George Galloway is in the news again merely a week after he won the Bethnal Green parliamentary seat. A U. S. Senate report says two veteran French and British politicians were granted potentially lucrative oil allocations by Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. It accuses George Galloway and former French Minister Charles Pasqua of accepting oil vouchers under the United Nations oil for food scheme from the Iraqi dictator.
I’m not in a position to judge the evidence or lack thereof so I cannot comment on whether George is guilty or not. So he supped with the devil and was careless about the length of the spoon he used. But guilty of corruption? If he were, surely there would be some sort of evidence of his newly found riches. Why is he not basking on a remote Caribbean island having resigned from politics and living the life of luxury?
What concerns me about this case though, is that George Galloway offered to appear before the Senate committee to provide evidence that refuted the allegations made against him. This seems to me perfectly reasonable. Yet the select committee did not even bother to respond to George’s communications. Indeed, the Daily Telegraph paid dear for making these allegations.
“I have never traded in a barrel of all,” said Mr Galloway, formerly a new Labour member of Parliament but re-elected as a MP for his own Respect party last week after campaigning against the Iraq war.
He told the BBC it was “blatantly absurd” to think that, as an MP being closely watched by UK security services, he could have become an “oil billionaire ” on the sly.
And he blasted the Senate investigation, which he said had never written to him, spoken to him, or responded to his offers to testify.
“This cannot possibly be called an investigation,” he said.
Quite. There is an expression for this behaviour; kangaroo court. Or as George Galloway would put it:
“This is a lickspittle Republican committee, acting on wishes of George W. Bush.”
That’s what I like about George Galloway, his way with words.
Well, as much as I might dislike the look and sound of Mr Galloway (I am instantly reminded of a rather venomous and over-zealous Deputy Headmaster from my schooldays), I can’t but help admiring his eagerness for scraps and for vibrantly defending himself from accusations levelled by those who are as brutal as GG looks. And to have beaten the odious and patronising New Labour stooge in Bethnal Green is a real plus! I look forward to seeing him steam into the nearest US lackey-committee with real relish.Sandy [[email protected]]