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Washington's Favorite Terrorists
01-Jul-2011
In the 10 years that I have lived in Washington, I have never seen lobbyists for al-Qaeda parade through the halls of Congress. I have not seen any events on Capitol Hill organized by Hamas. And I have not seen any American politicians take campaign contributions from the Islamic Jihad.
But the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), an organization with the blood of Americans and Iranians alike on its hands, freely does all of these things, despite being a designated foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government.
And in a matter of weeks, this terrorist group may succeed in getting removed from the terrorist list -- not as a result of any change of heart -- but as a result of an unprecedented multi-million dollar media and lobbying blitz.
If al-Qaeda or any other terrorist organization were holding fundraisers in DC, lobbying Congress, or holding press conferences at the National Press Club, the FBI, Homeland Security, and local law enforcement would be all over it.
Not so with the MEK. There, law enforcement seems nowhere to be found. In fact, a prominent spokesperson for the MEK terrorist group was hired by Fox News in the mid-2000s to serve as their on-air terrorist analyst. Go figure.
Since early January 2011, the MEK has spent millions of dollars on lobbyists, PR agents and communications firms to build up pressure on Secretary Hillary Clinton to take the group off of the terrorist list. Their argument is that the MEK rejected violence and terrorism in 2001 and as a result should be de-listed.
But this is not true, according to the FBI. A recently disclosed FBI report from 2004 reveals that the group continued to plan terrorist acts at least three years after they claimed to renounce terrorism.
No one should be surprised -- not even DC's "unwitting members of Congress" -- as the FBI calls the group's supporters on Capitol Hill. The State Department has documented the MEK's disturbing record: killing Americans and Iranians in terrorist attacks; fighting for Saddam Hussein against Iran and assisting Saddam's brutal campaign against Iraq's Kurds and Shia; its "cult-like" behavior; the abuses and even torture it commits against its own members; and its support for the U.S. embassy takeover and calls for executing the hostages.
And let's not forget, the MEK suppresses and holds captive its own members - more than 70 percent of the MEK members in Camp Ashraf in Iraq are held there against their own wishes, according to a RAND Corporation study.
But even if the MEK could be believed, the reality is that they are currently on the terrorist list and, as a result, they must be subject to U.S. terrorism laws. Simply put, the laws must be enforced -- without exception.
The State Department's review of their terrorism status, which is due to be completed by August of this year, must be conducted without the essentially illegal pressure tactics the MEK currently is employing through lobbyists, lawmakers and hired former officials.
If the group is taken off the list, not as a result of an objective review, but by virtue of their lobbying prowess, several repercussions can be envisioned.
First, the desire to de-list them in Washington seems partially driven by gravitation towards covert military action against Iran. Neither sanctions nor diplomacy have yielded the desired results on the nuclear issue, and some in Washington are advocating using the MEK to conduct assassination and sabotage campaigns inside Iran.
As one former State Department official put it, the "paradox is that we may take them off the terror list in order for them to do more terror."
Much like Ahmad Chalabi of the Iraqi National Congress, the permanent leader of the MEK, Maryam Rajavi, seeks to return from decades of exile as the anointed President of Iran. And freed of the terrorist designation, there is little reason to believe the MEK won't turn its lobbying apparatus -- which puts Chalabi's to shame -- to obtain U.S. funding and to promote war with Iran. In fact, some members of Congress already refer to the MEK as the "real Green movement." Even more shocking is that top former U.S. officials have called on the U.S. to recognize Rajavi as the rightful President of Iran.
Second, de-listing the MEK would spell disaster for the Iranian pro-democracy movement. According to prominent Green movement figures Mohsen Kadivar and Ahmad Sadri:
Removing the MEK from the FTO at this juncture would embolden Iran's hardliners to intensify their repression and discredit the Green Movement by implying that it is somehow connected to the widely detested MEK terror group. Furthermore, supporting the MEK would provide the Iranian government with the specter of a foreign-based threat that could be exploited to heal key fractures within the system, increase the number of Iranians who would rally around the flag, and facilitate the suppression of the indigenous political opposition.
If you recognize the necessity of a non-violent campaign against the Iranian regime, the last thing you want is to have the U.S. government support and fund one of the most violent and undemocratic Iranian organizations -- and, to make matters worse, to do so in the name of the Iranian Green movement.
Third, de-listing will put the rising Iranian-American community in a state of shock. In the last decade, an impressive civic awakening has occurred in this successful but previously politically silent community, with dozens of new groups being formed with the aim of contributing to the American democracy and providing the Iranian Americans in the U.S. with a voice. A U.S. funded and supported MEK will ensure a return to the pre-1997 era. Back then, in the eyes of most U.S. lawmakers, the voice of Maryam Rajavi was the voice of the entire Iranian-American community.
Now, by buying off officials to pry open the floodgates of U.S. financial and political support, Rajavi and her small but vocal minority threaten to simultaneously drown out the voices of the rest of the Iranian-American community, co-opt the voice of Iran's true opposition, and carry the U.S. down the path of war yet again.
First published in HuffingtonPost.com.
Dr. Trita Parsi is the 2010 recipient of the Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order and the author of the forthcoming book "A Single Roll of the Dice – Obama's Diplomacy with Iran," by Yale University Press, February 2012.
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Mr. Targol jan: Thank you.
by vildemose on Mon Jul 04, 2011 07:31 PM PDTMr. Targol jan: Thank you. No, my name is Swedish. It means Wild moose.
vildemose, I like the deconstructionist
by Hooshang Tarreh-Gol on Mon Jul 04, 2011 06:38 PM PDTin you! Is your name turkish or azari?
MM
by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on Mon Jul 04, 2011 06:32 PM PDTYes! Parsi is a Mossad; CIA; IRI; IRA; AIPAC; KGB; Chaos; Control; and IRS agent all at the same time! Plus he is really good at writing a blog that gets more posts than anything here!
Shazdeh
by MM on Mon Jul 04, 2011 06:12 PM PDTAs I wrote earlier:
Here is a direct quote from an email that Trita Parsi wrote to Roger Stern that was from a link that "the professor" provided (//www.iranian-americans.com/docs/Negotiation.pdf) as evidence that Trita Parsi is an IRI agent
Page 6: Trita Parsi email to Roger Stern: …… “You are absolutely right when it comes to Iran’s support of terror and its human rights abuse. Unfortunately, nothing has set back the democracy movement in Iran more than the current tensions with the US.” ……
The same PDF reference also places Trita in Israel and other places with Israelis. Does that make him a Mossad agent? Or, does talking with the US government agencies, as a representative of a portion of Iranian-Americans, make him a CIA agent?
Bavafa agreed. It's a double
by vildemose on Mon Jul 04, 2011 06:10 PM PDTBavafa agreed. It's a double edge sword. However, we need to expose MEK for the cult that they are. I don't want them to be propped up by corporate media as a savior...and you are right once they get de-listed, they will have more exposure. At any rate, we have to be ready for when and if they are delisted to denconstruct and expose their true nature....
Mehrdad is right
by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on Mon Jul 04, 2011 06:06 PM PDTMEK is the bogyman that IRI will use to gain support. When you mention the possibility of Rajavi people will line up behind IRI. For all its crimes IRI does not force people to divorce or take their kids for indoctrination. Lets face it Rajavi cult is worse for Iran than IRI. In addition everyone knows AIPC is funding then. That will help IRI use the anti-Israeli feelings among the population. The result will be strengthening the IRI and weakening the opposition. IRI is about to self destruct from within. The best way to give it a boost is to send in the Rajavi gang to scare people.
No one in their right mind wants Maryam as president. I dare say she would be far worse than AN. Not that AN is any good; just Maryam is worse. Read about the atrocities that she masterminded. Things like giving up all emotions. Giving up love and family. Of course she gets to have a husband but no one else does. And we have people here who believe what this *** says. How gullible ...
Hooshang
by MM on Mon Jul 04, 2011 06:01 PM PDTI hope that this blog is a wake up call for all democracy-loving Iranians in Diaspora to unite under a common set of principals, and not just a group, a person or a flag alone.
In my earlier days, I had a research boss who used to tell his group "you have to say what you want to do, otherwise, others will tell you what to do".
Being opposed
by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on Mon Jul 04, 2011 05:58 PM PDTto MEK does not mean being for NIAC or IR or anything else. It just means being opposed to MEK. But our "Professor" and royalty "Shazde" fail to get it.
Or maybe just pretend to fail to get it and try to turn the argument. Get it in your heads for once! I oppose MEK and IRI. I am neutral on NIAC. I speak for my own positions not MK and not Shazde. I don't need a boland goo nor do I need lectures from other people who seem to support one traitor over another,.
Dear Vildemose: I respectfully disagree
by Bavafa on Mon Jul 04, 2011 05:51 PM PDTDe-listing of MEK only sets back the pro-democracy movement in Iran, giving the IRI thugs one more excuse to imprison and murder any opposition in the name of MEK. Many Iranians in the 80s paid that price as they hold any one that they aimed to destroy and in the name of MEK member execute them. The MEK is so hated in Iran that even the slightest doubt if they are truly a member or not, will stop any real questioning or possible uprising.
De-listing MEK hurts US standing as it is aiding yet another undemocratic and backward group such as they did with Mojahedeen in Afghanistan only for a short term gain.
'Vahdat' is the main key to victory
Mehrdad
Divaneh
by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on Mon Jul 04, 2011 05:49 PM PDTAgreed. Plus the best thing for "Professors" who are looking for grants!
Masoud, you are FACTUALLY incorrect
by Bavafa on Mon Jul 04, 2011 05:48 PM PDT"But it would be wrong to say that they did so while Iran was "occupied by Iraqi forces." "
Not only it is FACTUALLY correct to say MEK aided and sided with Saddam while Iran was occupied by Iraqi forces, to deny or reject it, is to deny history and what took place and therefore FACTUALLY incorrect.
If you have already not got the answer to your questions, it may very well be that you don't intend to listen to the answers.
The part that you seem to be very confused about is that as if the choice is between MEK and IRI. Sadly, if that was the choice for Iranians, IRI will win hands down.
But the choice for many of us is not between IRI and MEK, it is between right and wrong for our nation, IRAN. We have already rejected IRI and trying hard to divert another dictatorial regime (i.e MEK) to be imposed upon us.
Regarding sanction, if the West was really interested in sanction and choking Iranian economy, the easiest way would be simply to boycott Iranian Oil, the single real revenue IRI has. Sanction is only to take Iran oil and provide the same goods only double or triple the cost, it is a shame and a fraud. It has had zero affect on IRI, but the poor people are paying the price.
Lastly, if it satisfies your thirst, I along with others have always said and believed in the crimes of IRI during the war with Iraq, If you are suggesting that I disagree with that, it is a false suggestion.
'Vahdat' is the main key to victory
Mehrdad
Show one spot where NIAC says something about IRI terror
by Shazde Asdola Mirza on Mon Jul 04, 2011 05:38 PM PDTAccording to the US Country Reports on Terrorism: August 5, 2010:
1- Iran remained the most active state sponsor of terrorism. Iran’s financial, material, and logistic support for terrorist and militant groups throughout the Middle East and Central Asia had a direct impact on international efforts to promote peace, threatened economic stability in the Persian Gulf and undermined the growth of democracy.
2- Iran remained the principal supporter of groups that are implacably opposed to the Middle East Peace Process. The Qods Force, the external operations branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), is the regime’s primary mechanism for cultivating and supporting terrorists abroad.
3- Iran’s Qods Force provided training to the Taliban in Afghanistan on small unit tactics, small arms, explosives, and indirect fire weapons. Since at least 2006, Iran has arranged arms shipments to select Taliban members, including small arms and associated ammunition, rocket propelled grenades, mortar rounds, 107mm rockets, and plastic explosives.
4- Despite its pledge to support the stabilization of Iraq, Iranian authorities continued to provide lethal support, including weapons, training, funding, and guidance, to Iraqi Shia militant groups that targeted U.S. and Iraqi forces. The Qods Force continued to supply Iraqi militants with Iranian-produced advanced rockets, sniper rifles, automatic weapons, and mortars that have killed Iraqi and Coalition Forces, as well as civilians. Iran was responsible for the increased lethality of some attacks on U.S. forces by providing militants with the capability to assemble explosively formed penetrators that were designed to defeat armored vehicles. The Qods Force, in concert with Lebanese Hizballah, provided training outside of Iraq and advisors inside Iraq for Shia militants in the construction and use of sophisticated improvised explosive device technology and other advanced weaponry.
5- Iran remained unwilling to bring to justice senior al-Qa’ida (AQ) members it continued to detain, and refused to publicly identify those senior members in its custody. Iran has repeatedly resisted numerous calls to transfer custody of its AQ detainees to their countries of origin or third countries for trial; it is reportedly holding Usama bin Ladin’s family members under house arrest.
6- Senior IRGC, IRGC Qods Force, and Iranian government officials were indicted by the Government of Argentina for their alleged roles in the 1994 terrorist bombing of the Argentine-Jewish Mutual Association (AMIA); according to the Argentine State Prosecutor’s report, the attack was initially proposed by the Qods Force. In 2007, INTERPOL issued a “red notice” for six individuals wanted in connection to the bombing. One of the individuals, Ahmad Vahidi, was named as Iran’s Defense Minister in August 2009.
To keep playing in othere people's fields, or to create our own
by Hooshang Tarreh-Gol on Mon Jul 04, 2011 05:33 PM PDTspace and and our own voice, that is the question.
As long as we're so fragmented and disorganized groups like MEK or worse will speak on our behalf and we end up with defending thier rights to free speech, which is everyone's right regardless of anything.
I agree with Majnon of the utilitarian aspect of MEK for hardline Right in the West.
As impossible as it might sound today, at some point we should be able to articulate an independent, autonomous voice for the Iranian communities abroad. Once we reach that level of organization and articulation then we'll see how useless MEK and all other groups like that are.
Dear VPK
by divaneh on Mon Jul 04, 2011 05:19 PM PDTAgree, let me correct myself. IRI is not the best thing that happened to average Israeli but the best thing to those who use the Israel to milk the American tax payers and the global Jewish community.
To de-list or not to de-list ... that's the question
by Shazde Asdola Mirza on Mon Jul 04, 2011 05:18 PM PDTThe author says that Mojahedin should not be delisted from the Terror list for the following reasons:
1. ... would embolden Iran's hardliners to intensify their repression and discredit the Green Movement ...
2. ... provide the Iranian government with the specter of a foreign-based threat that could be exploited to heal key fractures within the system ...
3. ... the last thing you want is to have the U.S. government support and fund one of the most violent and undemocratic Iranian organizations ...
4. ... de-listing will put the rising Iranian-American community in a state of shock.
5. ... carry the U.S. down the path of war yet again.
HELLO: none of the above "arguments" have anything to do with whether the Mojahedin are currently deserving to be in the Terror List! Deserving to be treated as Terrorists. Deserving of going to jail or be killed, if they speak their mind.
Anonymous8
by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on Mon Jul 04, 2011 05:18 PM PDTHey that was my job! I guess they hired us both for Momar just to be on the safe side. I never got paid though will you send me half your check please?
yes, MM maybe de=list al qaida too?
by Anonymous8 on Mon Jul 04, 2011 05:17 PM PDTalqaida they R against IRI (wondrful?)
taliban against IRI... saudis against iri, saddam against iri? CIA against iri? British agaisnt IRI?
you support saddam? he was against iri, right? just defending his country with chemical weapon?
maybe help other terrorist killing irianians too?
why not help British overthrow IRI? you say you support Mossadegh?????
why not NATO drop nuclear bomb on tehran? isn't that "against iri"?
(very very pathetic and stooooooooooopid, "Professor")
Divaneh
by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on Mon Jul 04, 2011 05:13 PM PDTI mostly agree with some differences. AIPAC and Likud want IRI to remain. But IRI is *not* the best thing that happened to Israel. It is the worst thing in fact. It is the short sightedness of AIPAC thinking IRI is good for them.
Anonymouse8: Certain professors have professed the following
by MM on Mon Jul 04, 2011 05:08 PM PDTCertain nameless professors have professed the following:
"Now to question one. As I have said repeatedly, in my opinion our primary enemies are the VF regime and NIAC. My opinion may be right or it may be wrong. It is my opinion. Based on this opinion, my policy recommendations follow. I support the broadest possible coalition against VF regime. I support the broadest possible coalition against NIAC. "
My guess is that the professor's broadest possible coalition also includes MEK in their present format! "yes" or "no"
no, i went to help momar gazzafi!
by Anonymous8 on Mon Jul 04, 2011 05:07 PM PDTand then they give me new work for internet to find IDIOTS who support terrorists using rajavi methods on blogs.
(very pathetic)
Anony8 in Lebanon :-)
by Masoud Kazemzadeh on Mon Jul 04, 2011 05:00 PM PDTAnony8,
So the IRI MOI sent you to Lebanon to help Hezbollah? Thanks for the info. I thought they were using the Qods Force there.
:-)
It is true that the VF
by vildemose on Mon Jul 04, 2011 04:59 PM PDTIt is true that the VF regime would lose if the PMOI were to be de-listed and that is why you are sooooooooooooooooooo worried.
That is the crux of the issue. Why else would they be afraid? De-listing means a weaker IRI. Why wouldn't anyone wish for that...
I am agent?
by Anonymous8 on Mon Jul 04, 2011 04:56 PM PDTone more person for your freedom list, "Professor".
Ur accusations are just pathetic. i have only gone to lebanon not syria!
(this is pathetic, shows you hve nothing to say)
Soosan Khanoom
by MM on Mon Jul 04, 2011 04:54 PM PDTThat matter has been deferred to another discussion. Have you not looked at your assignment? "yes" or "no"
Anony8
by Masoud Kazemzadeh on Mon Jul 04, 2011 04:54 PM PDTAnony8,
1. The premise of your question is false. JM does NOT want to "partner" with the PMOI. We avoid them.
2. It is true that the VF regime would lose if the PMOI were to be de-listed and that is why you are sooooooooooooooooooo worried.
3. The de-listing of the PMOI does not have much effect on us (some negative, some positive).
4. The VF regime is the number 1 TERRORIST in the world. Helooooooooo. You calling the PMOI terrorist is like Hitler calling the governor of Alabama a racist. It is FUNNY. Really funny.
5. You, Anony8, are an agent of the IRI Ministry of Intelligence responsible for the torture and mass rape of thousands of female political prisoners, torture and mass rape of tens of thousands of male political prisoners, mass executions of tens of thousands of political prisoners, assassination of hundreds of dissidents and intellectual figures.
6. You, Anon8, along with the other MOI agent (anony 7, Khar Magas, Marhoum Khar Magas) have been attacking me in the past 2 years and some months. I had not seen you for a while. I assumed they sent you to Syria to help out Bashar kill and torture the dissidents there.
7. Faheshe siasi has its definition. It refers to those who sell their services to those in power for money regardless on who is in power. Look around and see who is selling his or her services to the VF regime. You will find your answer.
8. If you are a true-believing fundamentalist terrorist, then you are not a faheshe siasi. Read my blog the link to which was provided. If you are not a fundamentalist terrorist, but for MONEY provide your services to the IRI Ministry of Intelligence, then the definition would apply to you.
:-)
Mehrdad - I can guess at least one person here
by MM on Mon Jul 04, 2011 04:48 PM PDTwho puts in 2 blogs per day and whose friends come into his blogs and encourage surgical bombings and killing 200,000!
Soosan khanum on "faheshe siasi"
by Masoud Kazemzadeh on Mon Jul 04, 2011 04:26 PM PDTSoosan khanum,
I have already discussed the "politcal prostitues" [fahesheh siasi] in an earlier blog.
//iranian.com/main/blog/masoud-kazemzadeh/political-culture-mossadegh-s-legacy-and-transition-democracy-iran
1. Hezb Baad [HB]
In Iran, as well as in many other societies, there exist those who have no political or ethical principles. These individuals provide their services to those in power regardless of who is in power. In Persian, these individual are sometimes called "noon o beh nerkh rooz mikhorand," "ham az toubreh mikhoreh ham az akhur," "2 nabsheh." The politically involved, call them "Hezb baad," or "fahesheh siasi" [Political prostitutes].
The members of this group provide their services to whomever is in power. One day they provide their services to Rafsanjani when he was in power, then try sell their services to Khatami when he president, and now to Ahmadinejad. The primary motivation of the members of this group is personal gain (financial, access, power, etc). Members of this group may establish organizations or lobby groups, or serve as advisors, some write pro-regime articles, or engage in similar activities (e.g., writing posts on popular sites like I.C). It does NOT matter whether the fundamentalists are in power, or monarchists, or Mojahedin, or democrats. The members of Hezb Baad will provide their services to ANY group or person that is in power.
Members of this group are against Mossadegh and Mossadegh’s legacy and method of struggle. They are against Mossadegh because Mossadeghi groups are not in power. If instead of the ruling dictatorship, we had a secular democratic republic and JM was in power, then the members of HB would write the most sycophantic essays about Dr. Mossadegh. The second reason is that Mossadegh’s method of struggle was PRINCIPLED. Hezb baad individuals do not have any political or ethical principles.
Bavafa,On NIAC and the PMOI
by Masoud Kazemzadeh on Mon Jul 04, 2011 04:12 PM PDTBavafa,
On NIAC
The question is whether NIAC is a democratic or a dictatorial entity. If the members of NIAC do NOT have the right to vote for NIAC president or for NIAC Board, then NIAC is NOT a democratic entity. Therefore, my questions on whether or not simple members of NIAC have the right to vote for NIAC President.
I am asking basic questions about NIAC. I am WAITING. Could you provide answers to my questions.
The second part is on actual practice. NIAC was established 9 years ago. The questions is whether there is actual real elections for the Board and Presidency. That is why I am asking for basic objective information about names of candidates and a link to that info.
On the PMOI
I have already clearly stated my position. Let me re-state:
MK: I have no problem with your definition. The Islamic Republican Party (IRP) actively undermined the Iranian war effort in order to undermine President Bani Sadr while Iranian territory was under Saddam’s occupation. The leaders of IRP included Mir-Hussein Mousavi, Rafsanjani, Khamenei, Khatami. You have every right to call the PMOI traitor, but you should ALSO then call the IRP and IRP leaders such as Khamanei, Mir-Hussein Mousavi, Rafsanjani, and Khatami traitors.
MK: As far as I am aware, the PMOI sided with Saddam AFTER the Iranian forces kicked Saddam out of much of Iran and AFTER Khomeini took the war into Iraqi territory. In 1982, Saddam was kicked out of Khorramshahr and asked for ceasefire. Khomeini rejected the ceasefire and took the war into Iraq in order to overthrow Saddam and establish a puppet fundamentalist regime. And Khomeini’s slogan was "Rahe Qods as Karbala migozarad." In other words, Khomeini wanted to go to Israel via Iraq.
One can (and I do) condemn PMOI for collaborating with Saddam. But it would be wrong to say that they did so while Iran was "occupied by Iraqi forces." The PMOI collaborated with Saddam while Khomeini wanted to occupy Iraqi territory and invade Israel.
Khomeini’s grandson revealed that Hassan Ayat (top leader in the Islamic Republican Party) said in a secret meeting of the high level leaders of the Islamic Republican Party that they should not help the war effort because if they did, President Bani Sadr would be regarded as the person who won the war and then he would have more political power. It is believed that Khomeini gang were responsible for Iran not winning the war earlier. If true, this is TREASON committed by Khomeini and the Islamic Republican Party (among whose leaders were Mousavi, Khatami, Khamenei, Rafsanjani, etc).
========================
B: "Based on your stated opinion here, the fact of the matter is that you are rejecting NIAC for what you perceived as not being democratic yet endorsing PMOI knowing that they have far greater record of anti-democratic practices, blood of Iranians on their hand and act of treason against their mother land (these are all FACTUAL and not opinion).
Giving the above contradictory position held by you which I cited above, wouldn't you say this is hypocritical position held by you?"
MK: VF regime has killed a looooooot more Iranians than PMOI. The PMOI has not killed any Iranian opposition member. The VF regime has. The VF regime has a loooooot more blood of Iranians on its hand. The VF regime is the number one TERRORIST entity in the world. Khomeini and IRP are traitors to Iran’s national interests.
The question is whether NIAC promotes polices that provide billions and billions of dollars year after year to Khamenei? NIAC opposes sanctions. Sanctions deprive Khamenei from getting billions and billions of dollars year after year after year. In my opinion, therefore, what NIAC is doing is very very harmful if we want to overthrow the VF regime.
I do NOT endorse the PMOI. I strongly oppose PMOI ideology, PMOI’s leaders, PMOI’s policies.
Apparently, neither NIAC nor PMOI allows its members to vote for whom they want as their president. It appears that both have appointed entities (Board and Parliament in Exile) that voted for their Presidents in non-competitive elections.
What I have said is that de-listing of the PMOI is in the national interests of the United States. The de-listing of the PMOI hurts the VF regime (wonderful). I think the de-listing of the PMOI would hurt NIAC (wonderful). The de-listing of the PMOI does not hurt the opposition to the vf regime. I agree with Prof. Abrahamian that the term "terrorist" is wrong for the PMOI.
I think my position is clear and consistent. I do not see any contradictory or hypocrisy in my position. I regard the VF regime as the number one enemy of Iranians who want to overthrow the terrorist regime. I promote policies that hurt the vf regime. The weaker the vf regime is the higher the likelihood that we can overthrow it. The main source of money for the VF regime is the sale of oil. I want democracy in Iran. The BEST political party-coalition to establish democracy in Iran is the National Front of Iran (Jebhe Melli Iran). As long as an entity does not attacks the democratic opposition, I ignore them. Our resources are limited, we have to use them wisely.
I hope this is clear and helpful. If anything is not clear, please feel free to ask. I will be happy to provide as much detail as you desire.
Masoud
This is a very simple case
by divaneh on Mon Jul 04, 2011 03:53 PM PDTAIPAC wants the IRI to stay where it is. IRI is the best thing that has ever happened to Israel. They don't think that MEK can be turned into the ruling party in Iran, but by raising that prospect they undermine the secular democratic movement that can turn Iran into the most influential ME country, as it has historically been.
VPK jaan: Saddly you are correct when you say...
by Bavafa on Mon Jul 04, 2011 03:50 PM PDT"Mr MK seems to think anyone opposed to MEK is pro IRI. That is so far from reality as to be funny"
This is unfortunately not limited to MEK supporters but also mostly of AIPAC supporters. Any time Zionist or US is criticized for any reason, you are automatically called "IRI supporters" or agent.
It is our sad state of affairs
Dear MM:
I agree completely about the baseless accusations against NIAC, at least so far. I strongly suspect that the opposition to NIAC is primary because of the competing voice and the attempt of uniting Iranian-Americans. As it happened, the voice of Iranian-American overwhelmingly was against war with Iran and this position had put NIAC at odds with the competing group. Can you guess the name of the competing group :)
Vahdat' is the main key to victory
Mehrdad