re: #125 Barrett Brown

That cable says that U.S. diplomats consider al-Jazeera to serve as an informal tool of Qatar foreign policy. It does not say what you claimed, that “Al Jazeera itself is nothing but a front for Qatar.” I understand you have a strong opinion on this issue but if our aim is to arrive at the truth it is important that we stick to the facts.

Here’s what it says:

#cablegate: Al-Jazeera an ‘instrument of Qatari influence’, according to leak

The cable sent from the US embassy in Doha on 19 November 2009 and published by the Guardian details the Gulf of Qatar’s foreign policy for other Middle Eastern states, including Iran. The cable specifically refers to Al-Jazeera Arabic and its regional news output and makes reference to the importance of Al-Jazeera broadcasts in Qatari-US relations.

The broadcaster, which has staunchly defended its editorial independence in the past, is described as “an informal tool of GOQ [Gulf of Qatar] foreign policy” and “an instrument of Qatari influence”, in the US embassy cable.

“[T]he regional Al-Jazeera Arabic news channel will continue to be an instrument of Qatari influence, and continue to be an expression, however uncoordinated, of the nation’s foreign policy. Qatar will continue to use Al-Jazeera as a bargaining tool to repair relationships with other countries, particularly those soured by Al-Jazeera’s broadcasts, including the United States,” says the cable.

An “informal tool” simply means that they don’t formally acknowledge the purpose of Al Jazeera.

And I’m amazed that you’re going to make excuses for this kind of thing, when you know very well that if the same thing was claimed about an American media organization, you’d be outraged.