(Senator) "You are remarkably cavalier with any idea of justice."

[MissWaverly]

Try to get MP Galloway's testimony before the US Senate: Committee
on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
May 17, 2005

"Now I know the standards have slipped in the last few
years in Washington, but for a lawyer you are remarkably
cavalier with any idea of justice. I am here today but last
week you had already found me guilty. You traduced my
name around the world without ever having asked me a
single question, without ever having contacted me, without
even having written to me or telephoned me, without any
attempt to contact me whatsoever. And you call that justice."

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 they were Iraqis...And I told the
world that your case for the war was a pack of lies.

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 the 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.

[ThomCat]

1. I remember that hearing.

That was amazing. :)

[MissWaverly]

6. How many will stand before us and say this

I am here today but last week you had already found me guilty.
You traduced my name around the world without ever having asked me a
single question, without ever having contacted me, without
even having written to me or telephoned me, without any
attempt to contact me whatsoever. And you call that justice."

How many from GITMO, how many from Abu Ghraib, how many
from our own country swept up in the aftermath of 9-11.

How many innocent children will stand before us and say that.

[MnFats]

2. he was speaking to our beloved Sen. Norm Coleman, wasn't he?

if this is the statement i'm thinking of, norman looked as though he'd been run through a meat-grinder....

[MissWaverly]

7. Yes, Sen. Norm Coleman opened the hearing

that is Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN)

[calimary]

17. And I remember smarmy normie sitting there, nonplussed, speechless,

as Galloway fricaseed him during his most eloquent and pointed committee testimony.

And then, after sitting there dumb-struck as though he'd just been pants'ed in front of the Queen of England, coleman did a most decisive thing. He called a recess. And to my knowledge, that particular committee hearing has not been resumed to this day. I'll never forget the look on coleman's face as Galloway nearly spat those words directly into it.

[MissWaverly]

18. yes, and if I remember correctly it has been dropped from

the congressional record, we can always count on the beltway crowd to lead us and to defend the constitution.

[calimary]

21. Good point. I did not know that.

What cowards we have allegedly doing our bidding.

[PurityOfEssence]

3. He also incorrectly insinuated that Levin voted for the IWR

Carl Levin was one of only two Senators up for election in 2002 who voted against the IWR, which was voted on less than two weeks before the election in a naked political move by Rove and the boys.

The other Senator was Paul Wellstone.

Not only was this just lazy on his part, it was an extreme insult to a truly great American politician.

Galloway is a mixed bag, to put it charitably. Yes, it's great to put Norm Coleman in his place, but Galloway's sloppy, arrogant and a bit shady. He's also got some surprising beliefs, all of which he holds with cocksure determination. He's virulently opposed to abortion, for one thing.

Be careful about choosing heroes; often what makes them appealing is steadfast certainty, and that's not always the best overall trait, even in leaders.

(edited for a misleading title)

[EST]

5. I used to agree with you about Sen. Levin, but no more.

Perhaps it's just because I've gotten to know more about him or maybe something else, but his feet of clay have become increasingly evident and I no longer hold him in the high esteem of a couple years ago.

[MissWaverly]

8. While I am not nominating him for Sainthood

he was the victim of a smear by our congress, I feel his treatment is an example of the shoddy justice we have been doling
out since 9-11.

[DeSwiss]

12. I generally agree with your assessment of Levin....

...generally.

That said, his appearance in this committee hearing in my view lent credibility to what was nothing but a blatant attempt by the Bush Administration to silence and/or defuse an opponent to the war in Iraq.

And worse, to the outright theft of American and Iraqi funds from the start of the war until now. And to remind everyone that all those deaths and thefts occurred based upon THE BIG LIE.

Levin's comments concerning Galloway appeared to deride his use of questionable, funding sources (Middle Eastern sheiks and various potentates), in his run for political office. Which I find rich to say the least, considering how firmly that American corporations have our politicians in their pockets. Levin should have caught a 24-hour flu bug and missed this one. He should have left the Repukes twisting in the wind, all by themselves.

As it stands, the MSMs didn't do justice to the points Galloway made in 2005. Just as they're ignoring the truth now. And just because Galloway's other positions are repugnant to me as well, doesn't mean he can't tell the truth. Hell, I'd even agree with Bush when he tells the truth. But so far, he hasn't told the truth about anything yet...

[MissWaverly]

19. look at Sibel Edmonds gagged for doing her job

She was trying to protect this country and she has been "silenced" under the guise of national security to this day.

[DeSwiss]

4. Thank you for that post....

...it should be mass-emailed to every jerkweed RePuke forthwith!!!

And yeah, that was ol' Normy Coleman that he was talking about. And I love what he called him too!

:)

"The British legislator turned the tables on his accusers on the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, exposing its chairman, Republican Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota, as a “lickspittle” of the Bush administration."

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/may2005/gall-m19.shtml

"LICKSPITTLE"

[MissWaverly]

9. yes, indeed

I do recall that, I am afraid that history will not be kind to Mr. Blair, Mr. Bush or Mr. Cheney

[MissWaverly]

10. Here's another interesting quote

this is made again to Sen. Norm Coleman, the same testimony from George Galloway, MP, on 5/17/2005 before the Senate

"Have a look at the real scandal breaking in the newspapers today, revealed in the earlier
testimony in this committee. 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."

Oh, and there's a brick bat thrown at Ahmed Chalabi

"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 in your
country to their credit now realize played a decisive role in leading your country into
the disaster in Iraq."

[MissWaverly]

11. Here's another gem from his testimony

I had forgotten this part.

On the allegations that Galloway met with Saddam Hussein in order to make "oil deals" with the former dictator:

"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 Defense made of his.

"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."

[welshTerrier2]

13. watch the video here

it's preceded by a very brief intro by Amy Goodman of Democracy Now ...

here's the link to the video: http://play.rbn.com/?url=demnow/demnow/demand/2005/may/video/dnB20050518a.rm&proto=rtsp&start=42:51

[MissWaverly]

14. oh, thank you, I was unable to find a video link

I thought it had gone down the memory hole.

:-)

[welshTerrier2]

15. and one more link ...

this one gives you a link for the transcript: http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/05/18/1435204&mode=thread&tid=25

[MissWaverly]

16. looking back in the rearview mirror of time

his testimony is even more insightful than it was then.

[MissWaverly]

20. Three cheers for you Welsh Terrior 2

for rescuing these items from the memory hole, esp. for the dial up crowd, transcripts are the only way they can access the
info.

:-)