So, why did Bush want to bomb Qatar? Because Qatar's capitol, Doha, is home of the world headquarters of Al-Jazeera. Tony Blair (stupid, but not crazy) managed to talk him out of it, persuading the President it would do more harm than good.
Dozens of al-Jazeera staff at the HQ are not, as many believe, Islamic fanatics. Instead, most are respected and highly trained technicians and journalists. To have wiped them out would have been equivalent to bombing the BBC in London and the most spectacular foreign policy disaster since the Iraq War itself.
Why did Bush want to bomb Al-Jazeera? Because he saw it as fueling the insurgency.
Not the "occupation" of an Arab land by westerners.
Not the civilian deaths of at least 25,000 and perhaps as many as 100,000.
Not the civilian deaths at Fallujah.
Not the use of white phosphorus as a weapon.
Not Abu Ghraib, Bagram, Guantanamo, and a gulag of secret prison camps across eastern Europe.
Not the kidnapping of suspects to be sent to "friendly" regimes in the Arab world (like Qatar?) who would do our torture later.
None of these things fueled the insurgency.
It was Al-Jazeera.
On a related note, Al-Jazeera reports that British Attorney General Lord Goldsmith issued a gag order last night barring the Mirror from publishing any further details of the secret memo. And the BBC reports that the White House denies the whole story, calling it "outlandish."
Will you be seeing this tonight on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams?
Hmph.
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