What do you guys think about George Galloway?

[liberalpragmatist]

I'm glad to see Blair chastened, but I have to admit I'm not very comfortable about the Galloway-boosting I've seen on the site. Galloway strikes me as a major creep and a whore of dictators. It's one thing to oppose the Iraq War. It's quite another to tell Saddam that he "salutes his courage," and for him to call the fall of the Soviet Union "the greatest tragedy of his life."

I'm curious to read what others say about this man.

[geek tragedy]

1. I agree with you completely.

Some people think that almost every opponent of Bush on the left is a good guy. Not so.

The George Galloways and Ward Churchills are exactly what the rightwing wants to portray decent and loyal progressives out there as.

[pretzel4gore]

2. i love george....

i doubt he told saddam anything...the media hates galloway and lies incessantly, so please suspect anything that might make galloway look evil....the evil ones are the bushbliar mediawhores...
you should see what they said about john kerry....

[AlamoDemoc]

3. He's a good chap, and honorable too

I especially like his "take no prisoners" style of politics

[bennywhale]

4. Galloway is constantly defending

that footage of him with Sadam Hussein. They show about ten seconds of it and he always presses them to show the rest before carrying on with the interview or whatever. (they never do).

The rest of the footage alledgedly shows that he is addressing the Iraqi people.

This is plausable as he was there throughout the nineties trying to save some of the million children who starved to death from dying, due to the Wests sanctions and Saddam diverting the oil for food programme.

Even if he was addressing Saddam, it may have been as a means to an end as going into Iraq and challenging him was going to get his programme shut down pretty quickly, which at the end of the day was saving childrens lives.

Also Galloway was campaigning vociferously against Saddam's regime throughout the eighties while the West funded him.

As for the Soviet Union. Much of the British left were devastated. However much have since re-evaluated their position now that the truth about the regime is widely accepted as fact. Many were in denial throughout its existence as to how bad it was. Also many of the British Left come from communist backgrounds. For example John Reid who has just been appointed Minister of defence was a member of the communist party in the 1970s. I wonder if he'll have trouble getting through immigration if he ever goes to the US

[Anarcho-Socialist]

5. I have mixed feelings about him...

Good:
I thought the work he did to oppose sanctions was admirable.
He opposed the wars on Afghanistan and Iraq
He has an immense sense of social justice

Bad:
I think his visits to Saddam Hussein were ill-advised and downright naive at best
His ego is absolutely immense even for a politician

[non sociopath skin]

7. Many of us saw no contradiction between opposing Saddam ... in fact ...

... some of us were doing it while Bush Snr. and Thatcher were cuddling up to him - and opposing the war.

Galloway always seemed rather too pro-Saddam for my taste, I'm afraid, and I don't trust him for that reason. Stalinism isn't my flavour of the month.

The Skin

[LSdemocrat]

6. The man seems to have an insanely inflated ego

I'd say that he's the Robert Kilroy Silk of the left.

[Vladimir]

8. To quote Alex Sammond

Roy Hattersley: "(Galloway being elected) is a tragedy..."

Alex Sammond: "No Roy, the Iraq war was the tragedy"

Would I rather Galloway hadn't said them things? Sure, but I don't much care that he did. Compared to the cabinet ministers who agreed to a war on Iraq, or indeed the British government's position throughout the 80s, when they were selling Saddam weapons, and 90s, when they were waging war by sanctions on the Iraqi people, half a million of whom died as a result, it is the most insignificant thing in the world. Or are we really suggesting that what Galloway said can even be compared with the crimes that Blair & co. have perpetrated in taking Britain to a war that has so far claimed tens of thousands of Iraqi lives? To put it another way: Galloway speaks to Saddam, Robin Cook shakes hands with Suharto. Should Cook have refused? Oh no, but he's in government, he had no choice poor boy... etc. If you are gonna apply these kinds of standards to politicians, don't be surprised when you come up short of many candidates to vote for.

I have very few illusions about politicians, but Galloway has several qualities that I genuinely admire: he is honest, gutsy, and is in no way a careerist. Bear in mind that someone of his political acumen could easily have been a cabinet minister if he'd toed the party line like many one-time socialists (Blunkett for example). And if he has an ego the size of Britain, its a forgivable sin...

[T_i_B]

9. The most damaging thing about the Telegraph allegations...

...that Galloway was in the pay of Saddam was that they were belivable and in line with his previous record of links to Saddam's regime that were much too close for most peoples liking.

A good few of us who protested against the Iraq war found Galloway to be a bit of an embrarassment as being opposed to the invasion of Iraq does not mean you have to be pro-Saddam.

We shall see how he does in this parliament though. I for one suspect that he will have the rest of the chamber on his back from the word go.

[Nihil]

10. Respectfully disagree

The most damaging thing about the Telegraph allegations is that even
after being proven to be groundless lies (a.k.a. libel), they are
*STILL* trumpeted out on every single occasion that Galloway's name
is mentioned.

This means that the fascists (both media and Blairite/Bushite) have
effectively won: even after proving your innocence, you have to spend
more time defending yourself against baseless accusations before having
a chance to cover any new topic.

If Galloway had been black, there would have been an almighty cry of
"racial discrimination" at this persecution. If Galloway had been
Jewish, his accusers would have been politically exiled long ago.
As it is, Galloway has no PC shields and so he is viewed as an enemy
to be silenced in any devious way possible - even on this board.