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GEORGE GALLOWAY REVISITED
By Peter Fredson
May 19, 2005
Yesterday I wrote about a remarkable encounter of Mr. George Galloway, British Member of Parliament, with a subcommittee of the U.S. Senate. One particular senator had been waiting to skewer and roast Mr. Galloway, but had the tables turned on him (and the entire Bush administration) when the fiery Mr. Galloway responded in words that half of the country was waiting to hear.
Today I spent several hours reviewing news sources and blogs concerning those words of criticism concerning the U.S. and Mr. Bush in particular. More than half of the comments were very favorable and even congratulated Mr. Galloway on bringing to national attention some very grave problems with the Bush administration.
As expected, there were many objections by people who thought Mr. Bush was saintly and a good leader, that there were Weapons of Mass Destruction, that Saddam Husssein was EVIL, that we are in Iraq to fight terrorism, that any criticism will get our invading troops killed, that preemption is a good American virtue, and that sending Muslims to Hell is a good deed.
Let’s look at some of Mr. Galloway’s comments to see if any are justified.
"Now I want to deal with the pages that relate to me in this dossier and I want to point out areas where there are - let’s be charitable and say errors. Then I want to put this in the context where I believe it ought to be. On the very first page of your document about me you assert that I have had ’many meetings’ with Saddam Hussein. This is false."
"I have had two meetings with Saddam Hussein, once in 1994 and once in August of 2002. By no stretch of the English language can that be described as "many meetings" with Saddam Hussein.”
"As a matter of fact, I have met Saddam Hussein exactly the same number of times as Donald Rumsfeld met him. The difference is Donald Rumsfeld met him to sell him guns and to give him maps the better to target those guns. I met him to try and bring about an end to sanctions, suffering and war, and on the second of the two occasions, I met him to try and persuade him to let Dr Hans Blix and the United Nations weapons inspectors back into the country - a rather better use of two meetings with Saddam Hussein than your own Secretary of State for Defence made of his.”’
Even allowing for the insistence on secrecy of the entire Bush administration, there has been remarkably little interest in what business the Bush family and their friends had with Saddam Hussein. Would this not make a good preamble to figure out why terrorism arose and spread? Let’s get all of the documentation into the public record. Did the Bush family actually contribute to conditions arousing patriotic Muslims to react against American imperialism?
Galloway said: "I was an opponent of Saddam Hussein when British and Americans governments and businessmen were selling him guns and gas. I used to demonstrate outside the Iraqi embassy when British and American officials were going in and doing commerce.”
Surely, if Bush really wants to know the truth he will investigate all of those profitable deals. Right?
Galloway continued: "You have my name on lists provided to you by the Duelfer inquiry, provided to him by the convicted bank robber, and fraudster and conman Ahmed Chalabi who many people to their credit in your country now realise played a decisive role in leading your country into the disaster in Iraq.”
Although some news reports have outed Chalabi, Bush is also remarkably silent on the influence that Chalabi had on his famous declaration of war against Iraq. Wouldn’t it be good for the country if all of the documentation between Chalabi and the Bush administration were made public?
Galloway stated: "You quote Mr. Dahar Yassein Ramadan. Well, you have something on me, I’ve never met Mr. Dahar Yassein Ramadan. Your sub-committee apparently has. But I do know that he’s your prisoner, I believe he’s in Abu Ghraib prison. I believe he is facing war crimes charges, punishable by death. In these circumstances, knowing what the world knows about how you treat prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison, in Bagram Airbase, in Guantanamo Bay, including I may say, British citizens being held in those places.”
"I’m not sure how much credibility anyone would put on anything you manage to get from a prisoner in those circumstances. But you quote 13 words from Dahar Yassein Ramadan whom I have never met. If he said what he said, then he is wrong.”
But of course everyone knows that Alberto Gonzales told Bush that the Geneva Convention does not apply to our gallant War President, and that those Muslim slobs held at Guantanamo have no rights, so what is Galloway complaining about? How dare he criticize our brave MISSION ACCOMPLISHED hero?
Then Galloway leveled severe charges: "Now, Senator, I gave my heart and soul to oppose the policy that you promoted. I gave my political life’s blood to try to stop the mass killing of Iraqis by the sanctions on Iraq which killed one million Iraqis, most of them children, most of them died before they even knew that they were Iraqis, but they died for no other reason other than that they were Iraqis with the misfortune to born at that time. I gave my heart and soul to stop you committing the disaster that you did commit in invading Iraq. And I told the world that your case for the war was a pack of lies.”
We had had several commissions investigating the war on Iraq. The unanimous conclusion was that Saddam had no dealings with Osama bin Laden, had no Weapons of Mass Destruction, did not have plans to make nuclear weapons and bomb the U.S., but rather that all the Intelligence was flawed, and skewed to suit neocon views. The entire country saw and heard the entire Bush Cabinet conspiring to start a war on intentionally false premises.
George Galloway crucified the Savior of the Republicans: “I told the world that Iraq, contrary to your claims did not have weapons of mass destruction. I told the world, contrary to your claims, that Iraq had no connection to al-Qaeda. I told the world, contrary to your claims, that Iraq had no connection to the atrocity on 9/11 2001. I told the world, contrary to your claims, that the Iraqi people would resist a British and American invasion of their country and that the fall of Baghdad would not be the beginning of the end, but merely the end of the beginning.”
"Senator, in everything I said about Iraq, I turned out to be right and you turned out to be wrong and 100,000 people paid with their lives; 1600 of them American soldiers sent to their deaths on a pack of lies; 15,000 of them wounded, many of them disabled forever on a pack of lies.”
Well, as stated, half the country thinks Galloway was absolutely correct in his conclusions, while the other half is still enraptured with Ten Commandments, Gays, Abortion, Prayer, Faith Healing, angels, Rapture, Apocalypse, Sin, bare nipples, the F- word, Virgin stains on underpasses, priests fondling little boys, litmus tests for judges, presidential smirking and swaggering, tax cuts for billionaires, piratizing Social Security, choosing between food or medicine, fake journalists, screening audiences, censorship, investigating what people read, FBI arrests without warrant, indefinite imprisonments, fake terror reports, taking off shoes at airports, confiscating nail clippers, and intolerable meddling in people’s lives or choices.
“If the world had listened to Kofi Annan, whose dismissal you demanded, if the world had listened to President Chirac who you want to paint as some kind of corrupt traitor, if the world had listened to me and the anti-war movement in Britain, we would not be in the disaster that we are in today. Senator, this is the mother of all smokescreens. You are trying to divert attention from the crimes that you supported, from the theft of billions of dollars of Iraq’s wealth.”
"Have a look at the real Oil-for-Food scandal. Have a look at the 14 months you were in charge of Baghdad, the first 14 months when $8.8 billion of Iraq’s wealth went missing on your watch. Have a look at Halliburton and other American corporations that stole not only Iraq’s money, but the money of the American taxpayer.”
"Have a look at the oil that you didn’t even meter, that you were shipping out of the country and selling, the proceeds of which went who knows where? Have a look at the $800 million you gave to American military commanders to hand out around the country without even counting it or weighing it.”
Will any Republican even dare mention “investigate?” Does Bush really want to know more about Halliburton or does he already know all there is to know and is involved in mud up to his neck?
What happened to the 8.8 billion dollars? Who is profiting from the war?
Is ANYBODY in charge interested? Or, alternatively, is EVERYBODY corrupt beyond redemption? Have the Far Right and Neocons overwhelmingly taken control of the entire country?
Is the conspiracy complete or do we still have to look forward to World War IV?
Does absolute power corrupt absolutely?
Forum posts
20 May 2005, 22:01
Hmmmmmmm...
November 3, 1998
’Undercover Mossad agents’ in UN team
(MP George Galloway: Named four "Mossad agents" working in Iraq)
A UK MP has said that four members of the United Nations weapons inspection team in Iraq are Israeli spies.
Labour’s George Galloway, who has campaigned against air strikes on Iraq, named four people he alleged were agents of Mossad, the Israeli secret service, working under false names and papers with the Unscom team.
But Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said he had "no corroboration" of the claims, which he said emanated from Baghdad.
Mr Galloway also said a senior UN official had told him that Unscom head Richard Butler was "a congenital liar" - an allegation "utterly" rejected by Mr Cook.
The clash came in Commons exchanges after the Foreign Secretary made a statement on the deepening crisis over Iraq’s withdrawal of co-operation with the UN weapons inspectors.
Unscom’s former chief of inspectors, Scott Ritter, has alleged the organisation received substantial aid from Mossad.
Mr Galloway demanded: "Isn’t the problem the total bankruptcy of Unscom as a credible player in this whole affair?
’Working under pseudonyms’
"Recently a very senior official of the UN described to me Richard Butler, the head of Unscom, as a congenital liar - and this on the basis of decades of knowledge of the man."
He said: "Scott Ritter since his resignation had admitted that he was working with Israeli intelligence whilst being the deputy head of a UN mission in Baghdad."
The Glasgow Kelvin MP went on: "In the last few hours it has been revealed that four inspectors working in Iraq under pseudonyms and carrying false passports were in fact Colonel Khadouri, Lieutenant Shamani, Colonel Rabscon and Jador Dalal Shamoni - all operatives of the Mossad Israeli intelligence."
Mr Galloway added: "All of us hope that these inspectors can get back to work monitoring these awful weapons, which exist not only in Iraq but throughout the region, not least in Israel.
"But a new and credible leadership of Unscom, and transparency in its work, will be required as a precondition for credibility to be restored."
He demanded a timescale for the ending of sanctions against Iraq, which he said were killing 6,000 Iraqi children each month.
Replying, Mr Cook said: "I have heard of the reports that there have been four people alleged by Baghdad to be working for Israel within Unscom.
"I have to say to the house at the present time that I have no corroboration of these reports - and they do stem from Baghdad."
He told Mr Galloway: "I have to say in respect of Mr Butler that I strongly disagree with his characterisation.
"I have known Richard Butler long before he became the head of Unscom. I am bound to say I know him to be a committed diplomat.
"I would utterly acquit him of the charges made against him."
Mr Cook added: "Baghdad’s main complaint against Richard Butler is that simply he has been too robust in carrying out the job that the UN asked him to do."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/207223.stm
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/cat_israeli_spying.html
20 May 2005, 22:34
It seems this jewish scumbags have their dirty hands in any kind of terror related business.
Remember Oecalan the leader of the Turkish/Kurdish opposition, he was handed over by Mossad to Turkish authorities also he never posed a threat to Israel.
Israel also delivered and upgraded weapon systems for Iran. Mossad earns its money for conducting torture for American intelligence. They are also in the order killing business.
They even spy on their American friends, who give them 13 billion of taxpayers money each year.
The list of attrocities, crime and genocidal actions is endless.
We are greatful for Mr. Galloway who puts the truth in the face of this jewish scumbags.
21 May 2005, 01:47
trying to paint bellaciao as racist? I wouldn’t call them "jewish" scumbags. Did you know christians can be scumbags too? Did you know muslims can be scumbags? Did you know being a scumbag doesn’t discriminate?
Nope, just some old played out scumbag power trippers with dreams of a new world order.
knowledge is power baby, love makes the world go round
http://www.jewsagainstzionism.com/
MUJCA-NET is a group of scholars, religious leaders and activists dedicated to uniting members of the Jewish, Christian and Islamic faiths in pursuit of 9/11 truth. We believe that the process of joining together in search of the truth about 9/11 will bring enormous benefits, regardless of what truths we may discover. While our endorsers and supporters have different views about the probable level of US government complicity in 9/11, all of us agree that a new, honest investigation of the possibility of official complicity is a matter of the most urgent national and global importance.
http://mujca.com/
11 vs. 1
Now that’s a fair fight
21 May 2005, 14:03
George Galloway’s testimony was riveting, as he spoke knowledgeably, firmly and composed. He made the whole investigation process look bureaucratic and misdirected. The real investigation should be focused on the justification of the Iraqi war and not the UN oil for food deal. The US administration should be forced to respond to Mr. Galloway’s allegations for he made some very compeling arguments that need to be further investigated and expalined. This process, as George Galloway stated, is indeed a smoke screen to cover up the real issues with respect to Iraq.
21 May 2005, 22:02
Galloway Senate testimony PDF goes AWOL
Evidence ’missing’ from Committee website
Iain Thomson, vnunet.com 20 May 2005
ADVERTISEMENT
The website for the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs has removed testimony from UK MP George Galloway from its website.
All other witness testimonies for the hearings on the Oil for Food scandal are available on the Committee’s website in PDF form. But Galloway’s testimony is the only document not on the site.
"I have met Saddam Hussein exactly the same number of times as Donald Rumsfeld met him," Galloway told the Committee.
"The difference is that Donald Rumsfeld met him to sell him guns and to give him maps the better to target those guns."
Press representatives for the Committee had no comment.
21 May 2005, 15:58
As a resident of Mr Galloway’s former constituency in Hillhead, Glasgow, Scotland, my main feeling on seeing the humiliation and rout of the senators, and by exrtension the Bush administration, was: "Why didn’t Tony Blair warn his neo-con friends they were about to play Premier League hardball with a real politician?" You may be aware Mr Galloway’s Respect party recently administered a sound drubbing to the Blair regime by seizing a key London constituency from Blair’s pro-war appointee in the British general election: all the king’s horses and all the king’s men, drafted in to bolster the Blair candidate, made no difference - he stood on an anti-war, anti-lies ticket, and won a resounding victory. Scalps previously taken include the Christian Science Monitor anc the far right London Telegraph, both of which ended up paying hefty damages for allegations they’d printed about Galloway’s role in Iraq. Could it be Blair’s failure to warn the senators they were way out of their depth signals a shift in his policy of supine support for Bush’s military adventures?
I hope so - but the result a majority of people in Britain now want is Blair’s resignation: exposed as a shameless liar and poodle of American foreign policy, there’s no place for him in a real democracy. His successor, Gordon Brown (like Galloway, a canny Scot) is highly unlikely to follow the same iniquitous course.
Roy Beers,
Glasgow,
Scotland
21 May 2005, 19:21
gon yersel george yer absolutely right!!! by the way i helped get rid of roy jenkins for ye
21 May 2005, 22:00
Galloway Senate testimony PDF goes AWOL
Evidence ’missing’ from Committee website
Iain Thomson, vnunet.com 20 May 2005
ADVERTISEMENT
The website for the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs has removed testimony from UK MP George Galloway from its website.
All other witness testimonies for the hearings on the Oil for Food scandal are available on the Committee’s website in PDF form. But Galloway’s testimony is the only document not on the site.
"I have met Saddam Hussein exactly the same number of times as Donald Rumsfeld met him," Galloway told the Committee.
"The difference is that Donald Rumsfeld met him to sell him guns and to give him maps the better to target those guns."
Press representatives for the Committee had no comment.
23 May 2005, 16:25
Good for you, but I’m afraid you’re crying in the wilderness of media control as exercised by the Bush administration through the friendly offices of Rupert Murdock. The United States was recently ranked 30th best of countries in terms of a free press. Naturally, this fact was not reported on the nightly news. With the takeover of the press, America has lost its freedom. Except for Air America and the internet, the people cannot get access to the facts.
Thanks for crying in the wilderness, though.
Ian Elliott
Whittier, CA