Weekly Jackass Number Thirty-Eight: George Galloway

Even in the exalted world of the Weekly Jackass winners, there are gradations. Some jackasses are more intrinsicially jackassical than others. This week's honoree belongs to the upper stratum of jackassdom, by virtue of a lifelong ability to be on exactly the wrong side of most every issue. He is a man who has been credibly accused of corruption by writers far greater than I, a man who has time and again chosen grandstanding over personal virtue, and a man whose intellectual opinions, such as they are, possess a rare toxicity even by the standards of the Radical Left. I'm speaking of none other than George Galloway, MP, RESPECT the Unity Coalition.

That Galloway was a notorious apologist for Saddam Hussein is now widely known; that his financial interests lined up with Saddam's under the Oil-For-Food regime is, I suppose, a lucky coincidence. Galloway's toadying for Saddam included this remarkable tribute to the man who invaded Kuwait:

Sir, I salute your courage, your strength, your indefatigability - to Saddam in Baghdad, January 1994

as well as this equally remarkable statement:

The state of Kuwait is "clearly a part of the greater Iraqi whole, stolen from the motherland by perfidious Albion."

Thus does moral relativism show its true colors.

The coalition that sponsors Galloway (or is it vice versa?) is remarkable in its own right. On its website, RESPECT the Unity Coalition lets us in on the secret of its acronym:

Respect
Equality
Socialism
Peace
Environment
Community
Trade
Unionism

Never mind the haziness of some of the items; the clarity of those remaining speaks volumes.

With the above as background, then, it is no surprise that Galloway and his supporters are defeatists in the War against Terror. What is surprising, shocking, and, dare I say, treasonous, is the outright wish for the defeat of one's own military. The following resolution was adopted by RESPECT in 2004:

Motion 1: War and Imperialism - National Executive Conference notes:

1. That the defeat of the US led occupation of Iraq is critical if the global economic and political offensive begun by the US state and its allies at the time of the first Gulf War is to be defeated.

2. That the resistance in Iraq is engaged in a battle to liberate the country. That resistance is composed of elements which are Islamic, nationalist and socialist. It is a national liberation movement.

3. That the anti-war movement has a crucial role to play in forcing the imperialist governments to leave Iraq.
...
6. That Islamophobia is central to the ideology of war in this era.

7. That attacks on civil liberties are the inevitable domestic counterpart of the "war on terror".

8. That much older questions of self-determination, for instance for Palestinians, Kurds and Kashmiris, are now bound up with the struggle against the new imperialism.

What has Palestine to do with Iraq? Oh, right, the 'Jewish question'...

Of course, England is a partner in the War in Iraq, so if the above doesn't constitute treason, then I say we have set the bar too low. There is no phoney-baloney 'support the troops' nonsense here; no, Galloway is openly rooting for the 'resistance' to defeat (and presumably kill quite a few of) his fellow countrymen.

Do I go too far? Consider the following statements broadcast on Arab television following a trip to Syria by Galloway:

In his most inflammatory outburst yet on the invasion of Iraq, George Galloway has sought to justify lethal attacks on British troops on the grounds that the rebels "are defending all the people of the world from American hegemony"....

..."It is not the Muslims who are the terrorists," he said. "The biggest terrorists are Bush and Blair."...

...In a third section of the interview, this time carried on Syrian television, Mr Galloway appealed to the Arab world, drawing a parallel between Baghdad under coalition control and Jerusalem under Israeli control since the 1967 war.

"Two of your beautiful daughters are in the hands of foreigners: Jerusalem and Baghdad," he said. "The foreigners are doing to your daughters as they will. The daughters are crying for help and the Arab world is silent. Some of them are collaborating with the rape of these two beautiful Arab daughters. Why? Because they are too weak and too corrupt to do anything about it."

May I be forgiven for wondering where Mr. Galloway's funding is currently coming from? Clearly, he is either on the payroll of some Arab terrorist apologist organization, think tank, or government, or he is clinically insane. Two further quotes from Galloway illustrate his complete and utter lack of concern for the truth and the victims of terror:

Mr. Blair is using this crime and all these dead people as a justification for this absurd idea of a war on terrorism. "Terror" is a word... Terror is a tactic, it's not a strategy. The idea that Muslims have some kind of sickness in their bodies, which must be cured, which is the idea behind Bush, behind Mr. Blair, and behind Mr. Berlusconi's government in Italy - It must be resisted. It's not the Muslims who are sick. It's Bush and Blair and Berlusconi who are sick. It's not the Muslims who need to be cured. It's the imperialist countries that need to be cured.

Most of the children, most of the schools, most of the buses, were bombed by the United States. Let's keep this clearly in perspective: Most of the children who died in Iraq were killed by George Bush, not by Zarqawi. Most of the schools that were wrecked, buses that were bombed, hospitals that were destroyed, lives that were taken, were taken by George Bush, not by Zarqawi.

Generally speaking, I try to avoid extremist rhetoric myself...but I will say in closing that statements far milder than those of Galloway have, at various points in history, resulted in prison sentences - or hangings.

For myself, I only have words at my disposal, and it is my distinct pleasure to metaphorically spit upon the recipient of our lastest award. May the day come when I can literally do so, as well...

UPDATE 08/06/05 9:36 a.m. central: Some thoughts in a similar vein from Austin Bay (hat tip to Michelle Malkin)...

UPDATE 08/08/05 12:39 p.m. central: Many thanks to the good Dr. Shackleford for the link...