Galloway Accused of Perjury, Referred to Department of Justice For Possible Criminal Charges
Oh, it’s not all bad news this week, my friends! George Galloway, pompous blowhard, friend to dictators everywhere, and receiver of illicit money from Oil-For-Food, is getting his face rubbed in it, but good. First, Christopher Hitchens destroyed him rhetorically, and now what little is left of his reputation will fly out the window if there is any justice:
A Senate report presented evidence Monday that it says links illegal oil money from deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s regime to the political campaign of a British lawmaker and to the accounts of his Jordanian wife.
The report accused British Member of Parliament George Galloway of lying under oath about the payments.
The 65-page report by the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations accuses Galloway of perjury and obstruction of congressional proceedings. The evidence will be handed over to the Department of Justice for possible criminal charges.
…The report alleges:
• Galloway sought and received vouchers to sell Iraqi oil on eight occasions between 1999 and 2003 for a total of 23 million barrels.
• Galloway’s now estranged wife, Dr. Amineh Abu-Zayyad, received roughly $150,000 in oil money.
• Galloway’s political campaign, the Mariam Appeal, received at least $446,000.
• Hussein’s regime got kickbacks of more than $1.6 million from the oil allotted to Galloway and the Mariam Appeal for sale in violation of U.N. sanctions.
• Galloway “knowingly made false or misleading statements under oath” before the subcommittee.
The accusations are backed by none other than former Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz:
In an interview with subcommittee members on July 7, former Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz said, “The oil allocations we gave to George Galloway were in the name of either [Buhan Al-Chalabi] or to [Fawaz] Zureikat.”
The report described the men as agents for Galloway.
Aziz also said allocations — which gave the right to sell specific amounts of Iraqi oil — were “for the benefit of George Galloway and for Mariam’s Appeal. The proceeds from the sale benefited the cause and Mr. Galloway.”
Methinks Mr. Galloway won’t be coming to Washington again anytime soon…
I love anything that reveals this guy for the fascist fraud he is, though I must admit the legal ramifications leave me a little queasy. There’s something off-putting about the idea of indicting a foreign politician, particularly because it invites all sorts of concurrent mischief in other countries, where friendly judges and prosecutors can always be found to criminalize policy disputes with American leaders.
Dennis, your point is excellent. This is, of course, one of the great arguments against courts with international jurisdiction…it becomes far too easy to criminalize foreign policy differences…
I’m with Dennis on the mixed feelings…
In all of this sleeze, are there no serious British laws he’s violated? With just a cease-fire in place, was he technically taking payments from “the enemy” or something similarly treasonous? How about British campaign finance law…
Also… what’s the bottom line. 23 million barrels sounds like quite a bit — how do the vouchers work? Is the full value (in the vicinity of half a billion dollars, minimum, much more at today’s oil prices) profit, or is it just a reduced-price purchase option, or something?
After the $1.6 million kickback for Iraq to purchase weapons to kill British and American soldiers with… how much did Galloway clear on this?
He came to the U.S. to testify under oath. If he lied to the Senate how is this different then if he came to the U.S. to rob a bank? He’s here and he broke our law.
I too am completely against anything like the ICC. Once a system of justice is set up that is responsible only to itself, who is safe? If I remember correctly the ICC was intended to prosecute those whose home country was “unwilling or unable” to prosecute. Now that’s an awful broad mandate that could conceivably include everyone on earth.