crazy rantings.

[Bluebear]

11. "sounds like one of the president's one-liners that is meant as a joke"

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/13240344.htm?source=rss&channel=mercurynews_world

[Rex]

15. Wonder if he ever jokes about "The Button".

Thanks for the link, we've all seen that sadistic sense of humor Boosh has for murder and mayhem. I like Simple Scotties response, "We are not interested in dignifying something so outlandish and inconceivable with a response." In other words, yes he said it so go fuck yourselves!

But Scottie...what about Boosh bending his fat ass over during a 1,000 dollar a plate crowd pleaser, looking for dem weapons of mass destruction, a-har har har! No response of that either? Boosh was taken out of context. Sure.

[Radio_Lady]

28. Here's the link to the story in the Mirror (UK)

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=16397937&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=exclusive--bush-plot-to-bomb-his-arab-ally-name_page.html

Reporters have been threatened and are NOT to give out details of this story.

[Cha]

13. I'm with these guys! And they

would know how many reporters over there have already met with convenient "accidental" deaths by bombing and gunfire from the US.

[MasonJar]

16. I was not as circumspect. i told them that GWB is obviously an

outlaw.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

19. "I previously answered it." "The issue is under investigation." "We do not

torture others." "It is ludicrous to think that America kidnapped anyone." "mission accomplished." "We know where they are. They are north and south of Baghdad." "We will be greeted with bugs and hoses." "We don't target journalists." " You fight with the military you have, not the military you want."


F
U Y
C O G
K U E
O
R
G
E
!

[entanglement]

21. Well, at least the next time of their journalists is "accidentally" killed

they know who's responsible.

[AuntiBush]

22. A Prime Example of GWB Spreading "Democracy!"

Repeating prior posters question: "Where are our leaders?"

Really. Where are they?

:cry:

[jarnocan]

23. Loved the movie Control Room BTW

I recommend it. I hope this is one more bit of the truth that will bring down the Bush regime.
It is so hypocritical of him to pretend he cares about democracy.

[depakid]

24. Better send Karen Hughes back- and quick!

Only she can diffuse this and keep it from escallating...

Hold onto to those transcripts, Tony!

[Deja Q]

25. I saw a ~15 year old kid make a genuine, naive joke...

In an airport, you can guess where...

Jocularly saying "No bombs!" as an icebreaker, the "security guard" (about 90 years old by the look of him) pulls a big macho show and tells the kid how he could have him hauled off, the FBI called in, yadda yadda yadda... needless to say, the kid looked utterly terrified and whose response was hardly that of a mass slaughterer whose plans had been discovered!! (And I, a few customers behind that kid, I saw no signs saying "Please don't make any jokes. Our security guards have weak hearts and no tolerance for any levity.")

And the kid must reeeeeeeally have looked the profile: Bowl-cut beatle-wannabe hair, sloppily dressed, pinkish-white skin, no beard, happy-go-lucky persona, didn't look old enough to even drive... Obvious an eeeeeeeeeeevil terrorist in the eyes of that brave masculine fossil trying to restore faded personal glory. :eyes:

And that was back in 1989! When terrorists only took airplanes for free passage, better-than-a-horror-movie scare, and demands for some money to boot. Big whoop.

And I loathe to think of how a naive kid being just as innocently flippant would get treated today... (far worse than the college-age kids who find obvious ways of bypassing airport security just to get onto national news TV segments while showing that nobody gives a flying fuck ABOUT security, no doubt...).

And yet given *'s record, and that he is THE C-in-C of all C-in-Cs no less... this al-jazeera paperwork is called a JOKE and summarily dismissed?!

If naive foolish kids were being given the hustle back in 1989 over a truly minor joke... why not apropos treatment for this, by the leader of a nation no less? War is NOTHING to take lightly, and if it's a joke it's in far worse taste than that kid's was... and for a job like the president, if you need signs telling you what is and is not right, you shouldn't have begged for the position in the first place and ought to vamoose now before real problems happen. (too late?)

Just askin'!

[ngGale]

29. They seem to have the US pegged right...

<ideological terrorism> ...:scared:

Please don't hold us responsible for * and his merry band of men!
That bunch scares the hell out of us, too!

How to win friend's and influence people? :cry:

[rman]

31. RW jokes usually involve pain and death.

Remember "torture = fraternity prank".
They're so, ehm... funny.

[oblivious]

32. Do you think Bush has a clue that Qatar is basically a US military base?

...Some bases are reasonably well known, due to their use in the war against Iraq. For example, in Qatar the army base at Camp As-Sayliyah served as CENTCOM's forward headquarters and command center. Similarly, al-Udeid Air Base serves as the headquarters for CENTAF, CENTCOM's air component. There is also a base for pre-positioned army equipment at Doha airport, dubbed Camp Snoopy. This equipment is officially known as War Reserve Materiel (WRM) and provides support to bare base systems, medical, munitions, fuels mobility support equipment, vehicles, rations, aerospace ground equipment, air base operability equipment and associated spares and other consumables at designated locations.

Jun 10, 2003
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EF10Ak01.html

[Freedomfried]

33. Does that make Fox News a legitimate target for the Islamics now?

that would just break my heart.

[SalmonChantedEvening]

34. Freedom's on the march!

Now, either say what we want you to say, and publish only flattering news about us, or we'll bomb you into the dust.

Yet another slap in the face of those * plans to liberate.

:mad:

[ikri]

35. For years

Various administrations have demanded the establishment of a free and independent media outlet in the Middle East. Al-Jazeera was the response to that, a free and independent TV station that broadcasts to Middle Eastern countries with relevant news.

Except, since they are an independent station, they won't follow the US lines in everything and that is seriously upsetting the * administration because Al-Jazeera is now a very well trusted news source in the area and they're not afraid to criticize the US.

It is becoming very clear that the * administration does not believe in a free press abroad, instead they want propaganda outlets ready and willing to repeat their lies.

[zippy890]

36. See the movie 'Control Room' to understand AlJazeera

They are NOT Islamic fundamentalist propoganda. They are a secular news organization.

The US bombed Al Jazeera's office in Baghdad and killed one of their reporters, during the takeover of that city at the beginning of the war.

Our government's actions are criminal and outrageous in thier conduct toward Al Jazeera.

[rman]

37. Also, the RW seems to like Practical Jokes

which is why local Al Jazeera HQ's have been bombed by the US several times already. Each time they claimed it was an accident but i suppose that's part of the joke.