Donald Rumsfeld to Al Jazeera: ‘I am delighted you are doing what you are doing’

By Alex Weprin 

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who once called Al Jazeera’s reporting “vicious, inaccurate and inexcusable” has apparently made amends with the broadcaster. The Huffington Post’s Michael Calderone reports that in an interview to air tonight, Rumsfeld praised the channel for its recent reportage:

“Its audience has grown and it can be an important means of communication in the world,” he said of the channel.

“I am delighted you are doing what you are doing.”

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Rumsfeld was interviewed by Sir David Frost, best known for his infamous 1977 interviews with former President Richard Nixon.

Al Jazeera English has received wide praise for its coverage of the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, including from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. At the same time, it has struggled to find carriage in the U.S., only available in a handful of small markets, Washington DC and New York, where it occupies channel space owned by another company.

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