[Angel]

I can't wait to see who else received Saddam's cash.

[buffyt]

And inquiring minds want to know....

But George Galloway most assuredly wasn't the only person lining his pockets by defending Saddam Hussein. Journalists and diplomats and businessmen have been doing it for years. Their stories will be told.

[Budge]

Galloway "obtained through Mr. Tariq Aziz three million barrels of oil every six months, according to the oil-for-food programme. His share would be only between 10 and 15 cents per barrel. He also obtained a limited number of food contracts with the Ministry of Trade."

A tidy little sum of $300,000.00 to $450,000.00 every six months for Mr. Galloway, which he vehemently denies.

[WL-law]

I can't wait to see who else received Saddam's cash.

Where's the folder with "Scott Ritter" on the tab? Methinks we'll find it soon.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

"For years, the Iraqi leader has been waging an intensive, sometimes clandestine, and by most accounts highly effective image war in the Arab world," wrote Wall Street Journal reporters Jane Mayer and Geraldine Brooks in an exposé published February 15, 1991. "His strategy has ranged from financing friendly publications and columnists as far away as Paris to doling out gifts as big as new Mercedes-Benzes."

That campaign continued until days before the regime was deposed. "If they're not bought and paid for, they're at least rented," says a top national security official, who adds that the administration has intelligence implicating big-name journalists throughout the Arab world and Europe.

"I could give you lots of names," says Tareq al-Mezrem. "Everyone knows them on the street. Everyone knows this information."

. . . If . . . reports are accurate, the Iraqi regime's "modest media strategy" so appealing to Reuters' Marr was actually an elaborate scheme to buy victory in the propaganda war with the United States.

"To lots of people, Saddam Hussein and his regime was a godsend," says a Washington-based columnist for a prominent Arabic-language newspaper. "Only a few journalists [in the Arab world] didn't take money from him."

First Amendment Freedom at work (no sarcasm intended!).

In the founding era, Jefferson and Hamilton sponsored competing newspapers in which they waged their political battles with each other. The First Amendment clearly indicates that the government has no authority to control such behavior. In fact, I would argue that those sponsored presses were the prototypes of political parties.

Of course, if a First Amendment is instituted in Iraq it would ban the government from conducting such a policy--but as long as Iraq was a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Saddam mafia, acceptance by foreign--even U.S.--journalists of money for political speech is legal. Even (in the case of print journalists) constitutionaly protected, in the US.

The right to freely make up your own mind cannot be divorced from the right to swallow propaganda whole. If you wanna believe it when a journalist says he is objective, no one can stop you--it's as simple as that. Otherwise, liberalism wouldn't exist.

[The Hon. Galahad Threepwood]

Galloway ping to you.

[xJones]

There's joining to be a whole lot of much poorer journalists across the ME, Europe and the U.S.A. Sad, no more Mercedes, no more paychecks....

[hedgetrimmer]

I would like to see who else got that money. Could any of our congress critters have benefitted from this largesse?

[MizSterious]

Long, but worth the read.

[knighthawk]

In Dearborn, Michigan, one radio station has for years broadcast a weekly, two-hour pro-Saddam program. According to Iraqi Americans who monitored the broadcasts, each program began with the Baath party anthem.

Ismail Mansour, a Pentagon-trained Iraqi American working with coalition forces in Iraq, says the regime's money reached well inside the United States, going to journalists and others. "In America, Saddam friends give money and they make protest," he says. "In the Arab world, it's the same thing. They pay money to do that."

Middle East list

If people want on or off this list, please let me know.

[SkyPilot]

Angel,

Here is a crosslink everyone else should read--because CNN is now in league to enable the terrorists in Baghdad: Attack Sets Off Baghdad Arms Dump Blast, Casualties

This incredible story posted by you may help explain why Eason Jordan decided to "come clean" with his admission of CNN's complicity in Saddam's reign of terror for over a decade. There is much else for the media to answer.

[Pokey78]

BTTT

[Madame Dufarge]

'Compared to tanks, journalists are cheap--and you get more for your money.'"

The Kennedys' "pocket people" and, of course the usual suspect:

[bart99]

"Saddam Hussein has a long history of bribing anyone who could help his regime--businessmen, diplomats, politicians, and journalists."

---

Quite an expose. I wonder how much CNN/Peter Arnett got for their exclusive presence in Baghdad all those years........

Yup...... more names would be nice.

And it would be RIGHT for all this information to be published in the NY Times, LA TImes, and other left-leaning newspapers - on their Front pages, of course.

[HassanBenSobar]

All these "noble-minded, objective" journalists lined their pockets with blood money. Presstitutes? Not harsh enough a term. This is ten times worse than Eason Jordan.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

new item:

Five questions for Aziz (guess what #5 is?)

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR TARIQ AZIZ

l Where are chemical and biological weapons hidden?

Is Saddam Hussein alive and, if so, where is he?

How did the regime work and who did what?

Why did Iraqi forces not put up more of a fight?

Was George Galloway on Saddam's payroll?

[backhoe]

Cross-linking:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/898108/posts
MP George Galloway- voice cries "peace," hand in Saddam's till...
various FR links | 04-22-03 | The Heavy Equipment Guy

[SkyPilot]

who adds that the administration has intelligence implicating big-name journalists throughout the Arab world and Europe.

Don't forget Atlanta.....

"I could give you lots of names," says Tareq al-Mezrem. "Everyone knows them on the street. Everyone knows this information."

Ya think?

[GailA]

MASTER LIST Useless Nation's Oil for Food scam + galloway

[FreeReporting]

Now you can see why Israel gets such a poor press; not enough money to buy rose-tinted glasses for the journalists.

[Grampa Dave]

Angel, you are an Angel for finding and posting this reality look at why so many mediots around the world were on Soddomite's side for decades.

Thanks, this dynamite oped has been bookmarked!