October 25, 2005
George Galloway on Food for Oil Scam: "Oh, you mean THAT $600,000."
Do you remember Iraqi war critic George Galloway testifying to a U.S. Senate committee on the U.N. / Saddam Hussein Food for Oil scheme and the huge hissy fit that he threw in the hearing when questioned about illegally profiting from it? Well, consider these new allegations of his lying as revealed in the Drudge Report.
Galloway lied over Iraqi oil payments, says Congress report
The Independent, October 25, 2005
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
George Galloway, the British MP, was last night accused of lying by a US Congressional committee when he testified earlier this year that he had not received any United Nation food-for-oil allocations from the deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
In a report issued here, Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman and his colleagues on the Senate Subcommittee for Investigations claim to have evidence showing that Mr Galloway's political organisation and his wife received vouchers worth almost $600,000 (£338,000) from the then Iraqi government.
"We have what we call the smoking gun," said Mr Coleman, who will send the report to the US Department of Justice and the British authorities. The MP could face charges of perjury, making false statements and obstructing a Congressional investigation. Each charge carries a possible jail term of five years and a fine of $250,000.
Of course, Galloway denies it. Let's hope that he can clear his name before Christopher Hitchens finds out that the man who accused him of being dishonest in the war debates might just be dishonest himself. It might take a major snit from Galloway to get out of this one, or one day he could face the truth and the consequences. If Galloway's wife did get the money as accused, that might explain why he opposed the war in Iraq so vehemently--she got cut off from money to spend at the mall, so she cut him off.
Posted by GM Roper at October 25, 2005 12:10 AM | TrackBackPosted by john at October 25, 2005 06:46 AM
Fair enough. I believe that people are innocent until proven guilty--unlike the liberals when it comes to Tom Delay and Karl Rove. I went to the site linked by the commenter, and it basically said that Galloway denies it. So did Al Capone and Bill Clinton. (As an aside, the writer does not understand U.S. processes and confuses court trials and Senate inquiries.) Nevertheless, here's part of that link:
"Firstly, it seems that the actual, concrete allegations concern money paid into the accounts not of Mr Galloway himself, but of his estranged wife (who worked as a research scientist inIraq at the time) and one of his spokesmen (a journalist). Galloway has simply denied any knowledge of or responsibility for the business transactions of these two. Hardly, at first glance at least, a smoking gun."
Hardly, a smoking gun? To me the air is thick with the smell of gun powder. But, we'll wait for the facts and hope that Galloway has retained some knowledge of those.
The only other thing that occured to me is how fast the left put out its defense, apparently scanning web sites for the new accusations and posting rebuttals--even when they had never posted to those sites before. Defenses that come that quickly send up red flags to me.
Posted by Woody at October 25, 2005 08:38 AM
Far be it from me to be anywhere near defending,supporting,encouraging or even wishing continued good health to, Gorgeous George.
That said, Senator Coleman behaved abysmally the last time he engaged in a duel with this fascist demagogue and until he shows he can do MUCH better, I have little faith in anything he says or does. Perhaps he should have prefaced his latest bombshell with a mea culpa for his milquetoast performance in the last round. That would have at least demonstrated his essential grasp of reality . Better still why not have Mr. Hitchens do his speaking for him in the future.
Galloway has been beating these charges for years and from better people and better thinkers than the Senator. I remain highly doubtful that this 'smoking gun' will put an end to his shameful pandering to the worst elements of society.
Oh well --- Hope Springs Eternal I guess.
Posted by dougf at October 25, 2005 09:47 AM
Well put, dougf.
I'm one of those who sees Galloway's behavior and cozying up to dictators as deplorable and disgusting. Galloway is much like a couple people I've had the displeasure to know in my life. They can do some of the most despicable things imagineable and if you tell them how wrong they are, they can make you feel like an insect for saying so.
Anyone who has read some of the things Galloway says and still thinks he's a swell guy needs deep, intense therapy. The left adores him and is willing to overlook how contemptible he is and embrace him simply because they agree on one thing. The war.
That said, if he's done nothing more serious than pandering to potentates he should simply be spurned (along with his adorers). I won't lie here though. I hope he's guilty as hell. He is absolutely shameless.
Posted by Oyster at October 25, 2005 05:41 PM
