I’ll leave it to others to respond more fully to Peter Ross’s interview with George Galloway in The Sunday Herald, but a few points:
–Ross is far too generous in writing “there is no doubt… that he has been a long-time public opponent of the Saddam Hussein regime.” It is more accurate to say he was an opponent of the regime until it became an enemy of the US. And how can Ross write, “He has been quite clear in his condemnation of suicide bombers, both in London and elsewhere, who target civilians,” when Galloway continues to support the Palestinian “resistance” which carries out suicide murders against civilians in Israel?
–Even Galloway’s acolytes must be embarrassed by his weak defense of his friendship and continued support for Tariq Aziz.
–Most revealing of all to an American is Galloway’s expressed admiration for the Confederate civil war general Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, with whom he feels a “very, very profound connection.” Galloway’s ability to admire a man– however skilled and brave– who fought to preserve a horrific system of human bondage perhaps tells us something about his current willingness to admire and befriend those who he perceives as “rebels” and “fighters”– regardless of the brutal and ghastly things they stand for.
(Hat tip: Selene in the comments. She points out that Jackson was also “a religious fanatic and certifiable nut case as all Civil War buffs know.”)