- Cliff Kincaid
It is fun to watch Big Oil critic Al Gore squirm as he is questioned about selling out to the oil-rich dictatorship in Qatar. But his sale of Current TV to Al Jazeera is not a laughing matter. This transaction is a homeland security threat that violates numerous U.S. laws.
To his credit, funnyman David Letterman got close to the truth when he asked the former Democratic vice-president, “Now why do we think of Al Jazeera as something not right going on there in terms of, in terms of the good for Americans? Why do we think that they may be propaganda for Muslim violence and terrorism?”
“Well, it’s certainly not,” Gore replied. “And many years ago it put some videos on in the Arabic version that I think were misinterpreted, but the Al Jazeera English and now Al Jazeera America [are] really high quality stuff. They’re very widely respected, and people see for themselves. And, by the way, their climate coverage is higher quality and more extensive than any network on TV now in the U.S.”
Gore’s answer to Letterman shows that he is not being honest with those concerned about the deal. If Gore will lie to protect his $100 million payoff from the Arab dictatorship in Qatar, a major oil and gas producer, what else will he lie about? Global warming?
First, the “misinterpreted” videos were from Osama bin Laden—and al Qaeda, which is still trying to kill us. There is nothing to misinterpret. Paul L. Williams, author of the new book, Crescent Moon Rising points out that, during Operation Enduring Freedom, the official name for the war in Afghanistan, “All the tapes from al Qaeda were aired on Al Jazeera to inflame the Arab world. They added all that fuel so that our troops would be killed.” Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Afghanistan, who interviewed bin Laden, was sent to prison for being an agent of al Qaeda.
In Iraq, after the American invasion, the same thing occurred. Al Jazeera’s first managing director was exposed as an agent of the Saddam Hussein regime and the channel promoted the anti-American insurgency. The coverage inspired foreign Jihadists to come to Iraq to kill American soldiers, as captured terrorists acknowledged in interviews.
The new film, “Zero Dark Thirty,” mentions that the courier who eventually led the CIA to bin Laden was located in Pakistan near an Al Jazeera office in order to get the terrorist leader’s videotapes to the channel for worldwide distribution. This was no accident. The collaboration between Al Jazeera and al Qaeda continues to the present day. The channel has interviewed almost every major al Qaeda leader, including Anwar Al-Awlaki, who inspired the Ft. Hood massacre through his contacts with Muslim Army soldier Nidal Hasan. Al-Awlaki was also linked to the attempted bombing in the U.S. on Christmas Day by radical Muslim Umar Farouk.
Second, despite what Al Gore implies, the Arabic and English versions of Al Jazeera are paid for by the same dictatorship. Even Hillary Clinton’s State Department admits that, adding that Qatar controls the news policies and personnel of the channel.
Gore was on Letterman promoting his new book, The Future, which was obviously written before his deal with Al Jazeera was finalized. This is why his mentions of Al Jazeera in the book are so important. He refers to Al Jazeera in the book as the “relatively independent” network that played a role in the so-called “Arab spring.”
It is interesting that this “relatively independent” network has now become “very highly-respected,” as he claimed on Letterman.
It’s apparent that Gore is talking about the channel in glowing terms in order to justify his receipt of $100 million from the $500 million deal. Gore doesn’t want to admit the truth because then he would be exposed for selling Current TV to Al Jazeera not only for “dirty” oil money, but also for blood money. The American blood on the hands of Al Jazeera is real.
Every time that you see a wounded member of the American military, or attend a service for those who died defending America, there is the distinct possibility that the death and destruction was carried out by Jihadists egged on by Al Jazeera.
For more of the article go to: http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/52825
