![](\"http:\/\/www.edwardsdavid.com\/media\/nbc\/images\/nbc_today_marine_al-jazeera_051004a2.jpg\")
<\/a>Marine Captain Josh Rushing has taken a job reporting for an Arab news network which is drawing criticism from some conservatives. He was recently interviewed by NBC’s Today Show<\/I><\/a>.<\/p>\nVideo in Windows Media format…<\/a> The Arab language news network Al-Jazeera<\/i><\/a> has plans to begin broadcasting an English-language channel by Spring of 2006. The network already had 30 to 50 million viewers in the Arab-speaking world. The network has been called propagandists, liars and terrorists by many neocons like Donald Rumsfeld and Fox News<\/i> pundit Bill O’Reilly. Even so, Al-Jazeera is almost certain to be a popular news alternative for many English-speaking viewers when it launches.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In 2003, the U.S. Military opened the Central Command (CENTCOM) in Doha, Qatar, as a base of operations and a media stage for the Iraq war. Marine Public Affairs Officer Josh Rushing was assigned to be the media liaison for the Al-Jazeera network. <\/p>\n As media liaison for Al-Jazeera, Rushing gained notoriety with the network’s audience. Rushing became best known for appearing in the Egyptian documentary “Control Room” which focused on a behind-the-scenes look at Al-Jazeera’s reporting of the Iraq war.<\/p>\n Recently, Rushing ended his service with the Marine Corp. and has accepted a job with Al-Jazeera. As America’s media has picked up the story, debate over Rushing’s relationship with network has increased. Today, the right-wing blogger Debbie Schussel writes<\/a>:<\/p>\n Rushing has the intellect of Anna Nicole Smith and the politics of . . . well, Al Jazeera. Maybe that’s why Al-Jazeera just hired Rushing to be it’s American propagandist . . . er, correspondent.<\/p><\/div>\n An opinion by Linda O’Brien<\/a> published in USA TODAY<\/i> takes a more positive view:<\/p>\n
\nVideo in QuickTime format…<\/a><\/p>\n