[Applause]
welcome back now the uh last time he was
with us he had just won many new
admirers after facing down his
interrogators in the US Senate committee
it was memorable for all the right
reasons since then of course there was
that Infamous episode on Celebrity Big
Brother which was probably memorable for
all the wrong reasons however this week
he's probably very pleased with himself
with Tony Blair's swan song at the labor
Party Conference will you welcome please
George
[Applause]
Galloway
hello George you're very welcome back
nice to see you again um let's talk
about that first were you pleased that
Tony's finally shuffling off the uh
labor party stage well I thought it was
it was deranged I mean as as a piece of
work his conference speech was
magnificent but if you look at it on the
page it's absolutely Bonkers so better
off it's all in the delivery yeah it's
the way he tells them uh but uh you know
he did a lot lot of damage to not only
Britain and the world but to the to the
labor party he's thrown away two big
majorities you must be pleased then that
Gordon Brown to the left of the party is
coming in to take his place well I'm the
I'm the author are we are we past the
Watershed we are yeah what time are I'm
the author of the phrase that Blair and
brown are two cheeks of the same ARs and
uh and I'm afraid you're going to
discover that that there's no difference
uh at all bit like Irish politics where
they're all
different cheeks of the same ARS you are
familiar with our political system are
you well yeah I'm following the travails
of your prime minister you met him I
have uh in fact I've sat at Celtic park
with him more than once I quite like him
as a person I must tell you and I'm in
the I'm a bit sorry no we didn't have a
whip round for him if I'd known if I'd
known he needed it if I'd known he
needed it I might have organized it but
like uh ber and I'm sorry that this has
happened to him but uh the real problem
is that the political parties is at
least the mainstream political parties
are here are different cheeks of the
same ARS yeah you did though um talk to
berti about your concerns didn't you
about Iraq and all of that well just
funny you should say that because
actually I ranted and raved at him about
the use of Shannon Airport for the war
and uh Ireland's position uh uh on it
neutrality was being compromised and so
on and so on and he agreed with every
word I said and yeah he was the Prime
Minister that was implementing the uh
the policy and someone told me later it
didn't matter what you said berti agrees
with everybody and then does what he
wants to do anyway yeah exactly um the
Tony Blair thing though did you ever
have a sort of a onetoone conversation
with them about you know where you
thought he was going well you know he
said on television uh recently that he
was surprised by how things had turned
out in Iraq but he had no right to be
surprised because I told him manto man
just me and him outside the gentleman's
lavatory in the library Corridor of the
House of Commons I told them everything
that would happen in Iraq if he did it
and everything that I said turned out to
be right but the disturbing thing is
that it didn't seem to matter to him how
dramatically I painted what the post-war
situation would be I said it will not be
the beginning of the end when Baghdad
Falls just the end of the beginning the
Iraqis will fight you with their teeth
if necessary for as long as necessary
there'll be car bombs suicide bombs
extremists you said all this I said
they'll be coming from all over the
world like uh like bees to a honey pot
that was actually more graphic than that
but I'm not but but but Jack straw said
today as you know that um you know he
blamed the Americans he said if they'd
listen to co and Powell because Co and
pow in the first um exercise in Kuwait
he made sure that they had such
overwhelming force that no matter what
happened afterwards they were in a
position to ple the aftermath they
didn't listen to Pal and now Jack straw
said they should have they were wrong
it's dire and it's the Americans fault
well isn't that funny that the only
person who apologized at the labor
conference last week was John Prescott
and that was for fiddling with his
secretary's
drawers uh the the men like straw and
Blair who caused the deaths of hundreds
of thousands of people and the
destabilization of the whole world
scaring the face of the intern
legal and political system bringing the
UN into disrepute and the rest they're
still sitting as bold as brass and none
of them you're talking you you think
that they were war criminals oh they for
me Blair should leave Downing Street not
in tears like Mrs sture but in handcuffs
in fact I think him and Bush should be
incarcerated for the rest of their
natural preferably in a Cell
together at the he though I must say
putting putting Mr Blair in a cell with
George Bush for the rest of his life
would probably constitute
torture
um I think though you would probably
have to concede that George Bush
believes what he's doing well you know
in other words he doesn't see himself as
a sinner he sees himself doing perhaps
God's work well in fact I think that's
absolutely right George Bush told us
that he hears voices he actually told an
Israeli newspaper that God told them to
attack Afghanistan God told them no
wonder he speaks in tongues he's hearing
voices like every serial killer in
history he's hearing voices that are
telling him what to do now God save us
from Messianic political leaders who
think that God is directly talking to
them and telling them what to do but
we've had the bad luck to have two
Messianic leaders at the same time in
Washington and London and that's why the
world's such a dangerous place but what
Tony Blair said the other day at the
conference he said look you know
half-hearted support of the United
States they don't understand sometimes s
you make difficult decisions I made a
decision to support the Americans
perhaps I was wrong but the one thing
the British people will not forgive you
for is for not making a decision well he
made a decision which was so
catastrophically wrong that he should
end up on trial for it I mean it's not a
small matter it's not like getting the
rate of interest wrong or the level of
income tax wrong or the roote of a
Motorway wrong we're talking about the
deaths of hundreds of thousands of
people and the Fanning of flames of
hatred and radicalization across the
entire world hang on talking about the
world if they had done it right if it
hadn't been this doctrine of minimum
force or minimum force as the Rumsfeld
Doctrine if they put massive forces in
there they could have policed it
afterwards and done it right
shakespare treason never prospers for if
it prospers none dare call it treason
it's true we wouldn't be having this
discussion if their criminal War had
gone well but what do you say about a
policy that turns out not just to be a
crime
but to be a blunder something which is a
crime and a blunder which has achieved
the opposite of the effect that it was
supposed to which has made thousands of
new Benin laddin in fact tens of
thousands of new bin laddin you've got a
billion and a half Muslims out there
boiling with anger at us made the whole
world a much more dangerous place left
your own country not trusting a word you
say I mean the reason Blair is going
because nobody believes them any longer
just the Egypts and the Bubble at the
labor Party Conference the rest of the
country no longer believes is in the
audience at the editor Miguel you would
take issue with George I would I uh well
I I just think I'd be wonderful to have
as simple uh a view of the world as
George has I mean the if these men are
evil men and are war criminals what does
that h mean that Saddam Hussein is uh
this is a man who invaded two
neighboring countries a force for
instability for 10 to 15 years massacred
hundreds of of thousands of civilians
not debts which happened through matters
of war or air strikes you know Blair
didn't willingly go out inside I think
I'll gas the Kurds I think I'll gas the
people of Birmingham or I'll kill
hundreds of thousands of Shiite Muslims
in the South as Sadam did this is a man
who George used to go over and cozy up
to and thought he could find reasonable
H perhaps that was the two cheeks of the
same ARS there that you were kissing at
the time and you've made a career of it
I Mar your principles and I know your
motivation and so on but I think your
view is utterly wrongheaded and the
fluency with which you delivered I think
is really damaging because it means that
throughout the world where we have
people like Saddam or Hitler or mugabi
or the situation in Myanmar we can't
intervene because you'll come along and
say immediately that those Democratic
countries doing so with or without a un
mandate are war criminals where'd you
get that egy he's the editor Migel he's
a respected journalist charge then
George make a career out of I don't even
know who you are so you're not anybody
charge not a c do matter like you are it
does matter it does matter now that I
know you're the editor of Mill it's
absolutely shocking that an editor is so
ignorant and Ill informed about these
great issues first of all he's got all
his numbers wrong we've killed far more
Iraqis than Saddam Hussein ever did s
I'm coming I'm dealing with Saddam
Hussein when Britain and America were
arming Saddam Hussein I was outside his
Embassy demonstrating for human rights
and for justice in Iraq and being
denounced by the British and American
governments and the big newspapers for
causing trouble because Saddam was a a
bom buddy of Britain and America you
want to talk about gassing the cards who
sold them the gas it wasn't me
that's you want to start the clock when
you want to start it you could go back
and back forever like they armed Iraq to
to to match Iran moved to 1990 when
Saddam invaded KU why do you want to
start the story at no you want to start
the story at 19 to 1945 well no no don't
go to 1945 go to
1988 1988 just two years before the date
you want to start on the bombing of the
Kurds in halabja was done with weapons
given to Saddam by Britain and America
and West Germany done by Saddam yes but
he was able to do it because of weapons
that we gave him because of the immoral
principle
that was in Vogue at the time that my
enemy's enemy is my friend the very
principle which brought us Usama Bin
Laden Bin Laden was equally armed and
supported by Britain and America because
we thought that you could have a tiger
by the tail we now know differently guns
and weapons are sold throughout the
world the wrong
hands end up in the wrong hands they
ended up in the hands they were intended
to what was your solution against
sanctions you're against sanctions lad
Bin Laden I'm speaking through the chair
because that's what I'm used to to doing
we're going to have a Harang I wasn't
expecting this but you're welcome a St
you're welcome to have a stairhead with
me I'll
go I mean you two are never going to
agree that's for sure well I don't know
who he is so I don't know if we're ever
going to agree um forgive can I ask you
another question George did you say that
the assassination of Tony Blair could
morally Justified I said if you were an
Iraqi whose home had been destroyed
whose country had been broken into a
thousand pieces whose Sons were in Abu
grab prison being tortured whose house
had been demolished whose job had been
disappeared and privatized and whose
Street was occupied by Foreign soldiers
I have no doubt you could make a good
moral case for the assassination of if
you found out of a plot that would do
for Tony Blair what would you do I I
would tell him uh I would tell him would
save his life I would tell him and I'd
say do you remember that conversation we
had outside the gentleman's lavatory you
should have listened to me and hundreds
of thousands of people that are dead now
would still be alive the world would not
be destabilized and the only man in
Ireland the editor of of Mill would be
the only man in the country who thinks
you and Bush did a good job and I think
that if I got that chance to speak to
Tony Blair to warn him of that plot it
would be for this reason that the
assassination of Blair would merely
strengthen the hand of people like him
who want to go around the world invading
other people's countries setting up
regimes that are more to their liking
because they see the world as a kind of
White Man's Burden that somebody God
perhaps gave us a job of setting to
rights in our own image I find that
attitude disgusting and most disgusting
in Ireland a country that was occupied
by colonialism for hundreds of years and
you've got people justifying colonialism
now calling themselves editors of
radical magazines would you have tackled
Franco or Hitler no I would have been in
the front line against Hitler I would
have been in the front line against
Hitler there's intervention for no no
that's not intervention Hitler Hitler
was the most powerful dictator in
Mainland Europe with a powerful
industrialized State an army of millions
of people who was on the March occupying
other people's countries can I we are we
are the equivalent of Hitler inability
it's not a small Tyrant human rights
inter a small Tyrant opposed to a big
Tyrant why do you concentrate on the
small Tyrant Bush and Blair have killed
more people than Saddam Hussein ever
dreamt of American imperialism and
British imperialism before it killed
more people than Saddam ever dreamt of
killing is not that that may be a feel
like the collateral damage of the
incompetence of their Invasion isn't
saying it's incompetence my problem is
not with their incompetence but with the
idea that powerful countries have the
right to occupy smaller weaker countries
I refused it uh uh in all of my familial
life going back to my great-grandfather
who left this country because he was an
armed opponent of British occupation of
Ireland I'm certainly not going to
support British occupation of Iraq when
I oppose the British occupation of
Ireland moving on to someone else a
dictator Fidel Fidel Castro um and you
have who writes this stuff he is a
dictator in what sense is he a dictator
well in the sense that he is not
democratically elected I mean there is
only one George Bush I mean we could
argue all day about George the point the
point is Fidel has been there since the
revolution which overthrew Batista and
uh he will be there till the day he dies
he over through a brutal American back
dictator who was put in power by the
United States states to keep Cuba as a
bordello as a casino for the mafia and
for the uh criminal classes of the
United States of America you should
thank him for that you should be
grateful to him for that you should be
grateful for the fact that he's turned
Cuba into a beacon which is shining a
path throughout the poor world what we
call the third world which which which
has left him after 40 years the most
popular political leader in the entire
world I'll tell you this Fidel Castro
never asked anyone to pass the hat
around to raise money Fidel Castro
doesn't own a single dollar he doesn't
own any more than the uniform on his
back he's been 40 years in power and
doesn't have a bank account Fidel Castro
is the greatest leader of the third
world that has been produced in the 20th
century so don't call him a dict but he
doesn't give his people a choice does he
I mean you get Fidel or nobody well
that's perh his brother that's the
people that have have a longer life
expectancy than they do in the
Democratic United States whose children
have lower rates of infant mortality
than they do in the Democratic United
States whose children go to kindergarten
school University postgraduate entirely
free whereas in the United States only
the children of the rich or those
prepared to get into debt are able to go
to university Cuba is regarded by poor
countries as an absolute model and it's
done it all despite more than 40 Years
of terrorism from the United States
destabilization Invasion assassination
plots Fidel has seen off 10 US
presidents who together have mounted
hundreds of assassination attempts and
yet despite all that destabilization
just 90 mil away from his beloved United
States he has built something really
precious I call it in the book a sprig
of white Heather in the future how does
he feel though but on the the territory
of Cuba the presence of Guantanamo Bay
well they're outraged by it the United
States refuses to leave Guantanamo Bay
it illegally occupies a part of Cuba
which is bad enough and then it creates
a human rights monstrosity where
hundreds of people are incarcerated in
cages in the in the tropics drugs
forcibly administered into them tortured
many of them committing suicide in a
legal black hole that's a scar on the
face of the world in somebody else's
country and it's in Cuba because they'd
never get away with it in the United
States do you ever feel like a lonely
voice in the wilderness contrary most
people watching this agree with me they
don't agree with him or implicitly with
you I'm just doing my job George um one
last thing that people the most
memorable image of you they have is from
Celebrity Big Brother okay you remember
it the cat I was a tiger rather than a
cat I'd rather be a cat than a poodle of
George W bush do do you have any regrets
about doing that no not at all uh I
walked out of the Big Brother house and
was immediately given a national radio
show on talk sport radio every Saturday
and Sunday night I've got thousands of
listeners in Ireland by the way uh and
I'm speaking to 3 million people in
Britain every Saturday night and every
Sunday night for two hours at a time and
I'm about to go to three nights that
came directly out of the Big Brother
house but most importantly I raised a
record amount of money for Palestinians
in Gaza who are starving to death
because they're under siege for having
the tarity hey of voting in a democratic
election but for the wrong party that's
the Democracy that people like him
support all right George um is there
ever any way back for you into the
British labor party is that no I think
the labor party has been hijacked and
and flown to only I mean terms of the
big parties I mean the lib dams are they
yet another cheek I'm afraid so if if an
AR can have three Chiefs so where is
there for people like you to go well we
we've got our own party it's the fastest
growing party in Britain we have more
than 20 councilors we are the official
opposition in two of London's main
buroughs uh we are the first party for
more than 60 years to win a seat in the
British Parliament to the left of Labor
uh and we are the party of the anti-war
movement young people in particular
support us because we're the anti-racist
party and with the anti-war party and
every decent person is Against Racism
and against War so I think we've got a
big future George Galloway thank you
very much they were in a position to
police the aftermath