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The Cry of a Disillusioned Hawk: Boris Johnson on Bush & al-Jazeera

But if there is an ounce of truth in the notion that George Bush seriously proposed the destruction of al-Jazeera, and was only dissuaded by the Prime Minister, then we need to know, and we need to know urgently. We need to know what we have been fighting for, and there is only one way […]

But if there is an ounce of truth in the notion that George Bush seriously proposed the destruction of al-Jazeera, and was only dissuaded by the Prime Minister, then we need to know, and we need to know urgently. We need to know what we have been fighting for, and there is only one way to find out.

The Attorney General’s ban is ridiculous, untenable, and redolent of guilt. I do not like people to break the Official Secrets Act, and, as it happens, I would not object to the continued prosecution of those who are alleged to have broken it. But we now have allegations of such severity, against the US President and his motives, that we need to clear them up.

If someone passes me the document within the next few days I will be very happy to publish it in The Spectator, and risk a jail sentence. The public need to judge for themselves. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. If we suppress the truth, we forget what we are fighting for, and in an important respect we become as sick and as bad as our enemies. ~Boris Johnson

It is rather quaint that Mr. Johnson imagines that “what we are fighting for” in Iraq has some sort of friendly relationship with truth, and that suppressing truth would somehow compromise the high and noble principles advanced by invading a country without provocation. After all, if aggression and unprovoked killing throughout an entire country are acceptable, why worry about dishonesty or a cover-up over something as insignificant as plotting to attack a few foreign journalists?

But give Mr. Johnson some credit–he does find using white phosphorus and torture to be regrettable, and he would be a bit unnerved if the President had indeed desired to blow up al-Jazeera. But would he continue to support the unjust war that precipitated all these things? Most likely, yes.

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