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What Wikileaks Tells Us About Al Jazeera

Wednesday, September 21, 2011 23:39
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(Before It's News)

Is the rapidly expanding Middle East satellite television network and voice of the Arab Spring as independent as it claims?

BY OMAR CHATRIWALA |SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

Al Jazeera has been making waves in the Middle East ever since it aired its first broadcast on Nov. 1, 1996. In its news dispatches and talk shows, the pan-Arab satellite channel, which is funded by the state of Qatar, has been a strident critic of U.S. foreign policies in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Palestinian Territories, even while it has been a thorn in the side of many an Arab autocrat. But after the last dump of leaked U.S. diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks, on Aug. 30, articles have begun to circulate — especially in Iranian and Syrian media outlets — about Al Jazeera's close relationship with a surprising interlocutor: the U.S. government.

In particular, a newly released cable issued by the U.S. Embassy in Doha and signed by then ambassador Chase Untermeyer, details a meeting between an embassy public affairs official and Wadah Khanfar, Al Jazeera's director general, in which the latter is said to agree to tone down and remove what the United States terms "disturbing Al Jazeera website content."

There have been longstanding accusations that Al Jazeera serves as an arm of its host nation's foreign policy, and earlier leaked documents referred to the news organization as "one of Qatar's most valuable political and diplomatic tools," which could be used as "a bargaining tool to repair relationships with other countries." Another document urges Sen. John Kerry to engage the Qatari government on Al Jazeera during a visit to the Gulf country, saying, "there are ample precedents for a bilateral dialogue on Al Jazeera as part of improving bilateral relations."

Despite those assertions by U.S. diplomatic sources, both the network and the Qatari government fiercely insist that it is editorially independent and free from interference.

Skeptics take the latest leak as proof, though, that Al Jazeera is susceptible to external pressures, not least in part due to the document's summary:

PAO [Public affairs officer] met 10/19 with Al Jazeera Managing Director Wadah Khanfar to discuss the latest DIA [U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency] report on Al Jazeera and disturbing Al Jazeera website content…. Khanfar said the most recent website piece of concern to the USG [U.S. government] has been toned down and that he would have it removed over the subsequent two or three days. End summary.

In what some are seizing upon as evidence of an American-Qatari conspiracy, the cable, dated October 2005, continues with a quote from Khanfar saying, "We need to fix the method of how we receive these reports," mentioning that he had found one of them "on the fax machine."

PAGE 2 OF 4 HERE

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  • If the Zionist haven’t infiltrated Al Jazeera it sure as hell won’t be from lack of trying. The Zionist have learned from past failure that taking over the media is a integral part of controlling the opposition. Seize control of the currency, undermine the government through bribes, murder and intimidate and mislead or undermine every opposition group that poses a threat to exposing your sick and twisted agenda.

  • ZioNazi

    ZATO

  • Sept 22 ,2011:Lusk , Wyoming 5:27PM. Back in May of this when it was aired on the internet ( Yahoo ) about how some US Solder had removed classified American Military Information , and what he had done with the said stolen US military information he posted this so called classified information on WikiLeaks. and how the USA Government was going out of it’s way to make it illegal for any and ( ALL ) government employ’s to view this ( SAID INFORMATION ) on WilkiLeaks . That’s how I was tipped off that the United State’s Government was putting out ( DISINFORMATION ) . Because those US Government employ’s that work in those information gathering position’s would ( KNOW RIGHT OFF THE B AT ) if in fact this info was correct. And they would also know if it was bad info, and most likely made it a point say so : Being it’s another ( BUSH and CHAINY ) 9/11 set up. By the way if anybody is interested ( THERE IS A WARRANT OF ARREST FOR GEORGE BUSH JR ) by the world court; For genocide against the ( IRAQI PEOPLE ) of Iraq .

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