POLITICAL COMMUNICATION, ADVOCACY AND CAMPAIGNING - Essay Example

In his autobiography, Decision points, Bush looked back at his role in those events with pride and no regret despite the controversy surrounding his decisions and the ensuing consequences (Bush 2010). This essay endeavors to look at the Bush’s controversial plan to attack the International news channel Al-Jazeera revealed in the Daily Mirror in 2005, as part of the American administration war against terrorism and Al-Qaida. A decision which surprised many international political observers when it was revealed, but which Bush has not denied in his autobiography.

Founded in the 1990s, run by Qatar Media Corporation, and intended for Middle East viewers, Al-Jazeera is an international, initially Arabic, news and current affairs channel. Its headquarters are maintained at Doha in Qatar. Over the years, Al-Jazeera extended its network to cover many specialties. Its TV channels and the news are now broadcasted in many languages (Buzzle.com 2010). Unlike other government channels, Al-Jazeera is the only independent channel in the Middle East. It has always broadcasted unorthodox views and shows in crucial times such as live videos of Osama Bin Laden, especially after the 9/11 attack on the twin towers and during the exclusive and live coverage of the Afghanistan war.

Its broadcasting policy owned it an international reputation and a wide range of audience. “It has earned the reputation of being notorious among the critics due to its inclination towards giving coverage to terrorists groups and showing violent footage from war-zones” (Buzzle.com 2010). The channel broadcasted videotapes of Muslim radicals that included Osama-Bin-Laden, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and Ayman al-Zawahiri. Hoever, its broadcasting policy was not to the “taste” of many political observers however.

For some it was perceived as “a propaganda machine and Osama bin Laden’s mouthpiece” (Miles 2006). Donald Rumsfeld for example objected that the channel