EU Member of Parliament: NATO Seeks Ways to Shut RT Down
The U.S. bombed Al Jazeera offices in 2001 and 2003. Some say it was because it didn't want coverage of the crimes they were committing in Baghdad and Kabul. | Photo: AFP
Published 10 December 2015 (5 hours 33 minutes ago)
Spanish EU lawmaker Javier Cuoso mentioned teleSUR along with RT as one of the few media that question mainstream news outlets.
A Spanish member of the European Parliament accused NATO members Thursday of openly saying they need to stop Russia Today from continuing its news coverage and operations in general.
“The greatest military in the world, NATO, allows itself to speak in Wales that RT needs to be stopped,” lawmaker from the United Left party of Spain, Javier Cuoso, said during RT's 10th anniversary celebrations.
The European lawmaker said there are precedents of the U.S. attacking news organizations in the past, referring to the bombing of the news outlet's offices in Kabul, Afghanistan, and in Baghdad, Iraq.
"They previously bombed Al Jazeera twice, once in Kabul and then in Baghdad, and now they are preparing laws to ban RT from broadcasting,” said Cuoso, who is a member of the European Parliament's Defense and Security Commission.
Cuoso also spoke of teleSUR, describing the pan-American news network as one of the few that question the mainstream media, referring to the vast majority of global news networks that support U.S.-backed media in covering wars against “foes,” such as Russia, Iran and Venezuela, among others.
“In face of those media outlets that repeat one voice – which in many occasions is their (U.S. and its Western allies') war strategy to change governments, emerge examples such as teleSUR and RT within the end of globalization framework,” he said.
RELATED: Moscow Rejects NATO Criticisms of Its Syria Military Campaign
The move is likely to lead to further deterioration in NATO’s relations with Russia, which sees the alliance’s expansion eastward as a threat to its national security.
NATO broke off official contact with Russia in April last year over the Ukrainian conflict; NATO accuses Moscow of supporting the rebels there who took over the region and declared reunification with Russia.
The U.S. Attacked Al Jazeera Offices in 2001 and 2003
In April 2003, U.S. military forces killed three journalist in Iraq's capital, including Al Jazeera correspondent Tariq Ayoub, while seriously injuring others.
According to the World Socialist Website, the U.S. ordered the attacks on Al Jazeera amid broadcasts showing some of the war crimes being committed by its troops throughout the Iraqi capital.
Ayoub was killed in a direct missile strike on Al Jazeera's Baghdad offices. The surviving staff sought shelter in the offices of Abu Dhabi TV, which also came under U.S. attack, WSWS added.
One surviving Al Jazeera journalist in Baghad, Majed Abdel Hadi, said after the bombing that, “We were targeted because the Americans don’t want the world to see the crimes they are committing against the Iraqi people.”
In 2001, the U.S. also attacked Al Jazeera offices and personnel in the Afghan capital Kabul. Their offices were completely destroyed by a U.S. missile. The U.S. troops later attacked a hotel where Al Jazeera correspondents were guests. Fortunately, four bombs failed to explode.
The U.S. had also attacked a convoy of journalists from Al Jazeera and Abu Dhabi TV as they were returning from a Iraqi government briefing. Nobody was injured.
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