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Norm Coleman, take note. “Former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister
Tareq
Aziz has denied telling investigators that a maverick MP personally
profited from the U.N. oil-for-food programme for Iraq, Aziz’s lawyer
said on Saturday,” reports Reuters. “These are lies … he (Aziz)
denied this,” Badia Aref remarked. “It is part of a media campaign
aimed at smearing Galloway’s reputation.”
In short, there is no evidence Galloway “personally solicited and was
granted oil allocations from the Iraqi government for 23 million barrels from
1999 to 2003,” as claimed by Coleman and his congressional hit squad,
including the “respected” (at least for neolib loan sharks) former
central banker Paul “never saw a recession
he didn’t like” Volker.
Now that Aziz—who is of course a political prisoner—has
cleared Galloway, it will be up to Coleman and the neocons to invent some more
“evidence” against the reviled British MP. “Aziz,
a Christian who was the public face of Saddam’s regime abroad, was arrested
after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. No formal charges have been brought
against him yet.” In fact, beyond acting as the “public face”
of Saddam’s regime, there is likely nothing to charge Aziz with. In
Bushzarro world, actual charges are not necessary. People are thrown in prison
and military brigs, raped and tortured to death for less (many at Abu Ghraib,
Bagram, Gitmo, and other hellish dungeons in Bush’s gulag are there for
the crime of being Arabs or Muslims or both). “Nothing is clear
yet … the man cannot remain in these conditions … his health is
deteriorating,” Aref said.
In other words, the neocons plan to keep Aziz locked up until he dies.
For Coleman and the neocons, it does not matter what Aziz said about Galloway.
“Both the US Department of Justice and the district attorney in Manhattan
are investigating the Senate’s claims that he lied,” reports Scotland
Today. “The MP has always denied this and certainly there is no evidence
suggesting he personally benefited from any Iraqi oil deals. He’s also
said he would welcome his day in court to face his accusers who he says are
the liars.”
But even if Galloway lied, it should not be considered a big deal here
in America—after all, Bush and crew have killed more than 100,000 Iraqis
to date based on a series of lies and few people seem to care.