OSAMA BIN LADEN - AL JAZEERA NOT PRO AL QUAEDA SAYS BROADCASTER'S MILITARY SPOKESMAN

AL JAZEERA NOT PRO AL QUAEDA SAYS BROADCASTER'S MILITARY SPOKESMAN

Josh Rushing, the former U.S. Marine captain who served as a military spokesman in Iraq and is now a military analyst for Al Jazeera International, maintains that President Bush has falsely depicted the Arab news channel as a "mouthpiece for Osama bin Laden." In an interview with the CBS blog Public Eye, Rushing observed that "Al Qaeda has called Al Jazeera 'pro-Zionist' and 'pro-westerners.' They've called for attacks against Al Jazeera in Qatar. And that's both bin Laden's Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda in Iraq." While serving as Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld called Al Jazeera's coverage of the war "vicious, inaccurate and inexcusable." But Rushing said, "Most of the reasons people don't like Al Jazeera are based on [myths]. Take the myth that Al Jazeera broadcasts beheadings -- they've never done that."

02/08/2007