Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Alan G · 06-20-2003, 05:14 AM

Some of you may remember some papers accusing George Galloway, a UK MP of taking 10million dollars from Saddam Hussein

Source: BBC

Quote:

An American newspaper has apologised to Glasgow Labour MP George Galloway after alleging that he accepted millions of pounds from Saddam Hussein.
The Christian Science Monitor has admitted that a set of documents upon which it based its story on were "almost certainly" fake.

Mr Galloway has always strenuously denied that he took any money from the Iraqi regime.

The newspaper said two of the "oldest" documents - dated between 1992 and 1993 - were actually written within the past few months.

Paul Van Slambrouck, Monitor editor, issued an apology both to Mr Galloway and the paper's readers.

He said: "At the time we published these documents, we felt they were newsworthy and appeared credible, although we did explicitly state in our article that we could not guarantee their authenticity.

"It is important to set the record straight. We are convinced the documents are bogus. We apologise to Mr Galloway and to our readers."

However the Glasgow MP has refused to accept the apology and is demanding to know who forged the documents.

'Serious libel'

He said: "This newspaper published on its front page in every country in the world that I had taken $10m from Saddam Hussein.

"That was a grave and serious libel.

"Of course the documents were a forgery and a newspaper of that importance ought to have made the effort, both morally and legally, to establish the authenticity of those documents before they published them."

Mr Galloway also called for the prime minister to investigate the source of the documents.

"As a member of the House of Commons, indeed as a British subject, I have the right to the protection of the British intelligence services from a conspiracy hatched by persons unknown but whose handiwork was conducted in foreign territory co-occupied by Great Britain," he said.

He pledged to continue his legal action against the newspaper, which is published by The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass.

Mr Galloway is currently suspended from the Labour Party over comments he made in an interview to an Arab television station branding Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George Bush "wolves".

Both the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner, and the Charity Commission, are also conducting investigations into allegations that he accepted Iraqi cash.

The chairman of Mr Galloway's constituency Labour Party, Mark Craig, said the apology from the Christian Science Monitor was a "vindication" of the MP.

He said he believed similar allegations by the Daily Telegraph were also false.

Ray K · 06-20-2003, 07:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Alan G
Some of you may remember some papers accusing George Galloway, a UK MP of taking 10million dollars from Saddam Hussein

Source: BBC

Those allegations were so sensational and so extreme, I have to admit that I thought there must have been some grain of truth to them. It turns out that the pro-war liars were more audacious that I thought!

The bigger the lie, the more people will believe it.

theyeti · 06-20-2003, 09:36 AM

Has the pro-war Right made any claims that didn't turn out to be a lie?

theyeti

MortalWombat · 06-20-2003, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by theyeti
Has the pro-war Right made any claims that didn't turn out to be a lie?

The only one that I can think of is that Saddam is a bad guy who has done bad things in the past to his own people and to his neighbors. But that was also the case 15 years ago when he was our friend. And if I recall, no one was using that fact as a justification to invade Iraq and kick him out back then.

Farren · 06-20-2003, 10:54 AM

I recall a lengthy (about 15 pages) thread where everyone who was pro-war was arguing for the credibility of these very documents, along with others allegedly "found" at the same site by Telegraph reporters (the CIA had been over the site twice and it was under military guard)

Among the other allegations from the same site "find" were:

France passing intel to the Iraqi's about Britain and Italy
Russia passing Intel to the Iraqi's

I hope this Galloway makes an unholy racket about this. A lot of the pro war press in the UK and US appear to have forgone "slanting the truth" and gone straight for outright lying. I'm not sure what appropriate laws are in place but surely deliberately lying to the public about issues of such moment should carry some legal responsibility.

Morat · 06-20-2003, 11:07 AM

In England? Galloway is going to end up richer than if Saddam had bribed him. England's libel laws are notoriously loose....

Evangelion · 06-20-2003, 01:48 PM

Quote:

England's libel laws are notoriously loose....

Not so. They simply follow a different principle: that the words in the suit are false, unless and until the defendant proves the contrary.

This simply makes them plaintiff-friendly. It does not make them "notoriously loose" by default. Notice also that Britain's liability standard is extremely tough. A publisher can be held liable for a false statement, even if he honestly believed it to be true. That's harsh.

Click here to learn more. Scroll down to "British Libel Law" and read on.

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06-20-2003, 09:36 AM	#3
theyeti Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Denver, CO, USA Posts: 9,747	Has the pro-war Right made any claims that didn't turn out to be a lie? theyeti

06-20-2003, 10:54 AM	#5
Farren Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: South Africa Posts: 2,194	I recall a lengthy (about 15 pages) thread where everyone who was pro-war was arguing for the credibility of these very documents, along with others allegedly "found" at the same site by Telegraph reporters (the CIA had been over the site twice and it was under military guard) Among the other allegations from the same site "find" were: France passing intel to the Iraqi's about Britain and Italy Russia passing Intel to the Iraqi's I hope this Galloway makes an unholy racket about this. A lot of the pro war press in the UK and US appear to have forgone "slanting the truth" and gone straight for outright lying. I'm not sure what appropriate laws are in place but surely deliberately lying to the public about issues of such moment should carry some legal responsibility.

06-20-2003, 11:07 AM	#6
Morat Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 932	In England? Galloway is going to end up richer than if Saddam had bribed him. England's libel laws are notoriously loose....

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