George Galloway

George Galloway is a Scottish politician. He is currently the Respect Member of Parliament (MP) for Bradford WEst. Galloway was previously Labour MP for Glasgow Hillhead (1987-1997), Glasgow Kelvin (1997-2005), and Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow (2005-2010).

He started his political life in the Labour Party, but was expelled from it in October 2003 following his open opposition against the British participation in the war against Iraq. He went on to become a founding member of the Respect Party and returned to Parliament as its candidate in the 2005 general election of May 5, 2005 for Bethnal Green and Bow when he unseated Labour MP Oona King.

Book and Tour
As John Nichols reported for the Madison Capital Times (Wisconsin) on September 19, 2005:
 * "If Galloway was dismayed by the quality of American politicians, he was heartened by the response of the American people. He received more than 20,000 e-mails from Americans in just the first few days after his appearance before the committee. So high was the interest that he has now penned a book on the incident, "Mr. Galloway Goes to Washington" (The New Press), and his tour this month of the U.S. is drawing unprecedented crowds. (More than 1,000 people attended his debate this week in New York with war backer Christopher Hitchens.)"

Controversy
In August 2006, during a press conference in a Beirut hotel, Galloway said, referring to the Israeli military operations in Lebanon:
 * "I came here to extend my congratulations to the Lebanese people on a great and historic victory against this aggression. I want to congratulate the Lebanese resistance and their leading edge, Hizbollah, whose martyrs and her s have achieved this great victory. And in particular to their leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, whose name now rings in joy around the world."

SourceWatch Resources

 * Norm Coleman
 * Oil-for-Food Program

Speech Before U.S. Senate & Reaction
Links :
 * The full speech: rtsp://video.webcastcenter.com/srs_g2/govtaff051705.rm hearing (real audio). Galloway's appearance is from 2:11:30 to 2:59:45. You can save this video by using Xi Net Transport.
 * "Galloway takes on US oil accusers," BBC, May 17, 2005. Contains link to partial video of appearance.
 * "UK's Galloway blisters US policy on Iraq on MSNBC," Crooks and Liars, May 17, 2005. Links to partial video of appearance in Real Audio and WMV formats, audio in MP3 format.
 * George Galloway, Transcript: George Galloway's (May 17, 2005) speech before Senator Coleman's committee, The Smirking Chimp, May 18, 2005.
 * "Galloway v the US Senate: transcript of statement", Times Online (UK), May 18, 2005.