The raging obsession the Bush administration had with Al Jazeera mirrors the raging obsession the administration had with incorporating the broader Middle East into its new world order. Its approach was that of a raging drunk with no sense of what consequences failure to subdue either would have. The administration, as you have so eloquently written, never had any sense of the history or culture of the people they so desperately wanted to subjugate. But the most fatal flaw in their plan for both the Arab media and the Middle East was their lack of respect for their own national media and the history of our own country. Americans know intimately that we are a flawed people, which is why we strive purposely to overcome. Our history is full of great Americans who struggled for a broader truth which at its inception had very little public support - Martin Luther King comes to mind. The flaw in Bush's war is its cumulative effect - no WMD's (Americans ho-hum accept maybe this was an honest mistake), no candies thrown at troops (oh well can't get everything right), torture of prisoners (something is definitely wrong here), war raging on for several years and thousands of humans dead (this administration has to go), and now lets kill the messenger (ugh). Justice moves very slowly in America, but it does move, and Americans do not like being associated with a losing, dangerous and morally bankrupt system. Our history is full of movements that have been thrown to the dustbin of our national memory, the Salem witch trials, slavery, Indian injustice, McCarthyism, segregation, discrimination and now hopefully pre-emptive war.

Did Junior boost a surgical strike on Al-Jazeera HQ in Qatar to pal Tony?

Well, let's take a look at Junior's form. He is remembered at Harvard for branding a fellow student with a hot metal clothes hanger. Caused quite a fuss at the time, but wealth and privelige prevailed. After the wilderness years, his rebranding in Texas was augmented with a Rovian brain transplant. Terminator and Robocop had nothing on this dynamic duo. The quest for the White House saw a long list of fundamentally decent people who dared challenge Team Bush, become political roadkill. Texas Governors, POW war heroes, anyone "not with us", was subjected to relentless and brutal calumny. So only the most biased, would deny that the President is a known bully.

The neocon-WHIG supercharged Iraq crusade brooked no dissent. Establishment pillars, a supine MSM and a nation of patriots fell dutifully into line. That was 3 years ago. Now the Mission Accomplished War President stands metaphorically naked and ideologically frozen.

Bush ordered the leveling of Fallujah in a fit of bully boy pique, and damn the civilian casualties. I suggest that to Bush, whacking a bunch of uppity raghead journos (and whoever else happened to be around at the time) would seem as natural as "mowin' down an ants nest" with his trail bike.

To bomb Al Jazeera, or not to bomb Al Jazeera? That is the question. Perhaps the American press is ignoring this story about Bush and Blair because they are fearful of ending up on Bush' hit list.

I'm currently working for a human rights organisation in Beirut, and therefore involved in daily analytical conversations about the situation in the Middle East with my colleagues. We were discussing this story today, and the general consent among my Arab co-workers is that there is absolutely no need for the Americans to think about bombing Al-Jazeera. If they really wanted it closed they could simply make a phone call to Qatar and get the station shut down. Most Arab media is Gulf-owned and, make no mistake, the Americans have solid allies there to do their bidding. While I'm personally appreciating the negative reflection this story has cast upon the American administration- who I firmly believe would bomb a TV station if they felt they really needed to- I think the Daily Mirror perhaps fabricated it for this reason rather than because it represents a genuine truth.

Bush want to bomb Al-Jazeera? Nah, don't be silly. It's just the booze talking.

As others have pointed out elsewhere, the fact that Blair has invoked the Official Secrets Act is a conclusive demonstration that the memo in question exists and is a government document.

The question of its exact content, of course, remains. Notably, the OSA acts amongst other things as a gag order that prevents press discussion of the contents of the memo. To the extent that the memo demonstrates the President's poor sense of humour or discusses troop deployments or other sensitive matters, you would think that, respectively, biting the bullet and a bit of minimal redaction would permit the release of the memo and make clear that there was no plan to attack Al Jazeera in the works.

Therefore, to the extent there was no such plan, why invoke the OSA for gagging purposes and refuse to release the memo? One (and perhaps the most) plausible conclusion is that the memo would reveal that such an operation was indeed contemplated by the Bush junta. The one thing worse than allowing the world' media to speculate endlessly on the topic, tipped off by the invocation of the OSA, would be publishing a memo that confirms the speculation.

As Mr. Cole infers, the current strategy is instead aimed at reassuring both leaders' core supporters -- those members of the public who derive a psychic benefit from knowing that foreign, non-english-speaking infidels are being smited with their tax dollars, but don't like having to think about the corpses created as a result.

There is a precedent for US Republican presidents thinking that making jokes regarding bombing those that do not goosestep along with us.

"The Soviet Union has been abolished, the bombing starts in 5 minutes."

I wonder if Kerry's campaign ever had thoughts to bomb FOX News...

It's fascinating to read that you credit the (first) attack on Fallujah to a fit of Presidential Pique over the killing of mercenaries, war profiteers who have no business but that of increasing the suffering and misery of others.

Add pique to what you call his "messianic certainty" and we've apparently got a real imperial president - one who enjoys killing others.