Those who follow the news of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (the MKO) would hardly ever forget the group’s early reactions regarding the progress of the forces of the Islamic State extremists in Iraqi territory. They remember the MKO’s delighted comments on the victory of what they called “Iraqi revolutionary forces and tribes”!
Meanwhile, the MKO supporters in the US Congress who are also opponents to both Iraqi and Iranian regime called IS invasion to Iraqi soil as “Part of popular uprising”. However, they started taking position against ISIS after the world witnessed the group’s atrocious acts against civilians. Both the MKO and its supporters had to wear masks to distance themselves from IS terrorists.
Furthermore, the truth was revealed about the real intentions of the MKO and its advocates. Ali Gharib and Eli Clifton’s observations show how MKO’S manipulation over certain members of the congress helped the ISIS to seize parts of Iraqi territory.
According to the investigations made by Gharib and Clifton of the Intercept, Senator Robert Menedez –who is on top of the list of recipients of the MKO’s funds—played a key role to block the sale of Apache Helicopters to Iraq. The authors of the article conclude that his opposition to aid Iraqi government against the threat of ISIS was motivated by the MKO’s well-funded lobbying campaign in the Congress.
Ali and Eli’s account of the MKO’s influence over Menendez is clear in their account of a SENATE Foreign Relations Committee hearing where MKO agents in yellow rain jackets were looking in the eyes of their paid speaker. [1]
“During the hearing, the powerful then-Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey, spoke out for the Mojahedin. About an hour and a half into the proceedings, Menendez issued an explicit threat to Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman over attacks against the group’s members in Iraq’’ they write. [2]
Accusing the Iraqi and Iranian governments for the attacks against MKO camps, Menendez provided his reasoning as to why selling the weapons and helicopters to Iraq would endanger the MKO.
“The threat sounded like a hypothetical, but it wasn’t: as Menendez spoke, he was blocking a major weapons deal with Iraq — a sale that would eventually be worth more than $6 billion in Apache helicopters and associated equipment and support, marking, perhaps, the first major Capitol Hill achievement for the Mojahedin since being removed from the U.S. list of designated terrorist organizations the year before,” according to Ali and Eli. [3]
Menendez just lifted his objections of the Apaches on January 25, after ISIS succeeded to take control of large parts of Iraqi soil and committed a lot of distressing violent acts.
“Although it would be unfair to conclude that Menendez was motivated only by his sympathy for the MeK, sources quoted by Ali and Eli suggest pretty strongly that the issue played a role,” suggested Jim Lobe of the lobelog. “As Iraq’s ambassador to the United States Lukman Faily told Ali in relation to his efforts to release the hold on the Apaches, “The issue of the MEK came up in most of my meetings with the House and Senate, especially the Foreign [Relations Committee].” [4]
“According to the article, Menendez accepted more than $25,000 from donors with ties to the MEK, making him the largest recipient from 2012, when the MeK was delisted that September, to the present. That’s not much compared to the well over $300,000 Menendez received from pro-Israel groups during the 2012 election cycle, but it was more than twice what was provided to the next biggest recipients, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA).” [5]
Thus, the MKO and its Western sponsors see one common enemy, the Islamic Republic of Iran. And this determines their entire policies and approaches. It’s a pity that saving the lives of Iraqi civilians and the security of the whole region depends on the fanatical ideas of a cult-like terrorist group, the Mujahedin khalq Organization.
Mazda Parsi
Sources:
[1] Gharib, Ali & Clifton, Eli, Long March of the Yellow Jackets: How a One-Time Terrorist Group Prevailed on Capitol Hill, The Intercept, February 27, 2015
[2] ibid
[3] ibid
[4] Lobe, Jim, Sen. Menendez Top Recipient of MEK-Related Campaign Funding, Lobelog , February 26, 2015
[5] ibid