I can't remember why or how I first started reading al Jazeera on the net. It might have been because I was trying to find out about the airstrike during which Tariq
Ayoub, an al Jazeera reporter was killed and three other employees were wounded.
This happened during a deliberate direct missile attack on al Jazeera's Baghdad offices by the U.S. Or I started reading it to find out more about George Bush planning to bomb al Jazeera's TV station in Qatar. Whichever it was, I can only thank Washington
or the Pentagon for bringing this great organization to my attention.
I have used
http://english.alJazeera.net continually ever since and am one of al Jazeera International's greatest admirers, having watched the satellite station since its inception - yet another nod of gratitude to Bush and Cheney, without whom I might never have discovered it. To compare watching al Jazeera News to seeing a report on the same subject on any of the American news stations I am able to receive by satellite causes a huge question mark to appear over my head. There simply is no comparison.
al Jazeera is to News with a Big N; as CNN, MSNBC and Fox News (yeah, I know - fair-and-balanced-and-its-not-a-news-station but it has sure convinced its viewers it is), are to entertainment and biased opinion, - like cartoon programmes with an extremely small c. There is no comparison because Al Jazeera simply shows you, the viewer, the truth.
In the 8 April attack in 2003, I learnt that both Tariq Ayoub and a cameraman, Zuheir Iraqi, who received shrapnel wounds to his neck, were on the station’s roof preparing for a live broadcast when the U.S. bombs hit the building. Those missiles killed Tariq Ayoub and demolished Al-Jazeera’s bureau.
Of course, after the U.S. Administration had been kind enough to direct me to al Jazeera, I was also to learn of the U.S. 2001
attack on al Jazeera's Kabul office in Afghanistan as well.
Taking it all into consideration, with the continual rancid verbal attacks by Cheney,
Rumsfeld and Bush, and their respective Press spokespeople, it became obvious that a concerted campaign was in progress against al Jazeera. The proof of which, if any were needed, was Bush's famous outburst and determination to bomb al Jazeera's Qatar station - the first and only time I can think of when I can truly be glad to say almost out loud,
Thank God For Tony Blair.
One of the only things I think the Bush Administration excels at is LOUD.
Fortunately, maybe history will show, the President and his mates appear to be incapable of doing anything and keeping it quiet afterwards; or they might try but they don't succeed very well. Behind the background noise of an illegal pre-emptive invasion of a foreign Country and Guantanamo there was Abu Ghraib, Torture, Rendition, Black Sites (ok - that was a little quiet, but it still came out - and there were certain signing statements that stayed quiet for a while).
Yep, every action - even the lawyer sackings, even Gonzales' quaint little statements, and Perle and Wolfowitz and that whole AIPAC thing - all them nice and loud so that a few good investigators were able to eventually see what was going on and spread the word.
Without them meaning to, I'm sure, prominent members of the Bush Administration have sometimes created so much noise between them that certain other acts were able to slide quietly by in the background - like the signing statements, the Justice Department debacle, millions of emails lost, and Valerie Plame and Scooter affair.
But all these still came out eventually, thanks to people with a conscience who wanted to do the right thing.
Slide isn't really the right word for what I'm thinking about. I think slither might be better. Then again, how about Machiavellian? Closer, and getting closer.
Actually, we are getting closer to what this article is all about. Because Machiavellian doesn't really cut it either, but Sinister does.
Sinister does it extremely well when it comes to the calculated deadly bullying of a small television company that spoke only the truth - which was its greatest sin as far as the Bush Administration was concerned - by one of the most corrupt superpowers the world has seen. And how Sinister can it get, when representatives of this so-called Superpower scoop up an employee of a small Media company and attempt to hide him among what they term terrorists and "unlawful combatants" in Camp Delta, Guantanamo. How Sinister that they try to turn him; by attempting to force him to state that al Jazeera is a front for al Qaeda.
Terrorist? Unlawful Combatant?
We are nearly at the end of the week that is the fifth anniversary of the Occupation of Iraq; funny that, 'anniversary' makes me think of happy times and celebrations.
Five years of War; five years of Occupation, five years and just about four thousand pointless American deaths, five years during which it is highly probable that over one
million Iraqis have died. Can you imagine how many were injured during that time; Americans and Iraqis?
But for Sami al Hajj it is far more than five years of illegal imprisonment. In fact, if you check on the site http://www.prisoner345.net/, there is a clock there that at this moment stands at 2109 Days and nearly Nine Hours, and the minutes and seconds continue to add up.
Arrested because of a passport problem - we are told - on 15 December 2001 while having a legitimate visa for Afghanistan in his possession, he has been in Guantanamo ever since.
For those who think that Five years of Invasion and the Occupation of Iraq is far too long; while you are still thinking that, please spare a thought for Prisoner 345, Sami al Hajj.
This is all this article is really all about. Remembering, as he thinks of others, keeping him in focus, and hoping that, when enough people speak up, Sami al Hajj and all the remaining “unlawful combatants” will be released.
Thoughts and hope too, please, for Bilal Hussein, and go here for more
info.
Tags: Bush | cheney | guantanamo | Al Jazeera | Bilal Hussein | Rumsfeld | Sami al Hajj | torture | World
