Galloway on the Attack

NYT: British Lawmaker Scolds Senators on Iraq

In an appearance that seemed to catch a Senate committee off-guard, George Galloway, a maverick British member of Parliament, denied as "utterly preposterous" on Tuesday the committee's charges that Saddam Hussein's government had given him the rights to buy 20 million barrels of oil to sell at a profit.

Mr. Galloway also used the committee's invitation to testify under oath to turn the tables on his accusers, charging that the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations had "found me guilty" without having given him an opportunity to defend himself against allegations he had profited from the United Nations oil-for-food program.

"I have never seen a barrel of oil, owned one, bought one, sold one, and neither has anybody on my behalf," he said. "The real sanctions busters were not me or Russian politicians or French politicians," he continued, but "your own companies with the connivance of your own government."

A flamboyant orator and skilled debater, he also attacked United Nations sanctions against Iraq, the program, and, above all, the American-led war to topple Mr. Hussein. The administration, he said, had based its invasion of Iraq on a "pack of lies" and was now trying to justify its actions with charges regarding the oil-for-food program and other allegations, which he called "the mother of all smoke screens."

I'm delighted that Galloway is digging such a deep hole for himself.

Galloway to testify tomorrow

Can't wait to take the stand

The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs permanent subcommittee on investigations, chaired by Sen. Norm Coleman, Minnesota Republican, last week released documents suggesting that former French Interior Minister Charles Pasqua, a close ally of President Jacques Chirac, and George Galloway, a British member of parliament, each received the right to market more than 10 million barrels of cut-rate oil from Saddam's government. Mr. Galloway, who denies any wrongdoing, is expected to testify before the Coleman committee tomorrow.

In the mean time Senator Carl Levin says: "We've got to look in the mirror at ourselves as well as point fingers at others," Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., told reporters in a conference call on Monday before the report was released. He is referring to news that has been in this blog for months, rather than look in a mirror he should look at his staff for not getting a clipping service if he is just now finding out about Bayoil and Mr. Chalmers. "The report claimed that Bayoil paid "directly or indirectly" some $37 million in kickbacks to Saddam even at a time that the United States and other members of the council had realized what Saddam was doing and began ordering price hikes to quash the kickbacks scheme."

In the mean time, Mr. Galloway when he got off the plane said: "It's Mr. Coleman who's been all over the news and he's a lick-spittle, crazed neocon who is engaged in a witch hunt against all those he perceives to have betrayed the United States in their plan to invade and occupy Iraq," Galloway told Associated Press Television News.

Sounds like it will be fun this Tuesday.

Congressional committe releases documents

We didn't take money or oil they say.

"A congressional committee has released documents purporting to contain new evidence detailing how Saddam Hussein's government sought to curry favor with France and Russia in 2002 by exploiting the U.N. oil-for-food program. It was the second time in as many days that a congressional committee had distributed papers related to oil-for-food

The documents released Thursday from a subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce claim to show that in 2002 the Iraqi Intelligence Service drew up lists of French and Russian officials whom it hoped to influence.

Among French officials listed in the documents released Thursday is former Interior Minister Charles Pasqua. On Wednesday, the Senate's permanent subcommittee on investigations had released documents claiming that Pasqua and a prominent British politician, George Galloway, accepted oil allocations under oil-for-food. Both denied any involvement."

Very soon it will be a race to see which committee can get out the most documents. The new Iraqi government must be seething as they find out just who it was that worked with Saddam and his killer sons. Publicity is the mother's milk of politics, politicians have to have the ink or die.

George Galloway has volunteered to testify in his defense, get him on the stand, thats one to watch. He won a defamation of name law suit not to long ago against a British newspaper for saying just about the same thing, these documents are different ones however. Let the man testify and try to clear his name. Ron

From an article by Claudia Rosett, see below:

"Galloway went on to call Coleman’s team “a lickspittle Republican committee,” (in fact, both the committee and its report are bipartisan) and said he had received no response to repeated requests to appear before the committee and rebut their evidence.
This has produced in the past 24 hours a spirited exchange, in which Coleman issued a statement that “at no time” did Galloway contact his committee “by any means, including but not limited to telephone, fax, email, letter, Morse Code or carrier pigeon.” Coleman went on to invite Galloway to testify at a PSI hearing next Tuesday that will enlarge upon this week's report, under the title “Oil for Influence: How Saddam Used Oil to Reward Politicians and Terrorist Entities Under the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program.” Coleman promised that “There will be a witness chair and microphone available for Mr. Galloway’s use.” Galloway replied by telling the Financial Times that “assuming we get the visas,” he’ll be there “to give them both barrels — verbal guns, of course, not oil.”Go here for the full article

I got no dirty oil, says Galloway

Iraqi documents say Galloway took allotments

GEORGE GALLOWAY, the MP who taunted the Prime Minister over Iraq after scoring an upset victory in the election, faced fresh accusations last night that he had received oil allocations from the Saddam Hussein regime and may have used his Mariam Appeal charity to conceal payments.

A US Senate committee published evidence from Iraqi documents and interviews with Iraqi officials that the former Labour MP, re-elected to Parliament for his Respect party, received allocations for millions of barrels of oil.

Taha Yassin Ramadan, the ousted Vice-President of Iraq, told Senate investigators last month that Mr Galloway had been granted the oil allocations because of his opinions about Iraq and because he wanted to lift the embargo against the country. Another Saddam-era official told US Treasury Department officials in 2003 that a British MP, identified as Mr Galloway, “benefited tremendously from the illegal trade of oil by Iraq”.

The Iraqi's sound like they are getting their filling systems operable now. Just after the invasion paper and files were everywhere but now they are back in place and snoopers can find out the secrets of Saddams payoffs. There will be more revelations coming and there will be lots of embarrassment and heads rolling. Uday, Saddam's son seemed to like hidden camera's when talking to the bribed with out them knowing they were on "Candid Camera;" lot of shaking going on among the bribee's wondering if they will be getting some type of Iraqi version of an Oscar.

My favorite is the one I posted yesterday in comments, its really embarrassing and in case you didn't see it here it is again. The woman was a bribeee, she was Syrian and worked from France as a "reporter", she finally gets to meet the great murderer Uday and here is what she says to him on film. See yesterdays posting for the whole article in the "Weekly Standard".

"...in its exposé, Al Hurra showed new footage of a meeting between Naanaa and Uday that reveals her obsequiousness and sycophancy toward the dictator's son. After Uday greets Naanaa, she gushes, "Hello to you, the dear son of the dear and the precious son of the precious. Hello, is kissing allowed?" Kissing was indeed allowed. [this is where if Uday would have pulled off his shoe she would have given the bottom of his feet a tongue massage and his toes a good sucking, hope she's married to one of the Moslem maniacs an when he espies this, cuts her head off.]

"During their conversation, Naanaa refers to a "beautiful and sweet letter" that Uday had written to her, telling him, "I was so always looking forward to seeing you." Naanaa also expresses concern about the 1996 assassination attempt on Uday, saying, "We got worried about you, you know. . . . I just lost it when I heard the news." Have you ever heard such an unctuous spiel, if she didn't put horns on her old man that night it would be a surprise.

John Bolton is finally going to get a chance for an up or down vote. Just what were the recalcitrant Senators thinking of when they took the UN's side against a decent man. Don't they know or care just what the UN has been doing and has been involved in. Great thefts, rapes, molestation's, genocide's, this organization isn't trustworthy and the Senators brought shame upon themselves for bringing scorn on a man that has shown his loyalty to his country.

Galloway May Knock Bang on Wood

The Scotsman: Galloway vows to clear name

CONTROVERSIAL MP George Galloway has said he will "bang on the door" of US Congress if he has to, in order to clear his name of allegations that he accepted bribes from Saddam Hussein.

He has insisted he will travel to Washington to demand to be heard, after his name was included on a list of individuals and firms that the US says were rewarded by the deposed Iraqi leader with vouchers for millions of barrels of oil.

...

These, it is claimed, could be redeemed for cash. But Mr Galloway has given a categoric denial of the allegations. He said: "I’m writing to the chairman of this Congress committee demanding to be heard at the committee that has received these documents from the Iraqi National Congress.

"If they don’t, I’ll go there and bang on the door demanding to be heard."

(full story at link)

Galloway Sees a Barrel of Oil

The Sun: Galloway rolls out barrel

SADDAM-supporting MP George Galloway blew his top yesterday after The Sun sent him a barrel of OIL. Mr Galloway claims he has "never seen one" so we arranged for him to have his own 200-litre drum. It came as the Glasgow Kelvin MP fiercely denied pocketing £1million from Iraqi tyrant Saddam. We delivered our drum, complete with Sun logos to the front door of his £500,000 home in South London. It sat in his drive for three hours before he dragged it away and hid it from view in an 8ft privet hedge. (see photo at link)

Welcome Instapundit readers. After The Sun story, check out any of Category Archives for more details on any aspect of the OFP scandal. Just below is an Excel file of the infamous list of 270 oil voucher recipients

Telegraph Replies to Galloway

Telegraph | News | Telegraph reply to Galloway's oil story denial
The Telegraph and George Galloway are making claims and counter-claims. In this article, the Telegraph rebuts several of Galloway's denials, among them:

"I have never received a penny, a cent or a voucher - not even a luncheon voucher - directly or indirectly from the former Iraqi regime."

"I've never seen a barrel of oil, far less owned or bartered over one. The allegation that I have is monstrously untrue."

"[Fawaz Zureikat] is not my intermediary. He doesn't act on my behalf and I have never received money or vouchers, whatever they are, from him. He was a friend who was doing business in Iraq before I knew him."

... (Replies at link)

British politician may face charges in oil-for-food fraud

Scotsman.com News - International - British politician may face charges in oil-for-food 'fraud'

COLIN FREEMAN IN BAGHDAD

Key points

• Hundreds of prominent individuals may be charged after inquiry.
• One of accused alleged to be 'British public figure'. [Galloway]¹
• UN Security Council agrees to resolution endorsing independent investigation.

Key quote: "There is no question that where the evidence is beyond doubt, the US will take action to put people who defrauded the system to court, and for the courts to apply appropriate justice. That may be criminal courts as well as civil ones." - Hankes-Drielsma, adviser to the Iraqi Governing Council.

Full story: HUNDREDS of businessmen, politicians and United Nations officials could face jail as a result of the inquiry into Iraq’s oil-for-food programme, its chief investigator said last night.

Claude Hankes-Drielsma, the British adviser leading the investigation, said that those who "defrauded the system" of up to $10 billion (£5.6 billion) could expect criminal prosecution, as well as civil action to recoup the missing cash.

Mr Hankes-Drielsma spoke to The Scotsman last night ahead of testifying today at a United States congressional hearing into claims that the UN allowed widespread abuse of the programme by Saddam Hussein’s regime.

As well as UN officials, the corruption allegedly involved prominent politicians from Britain and France, hundreds of foreign businessmen, and figures from the world of international organised crime.

Mr Hankes-Drielsma, an adviser to the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) who is overseeing an investigation by the forensic accountants KPMG, said: "From the evidence I have so far, the report will produce some of the most disturbing information that you have ever seen.

"There is no question that where the evidence is beyond doubt, the US will take action to put people who defrauded the system to court, and for the courts to apply appropriate justice. That may be criminal courts as well as civil ones."

In a scathing interview, he said the extent of the corruption, and the UN’s failure to tackle it, made the organisation unfit for any major role in the interim Iraqi government that will take power on 30 June.

... (more at link)

Hat tip: Fine? Why fine?

¹A few days later, George Galloway denied this charge. Due to British libel laws, he had not been named. But, once he publicly denounced the charges, inaccurately claiming that he HAD been named, then all pretences of anonymity were dropped. (I think I understand that.)

Galloway wins damages for Iraq libel

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Galloway wins damages for Iraq libel

The anti-war MP George Galloway yesterday accepted £50,000 damages and a public apology from an American newspaper over a claim he was paid £10m by Saddam Hussein to oppose the conflict in Iraq.
The high court in London was told the allegation, based on forged documents given to a journalist by an Iraqi general, was "false and without foundation".
Mr Galloway immediately demanded a government inquiry, saying the documents were evidence of a dirty tricks campaign against him and other anti-war campaigners.
According to the article in the Boston-based Christian Science Monitor, the payments pointed to a concerted effort by the regime to win friends in the west who could promote Iraqi interests, first by lifting sanctions against Iraq, and later by blocking war plans.

Iraqi Oil Cash Funded MPs Campaigns

Guardian Unlimited Politics | Special Reports | Iraq oil cash funded MPs' campaigns
Businessmen handed on money illicitly siphoned from UN deals to pressure groups run by George Galloway and Tam Dalyell

Money illicitly siphoned from the UN oil-for-food programme by Saddam Hussein was used to finance anti-sanctions campaigns run by British politicians, according to documents that have surfaced in Baghdad.

Undercover cash from oil deals went to three businessmen who in turn supported pressure groups involving the ex-Labour MP George Galloway, Labour MP Tam Dalyell, and the former Irish premier Albert Reynolds, it is alleged in documents compiled by the oil ministry, which is now under the control of the US occupation regime.

Separately, a dossier from the oil ministry in Baghdad has been handed by the British Foreign Office to Customs and Excise, which has been asked to investigate. They were also referred to the Cabinet Office because of their political sensitivity.

"The government has been given copies of certain documents [from Iraq]," a Foreign Office spokeswoman said yesterday. "They are being passed to the appropriate authorities for consideration."

Two of the three businessmen involved in UK campaigns, Burhan al-Chalabi and Riad al-Tajir, were based in Surrey; the other, Fawwaz Zureikat, a Jordanian entrepreneur, had offices in London.

Mr Chalabi and Mr Zureikat gave money to the Mariam Appeal, run by Mr Galloway, the MP confirmed. Mr Tahir said he ran another anti-sanctions campaign called Friendship Across Borders, which had Mr Dalyell as its official patron and organised visits to Baghdad by supportive politicians.

The three businessmen are alleged to have received money from Saddam via oil allocations. They sold the oil rights on at a profit of more than $1m (about £530,000), in an exploitation by Saddam of loopholes in the UN's then oil-for-food programme.

Mr Tahir agrees he profited from the oil deals. Mr Chalabi refuses to comment. Mr Zureikat confirmed to Agence France Presse in Jordan last week that he had made the oil deals.

Galloway Denies Saddam Cash Link

Guardian Unlimited Politics | Special Reports | Galloway denies Saddam cash link

The Labour MP George Galloway last night denied a newspaper report that he met an Iraqi intelligence officer in Baghdad to raise cash from Saddam Hussein's government for his charitable campaign against sanctions.

The Daily Telegraph alleged that a confidential memorandum sent to Saddam by his head of intelligence showed that Mr Galloway had asked a secret agent for a greater cut of Iraq's exports under the oil-for-food programme.

According to the newspaper, the spy chief wrote a letter to Saddam in January 2000 which allegedly revealed that the MP for Glasgow Kelvin took a slice of oil earnings worth £375,000 a year.

Mr Galloway claimed the documents were either forged, doctored or part of a deliberate misconstruction of his charitable campaign, the Mariam appeal. The Mariam appeal, named after an Iraqi child, did not receive any financial help from Iraq.

The three documents, include an alleged meeting between the MP and an Iraqi intelligence officer in December 1999, at which it is alleged he discussed as much as 3 million barrels of oil per six months being handed to his campaign.

Mr Galloway, speaking from Portugal where he is writing a book on Iraq, denied meeting any Iraqi intelligence officer, adding that he believed that some of the documents were forged or doctored. He said the charity - of which he was a founder, but not a trustee - would never have taken money from Iraq.