Galloway to David Cameron: What is the difference between the jihadists in Mali we oppose and the jihadists in Syria we back?

George Galloway MP to British Prime Minister David Cameron:

What is the difference between the jihadists in Mali we oppose and the jihadists in Syria we back?


Response to David Cameron

Bradford West MP George Galloway responded to Prime Minister David Cameron's refusal to answer a parliamentary question, by resorting to a cheap insult, by detailing the Arab tyrannies and puppet presidents Britain backs.

'I asked a reasonable question, to detail the difference between the jihadists in Mali we oppose and the jihadists in Syria we back and in response to a legitimate inquiry I received a sneering insult more fitted to the gutters of Eton than the Mother of all Parliaments,' Galloway said. 'Britain is guilty to backing the worst, most bloodthirsty dictators in the world, bar none. This country backs and arms the foul Saudi Arabian sheikhdom which has the least democracy and probably the worst human rights record on the planet.

Then there's Bahrain. And what about Egypt where this government backed Mubarak until almost the end? And it is less than a week ago, isn't it, that the Foreign Office was warning British citizens to get out of Benghazi immediately for fear of their lives - at risk from the same jihadis we supplied, armed and fought for.'

Galloway added: 'I have written to the Prime Minister today about his response to me and I will be interested how he responds.'

Below is the text of the letter:

Wednesday 30th January 2012


Dear Prime Minister,

I'm sure on reflection you will realise that your answer to me today was beneath you and unbecoming for a British Prime Minister. I will deal with the complete absence of a substantive reply in a moment. But let me deal first with the vulgar abuse.

I do not support any Arab dictatorship, unlike you. It is you who is selling weapons to the dictatorship in Saudi Arabia and providing military training there. It is you who is supporting the Bahraini dictatorship. It is you who supported the Mubarak dictatorship until its last hours. Ditto the late dictatorship in Tunisia, Yemen etc. It is you who has the warmest possible relations with the dictatorships in the Gulf. I could go on, believe me. I, on the other hand, have spoken, written and broadcast against all Arab dictatorships. Perhaps your staff, in preparing your reply, will provide you with the evidence of this. I also read Frankenstein until the end.

I told one of your predecessors, Lady Thatcher, on the eve of the triumph of those whom your party routinely described as 'Afghan freedom fighters' that she "had opened the gates to the barbarians.... And that a long dark night would now descend upon the people of Afghanistan". I warned repeatedly against the folly of the creation of the Arab-Afghan force which became Al Qaida. Immediately after 9/11 I said in the House that "I despise Osama Bin Laden, the medieval obscurantist savage. The difference is that I have always despised him. I despised him when you (pointing at the Tory benches) were giving him guns and money".

I find it genuinely inexplicable that you are doing it all over again. This is a tragedy which begins to look farcical when one considers the issue which I raised today with you.

We are now killing Al Qaida in Mali and helping Al Qaida kill in Syria - killing Christians, killing Shiites, killing Kurds, killing Druze, killing Sunnis who won't join their jihad, and soon, trust me, they will be killing each other.

There may be "key differences" between Al Qaida in Mali and their counterparts in Syria. I asked you to explain these to the House today. You refused. But it is a question which will not go away before a puff of vulgar abuse.

I look forward to your reply. I am seeking to publish this letter.

Yours sincerely,

George Galloway MP
Wednesday, 30 January 2013
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