Democrats Sat on Al Jazeera Memo, Guardian Buried Lead

[kpete]

Democrats Sat on Al Jazeera Memo, Guardian Buried Lead
Submitted by davidswanson on Sun, 2006-01-15 23:09. Activism
Labour MPs leaked Bush's proposal to bomb al-Jazeera
By David Leigh and Richard Norton-Taylor, The Guardian

Two Labour MPs have defied the Official Secrets Act by passing on the key contents of the British document revealing that President George Bush wanted to bomb the Arabic TV station, al-Jazeera

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In San Diego, Mr Latham, 71, a retired electrical engineer and a "contributing member" to the Democrat national committee, told the Guardian: "I was kind of amazed and concerned when I heard about it." The MPs also wanted him to send letters with the information to newspapers in Los Angeles and New York, he added. At a Commons meeting, he had been introduced to Mr Clarke by Mr Kilfoyle. Mr Latham, a British expatriate, and Mr Kilfoyle had attended the same school.

Mr Latham said he had never met Mr Clarke before."He mentioned that the document was a transcript of a meeting in Washington DC between Bush and Blair. There had been a proposal to take military action against al-Jazeera at their headquarters in Qatar. This was defused by Colin Powell, US secretary of state, and Tony Blair, thank goodness."

Mr Latham was appalled. "I thought that President Bush must be in the early stages of paranoia." But it was decided not to write to US newspapers at the time. It is understood Democrats feared Mr Bush's behaviour, if exposed, might win him votes, rather than lose them.

As a result, the facts remained secret for more than a year. Within days of the charges being brought against Mr Keogh and Mr O'Connor, however, information in the memo was published by the Daily Mirror. Lord Goldsmith, the attorney general, threatened other newspapers with the Official Secrets Act if they re-published.

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read the whole mysterious story at:

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/6806

[FreedomAngel82]

1. Why did they send it to him??

:shrug: Why not a member of the Senate??

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Because they knew him

"Mr Latham, a British expatriate, and Mr Kilfoyle had attended the same school." British politicians don't necessarily know American politicians personally. So they gave it to someone they knew, and who was involved in the Democratic party. It's the equivalent of me having some information, and bringing it to DU, rather than sending it straight to an American politican - or the American media. If the advice on DU I got was "we don't think it will help", I might not send it to anyone else.