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CJ Cregg
Commodore
Joined: 05 Oct 2002
Posts: 1254
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 Mon Jan 16, 2006 6:58 pm Bush Facing Legal Action |
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| Quote: | Bush Facing Legal Action
Updated: 23:01, Monday January 16, 2006
An Arab TV station has begun legal action over allegations that President Bush talked to Tony Blair about bombing its headquarters in Qatar.
Al Jazeera has hired a team of London lawyers to try to obtain minutes of an alleged meeting between the leaders.
Last November, the head of the station, Wadah Khanfar, delivered a letter to Mr Blair demanding to know what was actually said at the White House.
He also said al Jazeera had asked the White House for an explanation.
Also in November, there were reports of a memo showing Mr Blair had talked his US counterpart out of taking action.
Qatar is an ally of America and was the location of US military headquarters during the Iraq war.
The White House rejected reports of the conversation, calling them "outlandish".
But US officials have accused al Jazeera of being a mouthpiece for al Qaeda.
Downing Street has said it was quite happy to talk to al Jazeera as it was to other broadcasters.
http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-13494247,00.html
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Cathexis
The Angel of Avalon
Joined: 26 Dec 2001
Posts: 5901
Location: ~~ Where Dreams Have No End�
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| Mon Jan 16, 2006 8:16 pm |
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Wow.
I can't believe this is happening....
We should've seen it coming...
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TrekkieMage
Office Junkie
Joined: 17 Oct 2004
Posts: 5335
Location: Hiding
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| Mon Jan 16, 2006 8:58 pm |
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Hm. I wonder how many will follow in the next few months. A lot of questions are being asked and the Bush administration is desperatly trying to cover their behinds.
Not a bash, just an observation.
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Cathexis
The Angel of Avalon
Joined: 26 Dec 2001
Posts: 5901
Location: ~~ Where Dreams Have No End�
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| Mon Jan 16, 2006 9:01 pm |
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| TrekkieMage wrote: | Hm. I wonder how many will follow in the next few months. A lot of questions are being asked and the Bush administration is desperatly trying to cover their behinds.
Not a bash, just an observation. |
No kidding........it's just gonna keep spinning out of control....
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TrekkieMage
Office Junkie
Joined: 17 Oct 2004
Posts: 5335
Location: Hiding
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| Mon Jan 16, 2006 9:40 pm |
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Maybe. Bush does keep a pretty tight circle. It just a matter of how far people are willing to go in forcing him to take some more blame.
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Cathexis
The Angel of Avalon
Joined: 26 Dec 2001
Posts: 5901
Location: ~~ Where Dreams Have No End�
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| Mon Jan 16, 2006 9:42 pm |
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True, true.......
I just don't know what to think about his Administration anymore.....it's been filled with nothing but blame, criticism, back-and-forth pettiness, and conjecture.
I mean, I have to respect any man who would put himself in such a position of power.
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TrekkieMage
Office Junkie
Joined: 17 Oct 2004
Posts: 5335
Location: Hiding
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| Mon Jan 16, 2006 9:47 pm |
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Most presidencies are filled with a lot of blame and criticism nowadays. Look at all the post-wwII presidents. None of them have had 'happy endings'. Assasinations, scandals, impeachments, legal action. The thing is we won't really have a good view of Bush's presidency for another 20-50years. So there may not really be much impact from these legal actions, or they could demolish him.
The thing is, we don't know. Which is mildly frustrating 
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Cathexis
The Angel of Avalon
Joined: 26 Dec 2001
Posts: 5901
Location: ~~ Where Dreams Have No End�
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| Mon Jan 16, 2006 9:48 pm |
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| TrekkieMage wrote: | Most presidencies are filled with a lot of blame and criticism nowadays. Look at all the post-wwII presidents. None of them have had 'happy endings'. Assasinations, scandals, impeachments, legal action. The thing is we won't really have a good view of Bush's presidency for another 20-50years. So there may not really be much impact from these legal actions, or they could demolish him.
The thing is, we don't know. Which is mildly frustrating |
Mildly, she says....
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TrekkieMage
Office Junkie
Joined: 17 Oct 2004
Posts: 5335
Location: Hiding
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| Mon Jan 16, 2006 9:53 pm |
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Well, we will never know the future, and that's a given. No point in stressing over that. But the debate is here and now. And I wanna know if I'm on the winning side or not. 
But I do wonder what will come of this lawsuit. It could spark a series of them, or it could crash and burn.
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Cathexis
The Angel of Avalon
Joined: 26 Dec 2001
Posts: 5901
Location: ~~ Where Dreams Have No End�
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| Mon Jan 16, 2006 9:56 pm |
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| TrekkieMage wrote: | Well, we will never know the future, and that's a given. No point in stressing over that. But the debate is here and now. And I wanna know if I'm on the winning side or not.
But I do wonder what will come of this lawsuit. It could spark a series of them, or it could crash and burn. |
True.....in a lot of ways, I hope that it does crash and burn........it's going to make our government look so weak and unstable, something that I'm sure we're all aware no one in the United States wants to face.....
On the other hand, if Bush and Blair did have that conversation, etc..........we could have major problems..not like we don't already have enough of them as it is...
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TrekkieMage
Office Junkie
Joined: 17 Oct 2004
Posts: 5335
Location: Hiding
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| Mon Jan 16, 2006 10:00 pm |
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And our government doesn't look at all weak or unstable at the moment? Bush has been under fire for the past month about the NSA stuff, not to mention we've been in a whole string of controversial "wars" (I use quotes because they weren't official by congress, but the did happen) post WWII.
Personally I think we've been going downhill for a while now, but it's only just becoming apparent.
Yeah. It seems that there is a lot of stuff coming down on Bush at the same time. His administration is going into a heavy defensive mode.
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Cathexis
The Angel of Avalon
Joined: 26 Dec 2001
Posts: 5901
Location: ~~ Where Dreams Have No End�
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| Mon Jan 16, 2006 10:02 pm |
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| TrekkieMage wrote: | And our government doesn't look at all weak or unstable at the moment? Bush has been under fire for the past month about the NSA stuff, not to mention we've been in a whole string of controversial "wars" (I use quotes because they weren't official by congress, but the did happen) post WWII.
Personally I think we've been going downhill for a while now, but it's only just becoming apparent.
Yeah. It seems that there is a lot of stuff coming down on Bush at the same time. His administration is going into a heavy defensive mode. |
Okay, my mistake...lol I said "going to".....I'll edit it in a second....
You're quite right about the administration....and I agree on the comment about the controversial wars...
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LightningBoy
Commodore
Joined: 09 Mar 2003
Posts: 1446
Location: Minnesota, U.S.A.
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| Tue Jan 17, 2006 1:03 am |
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There's definately something terrible going on here.
The injustice is that private conversations are being invaded. Maybe President Bush should take legal action because of someone breaching his privacy.
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TrekkieMage
Office Junkie
Joined: 17 Oct 2004
Posts: 5335
Location: Hiding
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| Tue Jan 17, 2006 5:38 pm |
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He's the president. He has no privacy. Didn't they tap Nixon's phone calls? Besides, if his discussion really was about bombing another country, I think Bush's personal privacy is unimportant in the investigation.
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Hitchhiker
Rear Admiral
Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 3514
Location: Ontario, Canada
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| Tue Jan 17, 2006 7:14 pm |
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Business is certainly good for lawyers though.
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Cathexis
The Angel of Avalon
Joined: 26 Dec 2001
Posts: 5901
Location: ~~ Where Dreams Have No End�
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| Tue Jan 17, 2006 8:37 pm |
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| Hitchhiker wrote: | | Business is certainly good for lawyers though. |
Indeed!
Kinda pathetic if ya think about it.
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Link, the Hero of Time
Vice Admiral
Joined: 15 Sep 2001
Posts: 5581
Location: Kokori Forest, Hyrule
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| Tue Jan 17, 2006 9:24 pm |
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| LightningBoy wrote: | There's definately something terrible going on here.
The injustice is that private conversations are being invaded. Maybe President Bush should take legal action because of someone breaching his privacy. |
He's the one that started the private conversations being wiretapped without court orders.
Kind of sweet irony that it would happen to him.
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Puck
The Texan
Joined: 05 Jan 2004
Posts: 5596
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| Wed Jan 18, 2006 12:31 am |
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This is really just stupid. We are going after Bush for something that is highly unlikely to have occured, and in the process, defending Al-Jazeera which is basically a sponsor of terrorism? The dots just aren't connecting on this one for me.
And on a personal note, I would not have a problem if there were no Al-Jazeera. I might even go for CBS while we are at it.
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LightningBoy
Commodore
Joined: 09 Mar 2003
Posts: 1446
Location: Minnesota, U.S.A.
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| Wed Jan 18, 2006 3:02 am |
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| Link, the Hero of Time wrote: | | LightningBoy wrote: | There's definately something terrible going on here.
The injustice is that private conversations are being invaded. Maybe President Bush should take legal action because of someone breaching his privacy. |
He's the one that started the private conversations being wiretapped without court orders.
Kind of sweet irony that it would happen to him. |
So.. you're telling me it's good for the president to be wiretapped, where security could be breacher, but NOT suspected overseas terrorists who can kill us?
Sounds an aweful lot like you're really rooting for the wrong side here. Use some darned common sence, please.
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Link, the Hero of Time
Vice Admiral
Joined: 15 Sep 2001
Posts: 5581
Location: Kokori Forest, Hyrule
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| Wed Jan 18, 2006 12:55 pm |
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| LightningBoy wrote: |
So.. you're telling me it's good for the president to be wiretapped, where security could be breacher, but NOT suspected overseas terrorists who can kill us?
Sounds an aweful lot like you're really rooting for the wrong side here. Use some darned common sence, please. |
We have the courts for a reason. The president is exploiting his powers and ignoring the checks and balances that have been in place for almost 2 centuries. That is common sense.
If the president actully spoke about doing an act of Terrorism, which bombing a civilian buildin IS, his personal rights are revoked for the same reason he instilled those secret wiretaps to begin with.
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TrekkieMage
Office Junkie
Joined: 17 Oct 2004
Posts: 5335
Location: Hiding
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| Wed Jan 18, 2006 4:40 pm |
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A very good point Link. And I wholeheartedly agree. This is exactly the kind of circumstance Bush was using to defend the wiretapping.
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LightningBoy
Commodore
Joined: 09 Mar 2003
Posts: 1446
Location: Minnesota, U.S.A.
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| Wed Jan 18, 2006 4:46 pm |
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| Link, the Hero of Time wrote: | | LightningBoy wrote: |
So.. you're telling me it's good for the president to be wiretapped, where security could be breacher, but NOT suspected overseas terrorists who can kill us?
Sounds an aweful lot like you're really rooting for the wrong side here. Use some darned common sence, please. |
We have the courts for a reason. The president is exploiting his powers and ignoring the checks and balances that have been in place for almost 2 centuries. That is common sense. |
Our courts have no jurisdiction over wiretapping foreign phones; 6 different times, in fact, they've been ruled legal. These calls were not contained within the U.S., therefore precident protects the wiretappings.
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Link, the Hero of Time
Vice Admiral
Joined: 15 Sep 2001
Posts: 5581
Location: Kokori Forest, Hyrule
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| Wed Jan 18, 2006 5:11 pm |
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| LightningBoy wrote: |
Our courts have no jurisdiction over wiretapping foreign phones; 6 different times, in fact, they've been ruled legal. These calls were not contained within the U.S., therefore precident protects the wiretappings. |
True, but most of the secret wiretaps have been in the USA. Not foreign, therefore they are illegal without a court order.
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LightningBoy
Commodore
Joined: 09 Mar 2003
Posts: 1446
Location: Minnesota, U.S.A.
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| Wed Jan 18, 2006 5:16 pm |
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All of the calls involved in the current investigation were placed to cell phones in other countries, of suspected terrorists.
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
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| Thu Jan 19, 2006 8:33 pm |
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Mmm-hmm...Yep, yep, yep. Ridiculous. How could Al-Jazeera be doing such a thing? Oh, well it comes as no suprise to me...
You know, I would have no problem with the President saying this. I think he should get out in the public and play on a classic Reagan accident quote, saying, "I am pleased to announce that I have just signed legislation outlawing Al-Jazeera forever. The bombing begins in five minutes."
They are a terrorist-enabling and terrorist-supporting group, letting them use it as such a propoganda tool. They need to be taken out.
And FYI, Link: the wiretaps originated from out of the country, not inside the country. It's a matter of, say, the government monitoring Osama bin Laden's calls. He calls the US, they still monitor his call. And that's something we need to have.
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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