British Member of Parliament
George Galloway at Senate Hearing
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On May 17, 2005, British Member of Parliament George Galloway faced a Seante hearing on his possible involvement with Saddam Hussein and the former Iraqi government. Rather than being defensive, he raised many embarrassing truths about the false motives behind the war, and tore into his accusers with significant venom. The following are some quotes & resources.
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Key quotes:
It was the first time a British politician had been interrogated as a hostile witness at the US Senate - but Mr Galloway cast himself not as the accused, but the accuser.
On stage at the heart of American power, he attacked the US-led war on Iraq and accused Washington of installing a "puppet" regime there.
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• "I have met Saddam Hussein exactly the same number of times as Donald Rumsfeld met him. The difference is that Donald Rumsfeld met him to sell him guns.
• "Senator, in everything I said about Iraq, I turned out to be right and you turned out to be wrong," he told the chairman.
• "I have no expectation of justice from a group of... Zionist activists under the chairmanship of a neocon (President)George Bush who is pro-war," Galloway told Reuters on his arrival in the United States.
Galloway's Comments:
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.
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. 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 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 Haliburton 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. Have a look at the real scandal: That the biggest sanctions busters were not me or Russian politicians or French politicians. The real sanctions busters were your own companies with the connivance of your own Government."
Whew! Here's a sampling of press reaction to the world class beating Galloway laid on the US Fatherland Senate Sub-Committee:
BBC & Other News Coverage:
Galloway and the mother of all invective (guardian.co.uk)
George Galloway stormed up to Capitol Hill yesterday morning for the confrontation of his career, firing scatter-shot insults at the senators who had accused him of profiting illegally from Iraqi oil sales. They were " neo-cons " and " Zionists " and a " pro-war lynch mob " , he raged, who belonged to a "lickspittle Republican committee" that was engaged in creating " the mother of all smokescreens " .
" Your hands are shaking. You badly need another drink, " he added later, ignoring Mr Hitchens's questions and staring intently ahead.... Eventually Mr Hitchens gave up. "You're a real thug, aren't you? " he hissed, stalking away. It was a hint of what was to come: not so much political theatre as political bloodsports - and with the senators, at least, it was Mr Galloway who emerged with the flesh between his teeth...
Explosive showdown in Senate (BBC)
Far from displaying the forelock-tugging deference to which senators are accustomed, Mr Galloway went on the attack. He rubbished committee chairman Norm Coleman's dossier of evidence and stared him in the eye.
" Now I know that standards have slipped over the last few years in Washington, but for a lawyer, you are remarkably cavalier with any idea of justice, " the MP declared. The whole room scanned Mr Coleman's face for a reaction. The senator shifted in his seat - nervously it seemed. It was the first time a British politician had been interrogated as a hostile witness at the US Senate - but Mr Galloway cast himself not as the accused, but the accuser. On stage at the heart of American power, he attacked the US-led war on Iraq and accused Washington of installing a " puppet " regime there...
Galloway fights corner on accuser's home patch (independent.co.uk)
" I am determined now that I am here, to be not the accused but the accuser," he declared, quickly getting into his stride. Within a moment his well-practised descriptive powers were flowing. The people he was about to confront were " neo-cons " , " pro-Israel " , " pro-war " . They were trying to " distract " attention from an illegal war. Their so-called " evidence " amounted to nothing more than a " schoolboy dossier " . Before turning heel and marching into the committee room ready to deliver a tongue-lashing, he added one more verbal blast for good measure: "Lickspittle."
Those of you cheering Galloway on understand, his election is under investigation (the same sort of shennagins that went on in Milwaukee & in Washington state) he is under investigation by the parliament for the fraud regarding the Mariam charity.
From an editorial:
Galloway came up through the UK parliamentary system, though, where
you have to be fierce and clever in debate, and need to be able to
think fast on your feet. The US Senate is full of pompous bores,
stuffed up to the nose holes with a conviction of their own terrific
importance, whose idea of debate is to drone their way through a
speech some minimum-wage staffer has written up for them. This was
like watching an alley mongrel let loose in a room full of pampered,
overfed lap dogs.
To judge from Galloway's name, appearance, and style, this was also a
vivid illustration of the good old Scotch-Irish scrapper from the
Borders taking on a smug establishment.
- "John Derbyshire" (a journalist in England until settling in the United States in the 1980s. Writes for National Review.)
LINKS
BBC Video clip, ~ 5 minutes, can be accessed from this link
BBC 47 minute video