The Disgraceful Pro-MEK Lobbying Campaign Continues

Daniel Larison of the American Conservative website warned US politicians who are active in lobbying efforts to delist the Mujahedin Khalq Organization from the State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. He states that the group advocates including Tom Ridge, Hugh Sheldon and Patrick Kennedy “make fools of themselves dreaming of the MKO as a democratic, freedom loving group. Larison criticizes US former officials for their “incredibly foolish” support for a terrorist designated organization:

“This is disgraceful. It is also exactly what I have assumed is behind the push to remove the MEK from the Foreign Terrorist Organization list: to embrace the MEK as part of a policy of regime change. It’s also incredibly foolish. Iranians loathe the MEK. Aligning the U.S. with the MEK for the express purpose of overthrowing the Iranian government would not only further alienate the Iranian people from the U.S. and give an extra boost to the regime by making Iranian propaganda claims into official policy, but it would also fail to achieve its goal because no effort by the MEK to change the Iranian government could ever succeed. The Iranian regime hates the MEK for the same reason any established government hates a group dedicated to overthrowing it, but it doesn’t actually fear that the group could successfully overthrow the government.”

As Mr. Larison quotes from the MKO supporters, they allegedly believe that the group is “a movement that epitomizes the very spirit of the Arab Spring”. Refuting such a naïve idea, Larison clarifies that Arab Spring has nothing to do with a “totalitarian Marxist Cult:

“..Iran and the U.S. consider the MEK a terrorist group, which by many accounts they still are. Whatever else one wants to say about the “Arab Spring,” its spirit has nothing to do with a totalitarian Marxist cult. It is a colossal lie to claim that the MEK favors creating a “liberal democracy that champions a non-nuclear Iranian future, equal rights for women and minorities, and a free press.” Later on, the authors refer to the MEK as a “declared democratic ally,” which is also entirely false. The MEK is neither democratic nor is it an ally of the United States in any sense of the word. “

Daniel Larison concludes that a government ruled by undemocratic, Marxist cult of the Rajavi would be repressive, violent and would be doubtlessly seized by force.