Birds of a feather

One of Britain's most vociferous (and annoying) anti-warriors – British Member of Parliament George Galloway – appeared before the Coleman Commission investigating the United Nation's Oil-for-Food fraud last May. Galloway appeared before the U.S. Senate under oath, to denounce allegations that he had been bribed by Saddam's government as a "pack of lies."

Galloway was eloquent in his denials. Speaking to Sen. Coleman, Galloway smirked:

TRENDING: Is this what you voted for, America?

Now I know that standards have slipped over the last few years in Washington, but for a lawyer, you are remarkably cavalier with any idea of justice ... I am not now, nor have I ever been, an oil trader, and neither has anyone on my behalf. I have never seen a barrel of oil, owned one, bought one, sold one – and neither has anyone on my behalf ... Senator, in everything I said about Iraq, I turned out to be right and you turned out to be wrong.

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As it happens, it seems that Coleman turned out to be right and Galloway turned out to be a liar. The Coleman subcommittee released evidence this week that Galloway personally solicited and was granted eight oil allocations totaling 23 million barrels from the Hussein government from 1999 through 2003.

Moreover, Galloway's wife, Dr. Amineh Abu-Zayyad, received approximately $150,000 in connection with one allocation of oil. His political campaign received at least $446,000 in connection with several allocations granted under the Oil-for-Food program. The subcommittee also found evidence that Saddam made almost $1.6 billion in surcharges and kickbacks in connection with the oil allocations granted to Galloway.

Armed with evidence, the Senate subcommittee issued a statement, saying, "George Galloway knowingly made false or misleading statements under oath before the Subcommittee at its hearing on May 17, 2005."

Galloway claims he is being framed, and challenged the Senate to charge him with perjury. Galloway said the subcommittee, which he described as "lickspittle" wouldn't dare face him again after "he made a mockery" of them during his last appearance.

The subcommittee report naming British MP George Galloway as a liar, a thief and a traitor comes on the heels of the United Nation's own Oil-for-Food report in which we find there were at least 2,000 George Galloways out there who collectively stole more than $12.8 billion that was earmarked to buy food and medicine for Iraqi civilians and milk for Iraqi children.

The anti-war movement latched onto George Galloway as one of its premiere spokespersons, as they did with Cindy Sheehan, the mother of fallen American hero Casey Sheehan. One can find hundreds of references to Casey Sheehan's mother, but almost nothing about him. Casey Sheehan was a man worth knowing. The contrast between Casey Sheehan, the man, and Casey Sheehan, the symbol, is as stark as the contrast between George Galloway and, oh, an honest person.

Sheehan joined the Army at age 20 and re-enlisted in 2004 for a second hitch. Sheehan knew his re-enlistment would include service in Iraq, but he did it anyway. He willingly answered the call of his country, and he willingly put himself between us and our enemies.

He died after volunteering to go out on a rescue mission to relieve soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, who had been ambushed with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire. They were pinned down and dying. Casey knew the risks, took them anyway, and paid for our freedom with his blood. When volunteering for the mission, he reportedly said, "Where my chief goes, I go." Casey Sheehan was a hero.

His mother has turned him into a victim and a martyr to the cause that took his life. In her hatred of the Bush administration, she has allied herself with George Galloway, a man who greeted Saddam in 1994 with the greeting, "Sir, I salute your courage, your strength, your indefatigability. And I want you to know that we are with you until victory, until victory until Jerusalem."

It is interesting that Galloway's reference to Jerusalem is echoed by Cindy Sheehan, whose list of demands, in addition to pulling out of Iraq; include withdrawing support for Israel and supporting the Palestinian demand for a state with Jerusalem as its capital.

It is the same all over the world. The anti-warriors link every attack on the United States, every foreign policy problem, every international disagreement to U.S. support of Israel and Jerusalem. Interestingly, that is exactly the same complaint being advanced by the jihadists who killed 3,000 Americans in 2001, and 2,000 more since, including Casey Sheehan.

It wouldn't take much effort to link pretty much all the world's ills to Israel and Jerusalem. It is the cause celebre of the Islamic jihadists dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish state and the Great Satan which supports her. It is the reason for five Arab Israeli wars. It was the cause of the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973, the Beirut bombing of U.S. Marines in Lebanon in 1983, and it is the root cause of anti-Western Islamic terror, pioneered by Yasser Arafat's first airplane hijacking in 1968.

In light of all this, it is worth remembering that, 100 years ago, few Americans knew Jerusalem still existed or could find it on a map. Today, it is the focal point of global attention.

Twenty-five hundred years ago, the prophet Zechariah predicted that, in the last days, God would:

... make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

– Zechariah 12:2-3

To this generation, Zechariah's 2,500-year-old prophecy sounds like headline news. And it is to this generation that Jesus addressed the promise, "And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh" (Luke 21:28).

Maranatha!