'Bomb al-jazeera' memo: The futility of secrecy
newstatesman: He's done it several times before on a smaller scale, so it seems eminently conceivable that George W Bush should want to finish the job properly. In November 2001, a US missile destroyed al-Jazeera's Kabul offices; in April 2003, coalition forces attacked the station's bases in Baghdad and Basra. Now the Daily Mirror reports that the US president told Tony Blair of his plans to bomb al-Jazeera's headquarters in Doha, capital of the emirate of Qatar. Downing Street, when asked to respond to the story, initially gave a non-committal response. Subsequently it warned editors that publication of the contents of documents relating to their discussion would be a breach of the Official Secrets Act.
The act, introduced in 1911, has a long history of stamping on free speech. Some of its current, and most restrictive, provisions date back to 1989 and the Thatcher administration. Clearly, all governments can legitimately point to the need for measures to preserve secrets relating to external, internal or military intelligence. Some previous prosecutions of former security service employees might have been legitimate in both the spirit and the letter of the law.
However, this government, with its particularly inglorious approach to veracity, seems to be interpreting its gagging powers more broadly to include political or diplomatic inconvenience. Thus the Cabinet Secretary seeks to tone down the memoirs of a former spin-doctor, fearing the embarrassment it would cause ministers. Now the Attorney General - a man whose equivocations about the legality of the Iraq war have made him one of the least distinguished holders of that office - has broadened his remit to classify as secret any piece of information damaging to his boss's closest ally. The latest move is as absurd as it will prove counter- productive, ensuring maximum exposure across the world. Read more
db: It's interesting that the government let the story run in the first place. It's possible that Blair and his team calculated that the allegations of him standing up to Bush and acting as a force for reason [no doubt a one-off] would be just the thing to mitigate his current reputation as an obedient poodle. It's no secret that Alistair Campbell and Blair still talk a lot.
First Berlusconi kicks Bush in the nuts - then Blair pulls a fast one. Bush is going down and it's every man for himself.
The act, introduced in 1911, has a long history of stamping on free speech. Some of its current, and most restrictive, provisions date back to 1989 and the Thatcher administration. Clearly, all governments can legitimately point to the need for measures to preserve secrets relating to external, internal or military intelligence. Some previous prosecutions of former security service employees might have been legitimate in both the spirit and the letter of the law.
However, this government, with its particularly inglorious approach to veracity, seems to be interpreting its gagging powers more broadly to include political or diplomatic inconvenience. Thus the Cabinet Secretary seeks to tone down the memoirs of a former spin-doctor, fearing the embarrassment it would cause ministers. Now the Attorney General - a man whose equivocations about the legality of the Iraq war have made him one of the least distinguished holders of that office - has broadened his remit to classify as secret any piece of information damaging to his boss's closest ally. The latest move is as absurd as it will prove counter- productive, ensuring maximum exposure across the world. Read more
db: It's interesting that the government let the story run in the first place. It's possible that Blair and his team calculated that the allegations of him standing up to Bush and acting as a force for reason [no doubt a one-off] would be just the thing to mitigate his current reputation as an obedient poodle. It's no secret that Alistair Campbell and Blair still talk a lot.
First Berlusconi kicks Bush in the nuts - then Blair pulls a fast one. Bush is going down and it's every man for himself.
posted by exoplanet at 9:18 PM
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