An Open Letter to George Galloway, MP, Bethnal Green & Bow
Mr. Galloway,
I am deeply dismayed and disgusted by the lack of basic humanity and consideration you've shown on your recent blog post regarding the situation in Iran.
I have backed you time and time again for one main reason... you may have been a bit biased, but you were essentially correct and a determined advocate and good counterbalance to the unrelenting extremist status quo of the Bush/Blair era. I defended you because your opponents repeatedly attacked you without a shred of evidence that would hold water in a court of law.
Indeed, if anyone were to support you, some might say it should be me. I was the one largely responsible for breaking the story about the "shake and bake" attacks on Fallujah, and the disgusting lack of concern shown by my country's forces in that country for "collateral damage"... that being the common phrase for wives, young children, sisters, and brothers.
I understand what it's like to stand against my country when it is wrong, George. But this article of yours is hardly a brave stand. Rather, it is a way of you protecting your paycheck and defending the indefensible.
Mr. Galloway, today you have disgraced your name, not only by tying yourself to the murderous brutality of the Iranian government, but also by diminishing those who are being beaten, gassed, and killed in the name of the right to freely protest.
Robert Fisk has been right and fair when he reported that Ahmadinejad may indeed have won the election, but that the margin and the votes registered in some specific regions was quite suspicious indeed. To his credit, Fisk has been extremely critical of the government's actions... but you? You ignorantly, flippantly dismiss the young protesters as the educated brats of wealthy elitists, robbing their voice of legitimacy. Never mind that the first Iranian revolution was led largely by the same kind of people... young, educated students being principally amongst them.
No, George. These young Iranians are NOT the same sort as those who oppose Chavez, many of whom are wealthy people who have found themselves having to share some of that wealth through higher taxes and other democratically enacted means. This situation in Iran is completely different.
These young Iranians aren't complaining about being victims of policies that the rest of the country supports, because, frankly, the rest of the country doesn't really want widespread censorship, torture, beatings, arrests, and government thuggery either. Nobody except those in a position of power over others are particularly fond of widespread government repression, George.
"It will soon fizzle out."
Yes, George. It very well may. Soon, the protesters may all be killed, arrested, tortured, and otherwise brutally repressed... while you continue getting your paycheck from the government responsible for such behavior, without uttering a single denunciation of a government that refuses to allow its people to peacefully assemble and protest.
The Iranian government's actions may be horrific, George, but you, in your own words, are willing to "accept it".
You were right when you didn't accept such behavior before from the US and from your own country, George, but you are tragically wrong now.
Your words are certainly no comfort to Neda, a young female who was brutally shot down in front of her father, killed for protesting by the very people who sign off on your paychecks over at Iranian state-run PressTV... the organization that reported to its English audience that Mousavi won the vote in Tehran but lost elsewhere, while the Iranian government reported figures to its own people, claiming Ahmadinejad won in Tehran by over 6%. Indeed, PressTV has become transparent propaganda since the protests started, airing baseless attacks on your country and mine, even as their own country burns and its government supports the murder of its own people for daring to protest peacefully.
Let no young idealist, no follower of non-violence, no protester, no supporter of basic human rights, no friend to the people, and no defender of the innocents forget that George Galloway is no more than a fair weather friend to them... and indeed, is a traitor and a coward when his own interests are on the line.
I denounce you, George, and spit upon your acceptance of this brutal, inhumane violence.
No longer with respect,
Mark Kraft
I am deeply dismayed and disgusted by the lack of basic humanity and consideration you've shown on your recent blog post regarding the situation in Iran.
I have backed you time and time again for one main reason... you may have been a bit biased, but you were essentially correct and a determined advocate and good counterbalance to the unrelenting extremist status quo of the Bush/Blair era. I defended you because your opponents repeatedly attacked you without a shred of evidence that would hold water in a court of law.
Indeed, if anyone were to support you, some might say it should be me. I was the one largely responsible for breaking the story about the "shake and bake" attacks on Fallujah, and the disgusting lack of concern shown by my country's forces in that country for "collateral damage"... that being the common phrase for wives, young children, sisters, and brothers.
I understand what it's like to stand against my country when it is wrong, George. But this article of yours is hardly a brave stand. Rather, it is a way of you protecting your paycheck and defending the indefensible.
Mr. Galloway, today you have disgraced your name, not only by tying yourself to the murderous brutality of the Iranian government, but also by diminishing those who are being beaten, gassed, and killed in the name of the right to freely protest.
Robert Fisk has been right and fair when he reported that Ahmadinejad may indeed have won the election, but that the margin and the votes registered in some specific regions was quite suspicious indeed. To his credit, Fisk has been extremely critical of the government's actions... but you? You ignorantly, flippantly dismiss the young protesters as the educated brats of wealthy elitists, robbing their voice of legitimacy. Never mind that the first Iranian revolution was led largely by the same kind of people... young, educated students being principally amongst them.
No, George. These young Iranians are NOT the same sort as those who oppose Chavez, many of whom are wealthy people who have found themselves having to share some of that wealth through higher taxes and other democratically enacted means. This situation in Iran is completely different.
These young Iranians aren't complaining about being victims of policies that the rest of the country supports, because, frankly, the rest of the country doesn't really want widespread censorship, torture, beatings, arrests, and government thuggery either. Nobody except those in a position of power over others are particularly fond of widespread government repression, George.
"It will soon fizzle out."
Yes, George. It very well may. Soon, the protesters may all be killed, arrested, tortured, and otherwise brutally repressed... while you continue getting your paycheck from the government responsible for such behavior, without uttering a single denunciation of a government that refuses to allow its people to peacefully assemble and protest.
The Iranian government's actions may be horrific, George, but you, in your own words, are willing to "accept it".
You were right when you didn't accept such behavior before from the US and from your own country, George, but you are tragically wrong now.
Your words are certainly no comfort to Neda, a young female who was brutally shot down in front of her father, killed for protesting by the very people who sign off on your paychecks over at Iranian state-run PressTV... the organization that reported to its English audience that Mousavi won the vote in Tehran but lost elsewhere, while the Iranian government reported figures to its own people, claiming Ahmadinejad won in Tehran by over 6%. Indeed, PressTV has become transparent propaganda since the protests started, airing baseless attacks on your country and mine, even as their own country burns and its government supports the murder of its own people for daring to protest peacefully.
Let no young idealist, no follower of non-violence, no protester, no supporter of basic human rights, no friend to the people, and no defender of the innocents forget that George Galloway is no more than a fair weather friend to them... and indeed, is a traitor and a coward when his own interests are on the line.
I denounce you, George, and spit upon your acceptance of this brutal, inhumane violence.
No longer with respect,
Mark Kraft