An averted Bush bomb

Posted by Evan Derkacz at 8:22 AM on November 22, 2005.

On this one count, lapdog Blair reportedly talked master Bush out of a possible violation of the Geneva Conventions.

According to the latest leaked British memo, Bush wanted to bomb Al-Jazeerah but was talked down by Blair. Paul Schmelzer writes: "[this] means, the president wanted to bomb an independent media outlet in Doha, the capital city of Qatar, a key ally of the coalition."

Ally or not, targeting any civilian institution, like the media (state run or not), is a violation of the Geneva Convention and thus, a war crime. But it didn't happen, you say?

That didn't happen, but former British Defence Minister Peter Kilfoyle explains why releasing the memo remains crucial:

"If it was the case that President Bush wanted to bomb Al-Jazeera in what is after all a friendly country, it speaks volumes and raises questions about subsequent attacks that took place on the press that wasn't embedded with coalition forces."

Evan Derkacz is a New York-based writer and contributor to AlterNet.