Just when I'm thinking I don't post enough right-wing stuff, along comes a juicy morsel like this, from Daniel Johnson of the New York Sun.

Some excerpts:

... I would be surprised if Messrs. Bush and Blair had not discussed ways of limiting the damage done by Islamist propaganda, whose main conduit is indeed Al Jazeera TV. It may well be that the thought of silencing the Arab network crossed their minds, only to be dismissed as too risky. If so, were the two leaders wrong to consider that option?

I don't think so. That shutting down Al Jazeera would be desirable from the Anglo-American point of view is obviously true. And if Qatar, a Gulf state that is nominally an ally of America (on which it relies for its independence), has allowed its capital to become Al Qaeda's principal propaganda base, it has no right to expect America automatically to refrain from punitive action on its territory.

The wider issues raised by the Bush-Blair Al Jazeera exchange are two. First, how far can the West tolerate the dissemination of Islamist propaganda intended to poison the minds of Muslims against Jews and "Crusaders"? Second, how much information are Western governments obliged to give about their internal decision-making process, and are they justified in suppressing sensitive information, even if this means penalizing the press, to protect Western interests?

Islamist Web sites and other means of communication are constantly monitored by security services and in some cases those responsible for propagating incendiary material have been prosecuted. I mentioned last week the case of an Islamist Webmaster who now faces extradition from Britain to America to face terrorism charges, Barbar Ahmad. The fact that it is the major Arab global network does not give Al Jazeera the right to disseminate material that directly threatens American or British national security. ...

... We have no right to know the contents of secret conversations between presidents and prime ministers. Now that this particular cat is out of the bag, it may make sense for British authorities to put the record straight. But, in general, no government is obliged to reveal anything at all about operational decisions in wartime.

Wartime? Aye, there's the rub. Most Americans believe they are fighting a war against terror. Most Europeans don't. Most Americans are determined to win this war. Most Europeans have already given up.