i'm surprised lizard didn't post this up already. 
seriously though, this is fucking amazing. and al-jazeera's demand not for an apology but rather a denial that this is true is simply fucking GENIUS.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051122/wl_mideast_afp/qatarusbritainmedia_051122203956
Jazeera urges probe into Bush bomb plot report
Tue Nov 22, 3:39 PM ET
DOHA (AFP) - The Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera urged the White House and Downing Street to challenge a British newspaper report that US President George W. Bush had planned to bomb the Qatar-based station.
"We sincerely urge both the White House and Downing Street to challenge the Daily Mirror report," the Qatar-based network said in a statement.
The British tabloid, citing a Downing Street memo marked "Top Secret," reported Tuesday that British Prime Minister Tony Blair had talked Bush out of launching a military strike on the station.
"Before making any conclusions, Al-Jazeera needs to be absolutely sure regarding the authenticity of the memo and would hope for a confirmation from Downing Street as soon as possible," it said.
"If the report is correct then this would be both shocking and worrisome not only to Al-Jazeera but to media organisations across the world.
"It would cast serious doubts in regard to the US administration's version of previous incidents involving Al-Jazeera's journalists and offices," the news channel said.
The television station's coverage of the war in Iraq has drawn criticism from Washington since the invasion.
The station has broadcast messages from Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and the beheadings of Western hostages by insurgents in Iraq, as well as footage of dead coalition servicemen and Iraqi civilians killed in fighting.
A five-page transcript of a conversation between Bush and Blair during the prime minister's April 2004 visit to Washington allegedly shows that Bush wanted to attack the station's Doha headquarters and other offices.
The Mirror, which opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, also quoted an unnamed British government official as saying Bush's threat was "humorous, not serious".
But another source said: "Bush was deadly serious, as was Blair. That much is absolutely clear from the language used by both men."
The Mirror said the memo turned up in the office of then British MP Tony Clarke, a member of Blair's Labour Party, in May 2004.
Civil servant David Keogh, 49, is accused under the Official Secrets Act of handing it it to Clarke's former researcher Leo O'Connor, 42. Both are bailed to appear in a court in London next week.
A Downing Street spokesman said: "We have got nothing to say about this story. We don't comment on leaked documents."
The Mirror said the memo "casts fresh doubt on claims that other attacks on Al-Jazeera were accidents". It cited the 2001 direct hit on the channel's Kabul office.
Al-Jazeera reporter Tariq Ayub was killed on April 8, 2003 when a US missile slammed into the station's Baghdad bureau, while another employee, Rashid Hamid Wali, was shot dead while filming clashes in the Shiite city of Karbala in May 2004.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/11/22/us.al.jazeera/index.html?section=cnn_latest
U.S.: Al-Jazeera bomb story 'outlandish'
British paper: Blair talked Bush out of airstrike on network
Tuesday, November 22, 2005; Posted: 7:33 p.m. EST (00:33 GMT)
LONDON, England (CNN) -- The White House characterized as "outlandish" Tuesday a British newspaper report that President Bush once discussed bombing the headquarters of Arabic-language television network Al-Jazeera with Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Al-Jazeera, based in Qatar, called on the British government to confirm or deny the report, which appeared Tuesday in the Daily Mirror, a London tabloid.
The network has been a frequent target of U.S. criticism, and its facilities have been hit by U.S. bombs in Afghanistan and Iraq. Al-Jazeera said the Daily Mirror report would be "both shocking and worrisome" if true. (Watch whether Bush considered targeting the television network --1:42)
"It would cast serious doubts in regard to the U.S. administration's version of previous incidents involving Al-Jazeera's journalists and offices," the network said in a statement.
"It would also constitute a new chapter in the relationship between two of the most powerful governments in the world and media organizations in general," the statement said.
The Daily Mirror reported that Blair talked Bush out of launching an airstrike against Al-Jazeera's headquarters in Qatar -- a U.S. ally -- during an April 16, 2004, meeting at the White House.
Citing a top-secret memo from Blair's office, the tabloid said Bush was angered by the network's coverage of the uprising in the western Iraqi city of Falluja.
U.S. Marines had been deployed to the city about 35 miles west of Baghdad on the Euphrates River to restore order after four American security guards had been killed and their bodies mutilated by insurgents.
"We are not going to dignify something so outlandish with a response," a White House official told CNN. A Pentagon official called the Daily Mirror report "absolutely absurd."
Al-Jazeera said it wanted to be "absolutely sure" the memo cited in the report is genuine and urged 10 Downing Street to confirm the information if true.
If the memo is accurate, the network's statement said, "it would be incumbent on them to explain their positions on statements regarding the deliberate targeting of journalists and news organizations."
Downing Street spokesman Ian Gleeson said Blair's office would have no comment since the memo the Daily Mirror cited is the subject of court action.
The newspaper reported that two people have been charged with violating British secrecy laws in connection with its release.
Top Bush administration officials, particularly Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, have been sharply critical of Al-Jazeera in the past.
When U.S. troops went back into Falluja in November 2004, Rumsfeld called the network's account of civilian casualties during the American push to retake the city "outrageous nonsense" and "vicious, inaccurate and inexcusable."
An Al-Jazeera reporter was killed and three other employees were wounded by an American airstrike during the U.S. push into Baghdad in 2003.
American bombs struck the network's Kabul office during the U.S. assault on Afghanistan in 2001.
During the 1999 air campaign over Kosovo, U.S. warplanes targeted Yugoslavia's state television network. NATO officials argued it was a legitimate target as the propaganda arm of the Yugoslav government.
seriously though, this is fucking amazing. and al-jazeera's demand not for an apology but rather a denial that this is true is simply fucking GENIUS.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051122/wl_mideast_afp/qatarusbritainmedia_051122203956
Jazeera urges probe into Bush bomb plot report
Tue Nov 22, 3:39 PM ET
DOHA (AFP) - The Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera urged the White House and Downing Street to challenge a British newspaper report that US President George W. Bush had planned to bomb the Qatar-based station.
"We sincerely urge both the White House and Downing Street to challenge the Daily Mirror report," the Qatar-based network said in a statement.
The British tabloid, citing a Downing Street memo marked "Top Secret," reported Tuesday that British Prime Minister Tony Blair had talked Bush out of launching a military strike on the station.
"Before making any conclusions, Al-Jazeera needs to be absolutely sure regarding the authenticity of the memo and would hope for a confirmation from Downing Street as soon as possible," it said.
"If the report is correct then this would be both shocking and worrisome not only to Al-Jazeera but to media organisations across the world.
"It would cast serious doubts in regard to the US administration's version of previous incidents involving Al-Jazeera's journalists and offices," the news channel said.
The television station's coverage of the war in Iraq has drawn criticism from Washington since the invasion.
The station has broadcast messages from Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and the beheadings of Western hostages by insurgents in Iraq, as well as footage of dead coalition servicemen and Iraqi civilians killed in fighting.
A five-page transcript of a conversation between Bush and Blair during the prime minister's April 2004 visit to Washington allegedly shows that Bush wanted to attack the station's Doha headquarters and other offices.
The Mirror, which opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, also quoted an unnamed British government official as saying Bush's threat was "humorous, not serious".
But another source said: "Bush was deadly serious, as was Blair. That much is absolutely clear from the language used by both men."
The Mirror said the memo turned up in the office of then British MP Tony Clarke, a member of Blair's Labour Party, in May 2004.
Civil servant David Keogh, 49, is accused under the Official Secrets Act of handing it it to Clarke's former researcher Leo O'Connor, 42. Both are bailed to appear in a court in London next week.
A Downing Street spokesman said: "We have got nothing to say about this story. We don't comment on leaked documents."
The Mirror said the memo "casts fresh doubt on claims that other attacks on Al-Jazeera were accidents". It cited the 2001 direct hit on the channel's Kabul office.
Al-Jazeera reporter Tariq Ayub was killed on April 8, 2003 when a US missile slammed into the station's Baghdad bureau, while another employee, Rashid Hamid Wali, was shot dead while filming clashes in the Shiite city of Karbala in May 2004.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/11/22/us.al.jazeera/index.html?section=cnn_latest
U.S.: Al-Jazeera bomb story 'outlandish'
British paper: Blair talked Bush out of airstrike on network
Tuesday, November 22, 2005; Posted: 7:33 p.m. EST (00:33 GMT)
LONDON, England (CNN) -- The White House characterized as "outlandish" Tuesday a British newspaper report that President Bush once discussed bombing the headquarters of Arabic-language television network Al-Jazeera with Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Al-Jazeera, based in Qatar, called on the British government to confirm or deny the report, which appeared Tuesday in the Daily Mirror, a London tabloid.
The network has been a frequent target of U.S. criticism, and its facilities have been hit by U.S. bombs in Afghanistan and Iraq. Al-Jazeera said the Daily Mirror report would be "both shocking and worrisome" if true. (Watch whether Bush considered targeting the television network --1:42)
"It would cast serious doubts in regard to the U.S. administration's version of previous incidents involving Al-Jazeera's journalists and offices," the network said in a statement.
"It would also constitute a new chapter in the relationship between two of the most powerful governments in the world and media organizations in general," the statement said.
The Daily Mirror reported that Blair talked Bush out of launching an airstrike against Al-Jazeera's headquarters in Qatar -- a U.S. ally -- during an April 16, 2004, meeting at the White House.
Citing a top-secret memo from Blair's office, the tabloid said Bush was angered by the network's coverage of the uprising in the western Iraqi city of Falluja.
U.S. Marines had been deployed to the city about 35 miles west of Baghdad on the Euphrates River to restore order after four American security guards had been killed and their bodies mutilated by insurgents.
"We are not going to dignify something so outlandish with a response," a White House official told CNN. A Pentagon official called the Daily Mirror report "absolutely absurd."
Al-Jazeera said it wanted to be "absolutely sure" the memo cited in the report is genuine and urged 10 Downing Street to confirm the information if true.
If the memo is accurate, the network's statement said, "it would be incumbent on them to explain their positions on statements regarding the deliberate targeting of journalists and news organizations."
Downing Street spokesman Ian Gleeson said Blair's office would have no comment since the memo the Daily Mirror cited is the subject of court action.
The newspaper reported that two people have been charged with violating British secrecy laws in connection with its release.
Top Bush administration officials, particularly Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, have been sharply critical of Al-Jazeera in the past.
When U.S. troops went back into Falluja in November 2004, Rumsfeld called the network's account of civilian casualties during the American push to retake the city "outrageous nonsense" and "vicious, inaccurate and inexcusable."
An Al-Jazeera reporter was killed and three other employees were wounded by an American airstrike during the U.S. push into Baghdad in 2003.
American bombs struck the network's Kabul office during the U.S. assault on Afghanistan in 2001.
During the 1999 air campaign over Kosovo, U.S. warplanes targeted Yugoslavia's state television network. NATO officials argued it was a legitimate target as the propaganda arm of the Yugoslav government.
