Posted on 09/14/2005 12:38:49 AM PDT by Critical Bill
WHEN George Galloway was last in America, the New York Post marked the occasion with the headline, “Brit fries senators in oil”. Tonight he will attempt the same culinary feat with Christopher Hitchens, the British-born columnist.
In a sold-out debate in New York, the erstwhile guest of Saddam Hussein will try to persuade Mr Hitchens, a born-again supporter of the Iraq war, that the war is a disaster.
Mr Galloway said that he hopes things do not get personal, but they already have. He told The Times that if Mr Hitchens chose to get “down and dirty” he would find “my street-fighting style more than a match for his effete public school performance”.
He added: “If he turns up drunk he’ll be a pushover. If he turns up sober he’ll be shaking like a leaf.”
Four months after seizing his 15 minutes of American fame in a surreal hearing on Capitol Hill, the MP for Bethnal Green & Bow is back. He has a book to promote, Jane Fonda to meet, and dreams of adulation from a public that still barely knows him.
Mr Galloway stunned a Senate subcommittee on the Iraq oil-for-food scandal in May when he demanded the chance to testify before it, called it “the mother of all smokescreens” and denounced the US case for war as a “pack of lies”.
The American antiwar movement was delighted, even though its new darling danced round questions about his own alleged closeness to figures who profited from the Oil-for-Food programme. Senator Norm Coleman, chairman of the subcommittee, gave warning that there might be perjury charges — but the feud fizzled.
Not so the one between Messrs Galloway and Mr Hitchens. When Mr Hitchens dared to question Mr Galloway on his record of support for unsavoury Arab regimes, the MP called him “a drink-soaked former Trotskyite popinjay”, and turned away.
Tonight, in Manhattan, the rematch is on. Contacted before his departure for the US at his holiday home in Portugal, Mr Galloway, who was watching troops in action in Iraq live on al-Jazeera television, said that he would use his US tour to argue that the invasion of Iraq was a catastrophe.
The week-long tour includes talks in Wisconsin and Chicago on Sunday and Monday at which Mr Galloway will share a podium with Miss Fonda, the actress formerly known as Hanoi Jane for her anti-Vietnam War activism.
I can't wait to see Hitchens wipe that traitorous smirk from his stupid face. Of course he has never believed a single word of what he say's, it has always been about fame and fortune. If it takes being one of the most hated men in the world, so be it, as long as the cameras are about to catch him at his worst. Make the most of it George, your 5 minutes is well up lad.
Galloway got on his hands and knees before Saddam... and swallowed too.
No one of consequence takes him seriously in the UK - he is their Cynthia McKinney.
He's also a corrupt selfish traitor to civilization.
FBI needs to detain this gentleman and ship him to Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay!
George and Jane - a dream ticket for US!
As fort he Hitchens debate, I can't wait. Both are very colorful personalities. It should personal very fast and rather ugly. I do enjoy blood sports.
Cynthia McKinney....I love the comparision!
Does anyone know if this will be televised?
Semper Fi, oh Father of Devildog!
Oh heavens, you're relying on government?
And very proud of one of the Corps newest Sergeants, as of September 1st!
yeah, unfortunately!
Kudos to your son. It ain't easy being a Sergeant of Marines.
This debate will stink to high heaven. Neither one of these guys will let the other talk.
Who cares what two British Commies say to each other?
George Galloway and "Hanoi" Jane Fonda on another failed publicity stunt to sell their books while troops fight on the battlefield to defend their freedom of speech.
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