Posted on 05/26/2006 5:56:18 PM PDT by aculeus
George Galloway was facing calls for his expulsion from Parliament and a police inquiry yesterday following an interview in which he said the assassination of Tony Blair by a suicide bomber would be "morally justified".
Asked if the killing of the Prime Minister in revenge for the invasion of Iraq could be justified if there were no other casualties, the Respect MP replied: "Yes, it would be morally justified. I am not calling for it, but if it happened I believe it would be of a wholly different moral order to the events of 7/7. It would be entirely logical and explicable. And morally equivalent to ordering the deaths of thousands of innocent people in Iraq, as Blair did."
His comments, in the magazine GQ, were condemned by representatives of the three main political parties, including the Labour peer Lord Foulkes, who called on the Commons to pass a motion expelling Mr Galloway for a period. He said: "This latest outburst is outrageous, even in comparison with his previously disgraceful comments. It is astonishing that anyone should suggest the assassination of our Prime Minister."
David Davies, the Conservative backbencher, said he had written to Sir Ian Blair, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, asking for an investigation. Mr Davies, the MP for Monmouth, said: "These remarks are grossly irresponsible and disgraceful. The question is could they be construed as incitement to murder or glorification of terrorism."
But Mr Galloway, who is visiting Cuba, defended his remarks in an interview on the PM programme on BBC Radio 4, saying: "I fully stand by it. Mr Blair has murdered more than 100,000 people in Iraq and the Iraqi people are an occupied people, illegally invaded. They have the moral and legal right to resist that occupation. Why would that right be restricted to the poor bloody infantry that Mr Blair sent into the streets of Iraq?
"If the Iraqis have a right to resist their invaders, they have a right to resist the officers of the invaders; and if they have the right to resist the officers, they have the right to resist those who are giving the officers their orders."
However, Mr Galloway reiterated his view, stated in the GQ article, that it would not be right to carry out a suicide attack on the Prime Minister because it would strengthen rather than weaken the pro-war camp in London and Washington.
He said he would alert the authorities if he knew of such a plan because it would be counterproductive. Instead, Mr Blair and President Bush should be tried in an international court as mass murderers. "I'm not calling for it and I don't want it to happen," he said. Asked if he should inform the authorities of an assassination attempt on the Prime Minister because it was wrong, Mr Galloway replied: "Mr Blair is the man who began the attacks; he's a mass murderer. You have to stand for a minute in the shoes of the Iraqis whose country has been invaded.
"Now if you ask me if my country was invaded by a foreign government, would I consider it morally my right to strike back at that foreign government, there can only be one answer to it."
Challenged to state that suicide bombing could never be justified, Mr Galloway cited remarks made by Cherie Blair in 2002, when she said that young Palestinians felt that they had "no hope" but to blow themselves up. He said: "The issue is not the method, whether it is a Stealth bomber or a suicide bomber, the issue is the target. If innocent civilian people are targeted by any weapon it is morally repugnant."
Mr Galloway, the MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, reminded his questioner that the allies began the invasion of Iraq with a pre-emptive but unsuccessful strike on the Iraqi leadership.
Stephen Pound, the Labour MP for Ealing North, said: "Galloway is disgraceful and twisted. He is low enough to walk under a snake's stomach with a top hat on."
Sir Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat leader, said: "No politician should give any support to the notion that violence might be justified."
A former Labour MP, Mr Galloway unseated his Labour opponent in Bethnal Green and Bow in the general election after campaigning on a strongly anti-war ticket.
In the interview, conducted by Piers Morgan, the former editor of the Mirror, Mr Galloway admitted that he was naive in publicly saluting Saddam Hussein for his "courage" and "indefatigability" during an audience with the then Iraqi dictator. But he said it would have been "much more sensible" to leave Saddam in power than to forcibly remove him.
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Edward Kennedy to join forthwith.
Urged to investigate?! Say what you like about the US but if someone threatens the president at least they get a nice "visit" from the Secret Service.
Wrong Question with the right answer. Typical moonbat baiting technique.
Two can play that game:
"Now if you ask me if my country was financially supporting Hamas terrorist bombers in Israel, gassing 1500 of my fellow citizens, pursuing a nuclear program to destroy Israel, threatening our neigbors with invasion, rape and looting as well as the destruction of the worlds oil supply,would I consider it morally my right to strike back at any foreign country which invades mine to stop us, there can only be one answer to it."
That’ll have left a mark.
I may have to use that phrase sometime.
Somebody should introduce this guy to Cindy Sheehan, They are made for each other. Just dont let them breed.
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