Cheney Team Trying to Muzzle Al Jazeera

Apparently the U.S. is pressuring Qatar to sell the Al Jazeera TV network The best line in the New York Times article:

Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and other Bush administration officials have complained heatedly to Qatari leaders that Al Jazeera's broadcasts have been inflammatory, misleading and occasionally false, especially on iraq.

So I suppose Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and Powell have never given out misleading or occasionally false information about iraq?

Al Jazeera is watched by 30 million to 50 million viewers. It's coverage has been inflammatory and I'm not going to defend that, but it's the most important media source in the Middle East and should not be shut down by American pressure. Qatar is only considering selling it, but potential buyers for the financially-strapped network are few. And the Cheney team wouldn't be involved if they weren't interested in making it's content more U.S. friendly.