Iraq orders al-Jazeera suspension

stupid move.

independent media is always the first to go. The interim government is also toying around with the idea of martial law. Don't show those beheadings while we're trying to figure out how to justify our own beheadings!
And let's not forget what happened when the US shut down Sadr's little newspaper.

haha the purview of the independent commission that Allawi says was supposedly set up to analyse A-J was "to see what kind of violence they are advocating, inciting hatred and problems and racial tension"

maybe Allawi can get that same "commission" to check out the Bush Administration

i've watched a lot of hours and a lot of interviews with A-J's editors, and they're top notch as this stuff goes, at least on a level with the major American networks and in many cases better. the top editors are very conscientious about their role in the Arab world and have drastically reduced the amount of blood and gore they show, which used to be their calling card. most of the top people used to work for the BBC. they're going to launch an English language network in a year or so and i can't wait.