Bangladesh Daily Star feature

[faceless]

Sense & Insensibility
Galloway's last punch at Blair
Shahnoor Wahid

If you are wondering who has most gall among the present lot of British MPs then you will invariably end up with the name George Galloway, the Labour MP, for a number of reasons. This gregarious and wickedly witty MP with a runaway tongue is known for his anti-Bush and Blair utterings, which, at times, even his staunch supporters find difficult to digest. Galloway has an everlasting reservoir of invectives, all tailor-made, to launch his attacks on his two prized political enemies. He has been the most vocal critique of the Iraq policies of Britain and the USA, and he never tried to hide his feelings in private or in public. But many across the world found his way with words not quite palatable, which, more often than not, touched upon the profane, to say the least. But, no doubt, this burly politician is pure entertainment to the non-political and non-partisan audience.

Last week, Galloway again came on centre stage to both enrage and entertain the audience with his sarcastic yet scathing comments. In fact, he was on CNN news and never lost a moment to let loose a barrage of verbal volleys laced with abusive words at Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and George W Bush.

He was invited by the CNN newscaster to comment on Blair's announcement regarding his resignation. He immediately referred to the Iraq war, and explained how the British prime minister had lied his way through to convince the nation to join the unjust war. He held Blair and Bush responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, and many American and British troops. When the newscaster tried to draw his attention to the successes of Blair at home, on many fronts, he simply brushed him aside by saying that in ten years that was the least one should be able to do. It was apparent that Galloway was not ready to give Blair any credit whatsoever.

Galloway's bitterness towards the British prime minister was manifest when he tried to imply that Blair's relationship with Bush was as scandalous as that of Clinton's with Monica Lewinsky (By golly Galloway! Have a heart! Leave those two in peace!). At this point the CNN newscaster tried to divert his attention to something else, but Galloway was not to be unnerved. He kept on mauling Blair and Bush in his characteristic style and evoked laughter among his audience.

Perhaps to change the subject of the Iraq war, the newscaster asked him to comment on Blair's recommendation of Gordon Brown as the future British prime minister. What Galloway said in reply is totally unprintable here but, in essence, it meant Blair and Brown were two sides of the same coin. So, Mr. Gordon, be prepared to be at the receiving end of the bizarrest possible verbal tirade during the entire length of your tenure in office. Good luck!

George Galloway had angered his opponents when he urged the Arab world to rise up and kill British troops in Iraq. He also called on the British soldiers to disobey, in his words, "illegal orders." Somewhere down the line he uttered: "Iraq is fighting for all the Arabs. Where are the Arab armies?" In a blatant call he even urged the Gulf states to "cripple" the West by cutting off oil supplies. He further commented: "Even if it is not realistic to ask a non-Iraqi army to come to defend Iraq, we see Arab regimes pumping oil for the countries who are attacking it.We wonder when the Arab leaders will wake up. When are they going to stand by the Iraqi people?"

But the worst shock came when this maverick politician said in May 2006 that it would be "morally justified" for an assassin to target Prime Minister Tony Blair for Britain's support for the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. In his words, "It would be entirely logical and explicable, and morally equivalent to ordering the deaths of thousands of innocent people in Iraq as Blair did." The monthly GQ magazine quoted Galloway as saying the above. However, in the same breath, he said that if he knew that anyone was planning such an attack he would inform the police.

Here is more on the incorrigible Galloway. In an interview, Galloway had claimed to have been the best fighter in his school, and that he would enjoy going a few rounds with both Blair and Bush, taking on the two together. In his own words: "They are the sort of men who are ready to fight to the last drop of other people's blood. They couldn't personally punch their way out of a paper bag. They send other mothers' sons to their death, and I find them both deeply repugnant."

Galloway had called a congressional subcommittee "the mother of all smoke screens," after he traveled to the United States to deny accusations that he had profited from the UN oil-for-food program. Well, surely, such unsolicited words of sympathy for the Iraqis did not go down well with most of the politicians in the West. As a result, it is no wonder that George Galloway is not the most popular politician on the two sides of the Atlantic.

But Galloway will surely go on entertaining the world with his raw humour, reminding older audiences of the same genre of humour in the famous "Carry on ..." movie series of Britain.

Shahnoor Wahid is Senior Assistant Editor of The Daily Star.

source

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[nekokate]

[faceless]

it was the first line where he says that Galloway is a Labour MP that got me wondering exactly what the hell this guy was on about...

[Mandy]

Possibly actionable by George. Sounds like a mis-phrasing.

Imagine George said the Arab world should resist the occupation.

Is that actionable ?


I noticed same thing as faceless .. who calls George a Labour politician ?

There was a negative / anti-george bias in the article (after starting reasonably well).

[nekokate]

The article also states the following: