Bush Plot to Bomb his Arab Ally
"President Bush planned to bomb Arab TV station al-Jazeera in friendly Qatar, a 'Top Secret' No 10 memo reveals.
But he was talked out of it at a White House summit by Tony Blair, who said it would provoke a worldwide backlash.
A source said: 'There's no doubt what Bush wanted, and no doubt Blair didn't want him to do it.' Al-Jazeera is accused by the US of fuelling the Iraqi insurgency.
The attack would have led to a massacre of innocents on the territory of a key ally, enraged the Middle East and almost certainly have sparked bloody retaliation.
A source said last night: 'The memo is explosive and hugely damaging to Bush.
'He made clear he wanted to bomb al-Jazeera in Qatar and elsewhere. Blair replied that would cause a big problem.
'There's no doubt what Bush wanted to do - and no doubt Blair didn't want him to do it.'
A Government official suggested that the Bush threat had been 'humorous, not serious'.
But another source declared: 'Bush was deadly serious, as was Blair. That much is absolutely clear from the language"
- posted by geoff @ #