George Galloway

George Galloway is a Scottish politician. He is currently the Respect Member of Parliament (MP) for Bradford WEst. Galloway was previously Labour MP for Glasgow Hillhead (1987-1997), Glasgow Kelvin (1997-2005), and Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow (2005-2010).

He started his political life in the Labour Party, but was expelled from it in October 2003 following his open opposition against the British participation in the war against Iraq. He went on to become a founding member of the Respect Party and returned to Parliament as its candidate in the 2005 general election of May 5, 2005 for Bethnal Green and Bow when he unseated Labour MP Oona King.

He hosts a TV show from RT UK.

Book and Tour

As John Nichols reported for the Madison Capital Times (Wisconsin) on September 19, 2005:

"If Galloway was dismayed by the quality of American politicians, he was heartened by the response of the American people. He received more than 20,000 e-mails from Americans in just the first few days after his appearance before the committee. So high was the interest that he has now penned a book on the incident, "Mr. Galloway Goes to Washington" (The New Press), and his tour this month of the U.S. is drawing unprecedented crowds. (More than 1,000 people attended his debate this week in New York with war backer Christopher Hitchens.)"

Controversy

In August 2006, during a press conference in a Beirut hotel, Galloway said, referring to the Israeli military operations in Lebanon:

"I came here to extend my congratulations to the Lebanese people on a great and historic victory against this aggression. I want to congratulate the Lebanese resistance and their leading edge, Hizbollah, whose martyrs and her s have achieved this great victory. And in particular to their leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, whose name now rings in joy around the world."

SourceWatch Resources

• Norm Coleman
• Oil-for-Food Program

Speech Before U.S. Senate & Reaction

Links:

• The full speech: rtsp://video.webcastcenter.com/srs_g2/govtaff051705.rm hearing (real audio). Galloway's appearance is from 2:11:30 to 2:59:45. You can save this video by using Xi Net Transport.
• "Galloway takes on US oil accusers," BBC, May 17, 2005. Contains link to partial video of appearance.
• "UK's Galloway blisters US policy on Iraq on MSNBC," Crooks and Liars, May 17, 2005. Links to partial video of appearance in Real Audio and WMV formats, audio in MP3 format.
• George Galloway, Transcript: George Galloway's (May 17, 2005) speech before Senator Coleman's committee, The Smirking Chimp, May 18, 2005.
• "Galloway v the US Senate: transcript of statement", Times Online (UK), May 18, 2005.

External links

• Official George Galloway Website
• "Profile: George Galloway", BBC News, December 2, 2004.
• 'Wikipedia profile on George Galloway
• "Indefatigability results in record award for libel victim Galloway: Newspaper faces £1.2m costs after judge criticises dramatic handling of ‘scoop’", The Scotsman, December 3, 2004.
• "Galloway wins 'Saddam' libel case", ITV.com, December 2, 2004.
• Jonathan Brown and Robert Verkaik, "Galloway wins £150,000 damages as judge lambasts 'Daily Telegraph'", Independent, December 3, 2004.
• Jonathan Brown, "How 'fishing' trip in Iraq led to £1.5m court case", Independent, December 3, 2004.
• Omar Waraich, "Smearing an Anti-War Politician: The Galloway Saga", CounterPunch, February 24, 2005.
• "Galloway set for Senate hearing," BBC, May 17, 2005: "George Galloway is preparing to appear before a US Senate committee that has accused him of receiving oil options from Saddam Hussein's regime."
• "British MP George Galloway rejects U.S. Senate claims about oil-for-food," Canada.com, May 17, 2005.
• "British MP Galloway Shames Sen. Coleman & Bush's 'Oil-for-Food' Sycophants in Remarkable Testimony! Calls Oil-for-Food 'Scandal' the 'Mother of All Smokescreens'! Stunning Testimony Reminscent of McCarthy Hearings!" BradBlog, May 17, 2005.
• Matthew Davis, "Explosive showdown in Senate," BBC, May 17, 2005: "George Galloway had vowed to give US senators 'both barrels' and after sitting - coiled - through an hour-and-half of testimony against him, he unloaded all his ammunition."
• "Media react to blistering hearing. George Galloway's explosive testimony before United States senators has surprised even seasoned American observers of Capitol Hill," BBC, May 17, 2005.
• "British lawmaker blasts U.S. on Iraq allegations. 'Mother of all smokescreens,' he says of claims he got oil vouchers," AP, May 17, 2005.
• Julian Borger and Jamie Wilson, "US 'backed illegal Iraqi oil deals'. Report claims blind eye was turned to sanctions busting by American firms," Guardian Unlimited/UK, May 17, 2005.
• John Shovelan, "UK MP George Galloway causes a stir in Washington," ABC.net (Australia), May 18, 2005.
• "'Street fighter' Galloway turns tables on US: press," AFP, May 18, 2005.
• Ken Guggenheim, "British Lawmaker Lashes Out at Senators," AP, May 18, 2005.
• "Galloway: I won Senate showdown," CNN, May 18, 2005: "British Member of Parliament George Galloway returned to the UK Wednesday confident he won a fiery showdown with U.S. senators who have accused him of profiting from the U.N.'s defunct oil-for-food program in Iraq."
• "Galloway and the mother of all invective," Guardian/UK, May 18, 2005: "Whatever else you made of him, when it came to delivering sustained barrages of political invective, you had to salute his indefatigability. ... 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'."
• "George Galloway's Bitch Slap," The Rude Pundit, May 18, 2005. Caution: Includes offensive language.
• Rupert Cornwell, "Galloway: The man who took on America. How did one maverick MP manage to outgun a committee of senior US politicians so successfully? And did he make any lasting impact?, Independent/UK, 19 May 2005.
• John Chuckman, "A breath of fresh air sweeps into hell," The Smirking Chimp, 23 May 2005.
• Maria Tomchick, Just What You'd Expect. Galloway and the US Press, CounterPunch, 23 May 2005.
• Galloway Congratulates Hizbollah, ITV News, 26 August 2006.
• Patrick Cockburn, Why Do They Hate George Galloway So Much?, CounterPunch, 9 April 2012.