In 2003, at the start of the Iraq War, Anne Singleton published Saddam’s Private Army, a book warning the world about the Iranian MEK (MKO, PMOI, NCRI, Rajavi Cult, or Pol Pot of Iran) terrorists at Camp Ashraf, Iraq. In 2011, as the deadline for the departure of American military
As former MEK members, the authors have spent years attempting to rescue the thousands of members trying to escape from Camp Ashraf, Iraq. They have visited Iraq and have helped the Nejat Society, the Sahar Family Foundation, and individuals who have escaped from Camp Ashraf.
Founded in 1965, the original purpose of the MEK was to use Marxist liberation theology to overthrow the Shah of Iran. After the Shah killed the founders, Massoud Rajavi took control of the terrorist organization. Shortly before the Shah fled from Iran, Massoud Khodabandeh met Ayatollah Khomeini in France to pledge the MEK’s support for the Iranian Revolution. During the American hostage crisis, the MEK participated and called for the executions of the Americans. Rajavi is anti-American, anti-imperialist, and anti-capitalist. His aim is to become the Pol Pot of Iran, even if the MEK must become a tool of the American government to achieve his aim. After Rajavi failed in a counter-revolution attempt against Ayatollah Khomeini, Rajavi fled to France. Massoud Khodabandeh attended a meeting between the CIA and Rajavi in France. The French government provided land, buildings, equipment, and approximately 200 free telephone lines for the terrorists. The MEK continues to operate a headquarters in France.
In 1983, Donald Rumsfeld, President Ronald Reagan’s envoy to Saddam Hussein arranged to move the MEK to Iraq. In the isolation of Camp Ashraf, Iraq, Rajavi turned the group into a cult. Some American feminists have promoted the MEK because Rajavi placed women in the leadership positions. The feminists fail to mention that candidates for the Leadership Council danced naked in front of Rajavi at “Freedom Dance” events and slept with Rajavi in the audition process. Feminists fail to mention also Rajavi’s cult practices of mandatory divorces, sending away children, prohibited contact with relatives, and arranged marriages.
After the Iran-Iraq War, the MEK hid more than 1,000 Iranian prisoners of war from the International Committee of the Red Cross to prevent the exchange of the Iranian prisoners.
In return for providing military camps and arms in Iraq, Saddam Hussein required the MEK to kill Iraqis. While Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guard forces trained by killing and eating innocent Iraqis, the MEK trained by killing and eating wild dogs. The MEK killed large numbers of unarmed Iraqi Kurd and Shiite civilians after the 1991 Gulf War. America did not attack MEK bases in Iraq. The West offered to move the MEK to Azerbaijan or to Pakistan.
In 2001, Massoud Rajavi rejoiced at the destruction of the World Trade Center.
At the start of the Iraq War, American and coalition forces killed some of the MEK. However, neo-conservatives (neo-Trotskyites) protected the MEK claiming falsely that the Fourth Geneva Convention applied to a terrorist group. The American military has been hiding and protecting Massoud Rajavi. The American government has prevented the inspection of a mass grave at Camp Ashraf (containing perhaps large numbers of Kuwaitis).
Contrary to lies of American military officers and to the American government’s claim of a war on terrorism, the American government has been using the MEK in terrorist activities in Iraq, Iran, and in Pakistan. The Iraqi government has proof in the form of MEK identifications issued by the American government found on the bodies of killed terrorists. The MEK has worked with other terrorist organizations in the region, including PJAK (or PEJAK) and Jundallah (or Jondolla).
In June 2003, after the French government arrested Maryam Rajavi, some MEK members burned themselves to death.
The mainstream American media has promoted the MEK even though the MEK has been on the State Department’s list of terrorist organizations since the administration of former President Bill Clinton. A surprising exception was Elizabeth Rubin’s “The Cult of Rajavi” in the New York Times Magazine, June 2003.
After the American government closed the office of the terrorist organization in Washington, DC, the Fox News Channel retained the head of the office as a foreign affairs analyst.
In 2005, Human Rights Watch published “No Exit”, a report warning that MEK members could not leave the cult. MEK leaders have tortured and have killed MEK members who attempted to leave Camp Ashraf, Iraq.
As of August 2009, at least 14 American soldiers have died and 60 have been wounded providing security for MEK shopping convoys to Baghdad.
The American government has funded the MEK via Saudi Arabia. The MEK has raised funds also by creating fake charities (Iran Aid and Muslim Iranian Students’ Society) by collecting donations at airports, and by telling their families that they need tens of thousands of dollars for life-saving surgeries. For example, the American Red Cross withdrew from a fake MEK charity fund raising event after the December 26, 2003 earthquake in Bam, Iran after learning the truth about the MEK. The Iran Policy Committee employs former CIA and military officers to promote the MEK. Hundreds of members of Congress (Democrats and Republicans) have signed statements supporting the MEK terrorists.
The MEK terrorists could not exist without the support of the American government and the ignorance of American voters.