Michael Rubin’s “Monsters of the Left: The Mujahedin al-Khalq” (FrontPage Magazine.com, January 13, 2006, http://www.frontpagemag.com/articles/readarticle.asp?ID=20780&p=1)
classified correctly the Iranian Communist MEK (Rajavi Cult) terrorists. Even the New York Times has reported that some Iranians refer to Massoud Rajavi as the “Pol Pot of Iran”. (Elizabeth Rubin, “The Cult of Rajavi”, New York Times Magazine, July 13, 2003,
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/13/magazine/13MUJAHADEEN.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5007&en=6b6a11b0fdb450b1&ex=1373428800&partner=USERLAND
pagewanted=1&ei=5007&en=6b6a11b0fdb450b1&ex=1373428800&partner=USERLAND)
Ali Safavi’s “Missing the Mark on Iran” (FrontPageMagazine.com, January 27, 2006, http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=21064) should become a textbook case example on how easily America’s terrorist enemies can have their lies published in the American media.
Michael Rubin’s “Hitting the Mark on Iran” (FrontPageMagazine.com, January 27, 2006, http://www.frontpagemag.com/articles/readarticle.asp?ID=21065&p=1) has exposed some of the dishonest tactics the MEK has used with success in duping the American media and the American public. One could fill books about the dishonesty of the MEK, if any American publisher dares to expose the names of Democrats and Republicans in Congress who have been duped.
The MEK has been on the terrorist lists of the State Department since the administration of former President Bill Clinton. In September 2002, President George W. Bush’s background paper for his remarks at the United Nations listed the MEK as one of three Saddam Hussein-supported terrorists operating in Iraq. The MEK was a pretext for the invasion of Iraq. In April 2003, American and coalition forces did attack and kill some of the MEK terrorists at Camp Ashraf, Iraq. However, some analysts have claimed that this was a staged attack because the American military could have destroyed easily the entire camp and its four thousand or more terrorists. The American government ordered the American military to protect the MEK and to permit the MEK to keep individual weapons. In 2004, the American government recognized the MEK terrorists at Camp Ashraf, Iraq as having protected person status under the Fourth Geneva Convention (civilian individuals!). The American government has closed the Washington, DC office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) in the National Press Building. Former Attorney General John Ashcroft, a supporter of the MEK while a Republican Senator, raided the home of NCRI spokesperson Alireza Jafarzadeh and took boxes of documents from his home.
The following are some of the deceptive tactics contained in Ali Safavi’s article:
1. He introduced himself as a sociologist and as someone who has studied the history of the MEK. While it is true that he studied sociology at the University of Michigan, he has been actively involved in the MEK as a military commander and as a spokesperson for the NCRI. A photograph of Ali Safavi in military uniform is posted at: http://www.iran-interlink.org/files/info/Safavi.htm
Anne Singleton and her husband Massoud Khodabandeh know the MEK well. Anne Singleton was involved with the MEK for nearly 20 years. She is the author of the book, Saddam’s Private Army. Massoud Khodabandeh was an MEK commander, too. Anne Singleton’s Web site in the United Kingdom, Iran Interlink, is an excellent source of the truth about the MEK.
2. Ali Safavi claims that the most anti-MEK Web sites in America are left-wing Web sites. Of course, he did not cite even one example of a left-wing Web site critical of the MEK. The truth is that the major American Web sites critical of the MEK are right-wing, not left-wing. Examples of right-wing Web sites publishing authors critical of the MEK: (a) Traitors USA http://groups.yahoo.com/group/traitorsusa/
(b) Antiwar.com http://www.antiwar.com/
(c) LewRockwell.com http://www.lewrockwell.com/
Traitors USA is my Yahoo! Group specializing in the Iranian Communist MEK (Rajavi Cult) terrorists and the Democrats and Republicans who support the MEK. My Republican Party credentials are easy to check in the public records. In 1990, while I lived in Los Angeles County, California, Republican voters elected me to the Republican County Central Committee. In 1992, I was a Republican candidate for California State Assembly, endorsed by the California Republican Assembly. Now that I live in Orange County, California, it is a matter of public record that I am a registered Republican. The Web site of California’s Secretary of State discloses my contributions to conservative Republican candidates. Next to the door of my office at California State University, Fullerton is information on how students can join David Horowitz’s Students for Academic Freedom: http://www.studentsforacademicfreedom.org/
In a few minutes, anyone who cares to do Internet searches can find postings about me as a Republican professor at California State University, Fullerton. Even as an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan, I was an active member of the College Republicans. I have never been in the left wing.
Many Americans who rely upon comedians or the evening television news might think that Antiwar.com must be left-wing. The American media continues to publish lies that only left-wing activists are anti-war. For years, right-wing writers at Antiwar.com have been exposing the lies of the Iranian Communist MEK (Rajavi Cult) terrorists. The most prolific critic of the MEK at Antiwar.com has been Justin Raimondo. Justin Raimondo is a former Libertarian Party and Republican Party candidate for public offices. Justin Raimondo is the author of the book, Reclaiming the American Right: The Lost Legacy of the Conservative Movement
LewRockwell.com is anti-state, anti-war, pro-market. It is an important resource for writings supporting capitalism. A search for MEK will return articles exposing the MEK.
As a right-wing author, I do submit articles or comments critical of the MEK across the entire political spectrum. I have had some success with postings at progressive Web sites.
The background paper for my September 15, 2005 speech to a Libertarian Party group is available at:
http://www.liberty66.org/
The title of the speech was “Libertarians and the Iranian Communist MEK (Rajavi Cult) Terrorists”.
So, while it is possible to find some postings critical of the MEK at left-wing Web sites, I rely upon right-wing Web sites to find large numbers of postings critical of the Iranian Communist MEK (Rajavi Cult) terrorists.
3. Ali Safavi did not include the red, communist flag of the MEK. Kenneth Timmerman has posted some photographs of MEK demonstrators near the United Nations Building on September 14, 2005 at: http://www.iran.org/news/24-Irandemos.htm
The American military has permitted the MEK to continue to fly its communist flag at Camp Ashraf, Iraq:
http://www.iranian.com/PhotoDay/2003/April/base6.html
4. Ali Safavi has not written a true account of the embarrassment of some members of Congress for signing Iran statements. While the January 15, 2003 New York Times contained a full-page advertisement by MEK supporters, the advertisement listed only six of the members of Congress. Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen refused to release all of the 150 names she claimed supported the MEK. For a more accurate account of the members of Congress, see Sam Dealey’s “Rep. Ros-Lehtinen defends Iranian group labeled terrorist front for Saddam Hussein” (The Hill, April 8, 2003, http://www.thehill.com/news/040803/roslehtinen.aspx)
5. Ali Safavi’s history of the MEK failed to include that both MEK and Islamic leaders were prisoners in the same jails during the reign of the Shah of Iran. Islamic leaders of Iran know that the MEK is 100% communist and 0% Islamic. A popular Persian term for the MEK can be translated as two-faced.
6. Massoud Rajavi, the supreme leader of the MEK, learned from Iranian history that the pro-Stalin Tudeh Party failed to sell godless communism in Islamic Iran. Massoud Rajavi thought that the techniques of Che Guevara and of the liberation theology in Latin America would be a more successful model for a communist takeover of Iran. Roman Catholic popes have been strong opponents of liberation theology. Ali Safavi is wrong about Roman Catholic positions. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_theology
7. The MEK have committed terrible atrocities against Kurds in Iraq. To save bullets for Iran, the MEK ran over Kurdish civilians with armored personnel carriers or tanks. The American military has interviewed hundreds of MEK terrorists at Camp Ashraf, Iraq and has identified many who should be tried for war crimes. See: Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball’s “Shades of Gray” (Newsweek, October 13, 2004, http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6242223/site/newsweek)
8. Ali Safavi’s tales of the treatment of MEK members at Camp Ashraf, Iraq are pure fiction. The MEK’s leaders hate any MEK members who try to leave the MEK. Near Camp Ashraf, Iraq is Camp Freedom, Iraq. At Camp Freedom, Iraq, there are approximately 200 former members of the MEK who were able to escape from Camp Ashraf, Iraq. Ali Safavi failed to mention that the MEK has tortured for many years many MEK members who attempted to leave Camp Ashraf, Iraq. Some MEK members died during the MEK torture at Camp Ashraf, Iraq. For details, read books by former MEK members: (a) Anne Singleton’s Saddam’s Private Army
http://www.iran-interlink.org/files/child%20pages/book_I-I.htm (b) Masoud Banisadr’s Masoud.
9. Ali Safavi’s description of the roles of women in the MEK is fantasy. He failed to mention some details covered in books by Anne Singleton and Masoud Banisadr, such as: (a) mandatory divorces (b) segregation of men and women at Camp Ashraf, Iraq (c) mandatory assignment of spouses for MEK leaders (d) mandatory confession of masturbation. Ali Safavi can start by writing the truth about how Maryam Rajavi became the third wife of Massoud Rajavi. Members of the right wing who claim to support family values will reject the Pol Pot of Iran.
10. Ali Safavi failed to disclose that even foreign reporters at Camp Ashraf, Iraq have written about the celebrations of the murders of Americans. Iranians who lived in Tehran during the American hostage crisis know that the MEK were demanding the executions of all of the American hostages. Ayatollah Khomeini refused the demands of the MEK. Ali Safavi failed to disclose that the Persian language Web sites and satellite television programs of the MEK have anti-Western, anti-imperialist content. The MEK rose to power in Iran in the 1960’s and 1970’s by being the most anti-Shah and most anti-Western terrorist group in Iran. There are posted videotapes of Massoud Rajavi meeting with leaders of Saddam Hussein’s government in Iraq. The anti-Western, anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist ideology of the MEK is common knowledge to any Iranian who lived in Iran before the Iranian Revolution.
11. Ali Safavi failed to disclose the location of the MEK’s supreme leader, Massoud Rajavi. Recent posted reports include claims that the American military is keeping Massoud Rajavi at Camp Mercury, Iraq. The reports do not include whether Massoud Rajavi is being kept for future war crimes trials in Iraq or is being protected by the American military.
In a few minutes, anyone can perform an Internet search for “Ali Safavi”. They will discover that he has been speaking for the NCRI or the MEK for many years. They will discover that many famous American newspapers have quoted him without bothering to check the accuracy of anything he says. Michael Rubin was correct in concluding that the writings of Ali Safavi are dishonest but useful. The real villains in this case are the idiots and dupes in the American media who cannot be troubled to publish truthful, investigative reporting about the Iranian Communist MEK (Rajavi Cult) terrorists.
At Traitors USA, you can find my exchanges of emails with Ali Safavi. When he discovered that I graduated, too, from the University of Michigan and am a professor, he found it difficult to attack my academic credentials. While he describes himself as a sociologist, he fails to disclose on which faculty he serves or in any other way he works as a sociologist. His fictional tales about the MEK do not work with me. I have known MEK members for 37 years. While I was a doctoral student at Michigan State University, I attended MEK meetings. I studied Persian at Harvard University and met a Harvard professor who writes truthfully about Iran. Professor Richard N. Frye’s Greater Iran is a truthful story of an American professor who spent 60 years researching Iran and the surrounding areas: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1568591772/qid=1138430187/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-4092926-4396717?s=books&v=glance&n=283155
Relatives of my Iranian wife of 37 years have died fighting for the MEK.
The Iranian Communist MEK (Rajavi Cult) terrorists publish daily large amounts of print, television, and of Internet media lies. Unfortunately, most American journalists are either too stupid or too dishonest to expose America’s communist terrorist enemies.
I am a Professor of Accounting who has graduated from the University of Michigan, Harvard Business School, and from Michigan State University. As a life-long registered Republican and as an elected member of the Los Angeles County Republican Central Committee, I have always been in the right wing of the political spectrum. Ali Safavi’s statements about left-wing attacks on the MEK are misleading. While you can find some progressive Web sites critical of the MEK, you can find communist Web sites supporting the MEK.
During the Vietnam War, I volunteered and served in the Army in Vietnam to fight the communists. If I were young enough to serve in the Army today, I would not join the Army to further the goals of corrupt Democrats and Republicans in Congress who support the communist overthrow of Iran by the Iranian Communist MEK (Rajavi Cult) terrorists.
From Lenin to Fidel Castro to Pol Pot, there have been some evil American political and business interests who have supported the communist takeovers of countries. Americans need to cancel subscriptions to any newspapers supporting or publishing lies about the Iranian Communist MEK (Rajavi Cult) terrorists. Americans need to vote out of office all Democrats and Republicans who accept campaign contributions from the Iranian Communist MEK (Rajavi Cult) terrorists’ supporters.
Professor Paul Sheldon Foote
California State University, Fullerton, pfoote@fullerton.edu
January 27, 2006