Courting Al-Jazeera

"Bush administration officials once referred to Al Jazeera, the Arab satellite network based here, as 'All Osama All the Time' for its regular showings of Al Qaeda video tapes and frequent appearances by anti-American commentators," write Jane Perlez and Jim Rutenberg. Last week, however, several U.S. officials accepted an invitation to a barbecue in at the home of Al-Jazeera's news director. "The party was one sign of how aggressively the Bush administration has embraced Al Jazeera as Washington fights the propaganda front of the Iraqi conflict. With all but one of the major American television networks now out of Baghdad - only CNN remains - Al Jazeera is likely to become a major source for Baghdad coverage."