I suppose one could argue that Iranian public opinion shouldn’t affect what the U.S. government decides to do, but the MEK’s lack of support inside the country where it is supposedly the “most important” opposition group shows that the advocates for the MEK/MKO/PMOI are just repeating falsehoods they’ve been told to say…The organization engages in terrorist activity or terrorism, or retains the capability and intent to engage in terrorist activity or terrorism
Pressure to remove the MEK from the State Department’s Foreign Terrorist Organizations list is a cynical ploy by the neocons that can have only negative consequences for both the United States and Iran. It would allow an Islamic radical terrorist group to operate freely in the United States..Instead of legitimizing the MEK aka MKO/PMOI, we call on the law-enforcement agencies to investigate the illegal activities of this group, their funding and their allies. After all, they are still on the US State Department terrorist list..
The Alyona Show on RT – Russian English –Language news Channel suggests the US media focus on the “Lobbyist in Capital Hill with pockets stuffed with MEK’s money”, on July 9th. The show criticizes US officials’ hypocrisy and double-standard to sell the cause of terrorists. Comparing MEK/MKO/PMOI with Al-Qaida the show poses the question that how a terrorist designated organization can be debated in a hearing held in the US congress.
Congressional supporters of the drive to remove the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK/MKO/PMOI) from the U.S. terrorism list defended the organization’s use of violence at a hearing on Capitol Hill last week. The hearing was also remarkable in that senior leaders of the designated foreign terrorist organization were caught counseling some of the witnesses before the hearing. It is illegal to coordinate with a foreign terrorist organization to advocate on behalf of the terrorist group.
Recent Media reports unveiled Washington’s growing enthusiasm for the anti-Iran terrorist group, the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization, warning that the US intends to take the MKO off its blacklist in a bid to use the terrorist group as a proxy to launch attacks against Iranian interests.
Former U.S. officials have admitted to receiving cash to speak at pro-MEK conferences. Now, officials who may be getting paid to publicly advocate in support of MEK (Mujahedin-e Khalq) are being invited to testify before Congress.Today at 2pm, a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee is holding a hearing on the MEK in which three out of the four witnesses have appeared at conferences to advocate for the MEK to be removed from the U.S. terror list.
I have marveled at the willingness of numerous former government officials, retired military officers, and elected representatives to embrace the MEK. There’s no question that they are motivated by their loathing of the Iranian government, but their hostility to the regime had led them to endorse a group that most Iranians loathe. Michael Rubin has been sharply critical of MEK boosters here in the U.S. for some time now, and he most recently called out Michele Bachmann for her foolish support for the group…
Iranian politics are complex and can be as confusing as US foreign policy is on Iran, but of this you can be certain: the MEK and it’s “parliament in-waiting” is considered illegitimate at best by the vast majority of Iranians living inside and outside of Iran. It can’t serve the interests of the US government or normal Iranians either.But that doesn’t seem to matter to the likes of Rudy Giuliani, Tom Ridge, John Bolton and other neoconservatives, far right-wingers and their European counterparts..is it naive to hope that the mainstream media which failed so badly in the run up to the Iraq war with figures like Ahmed Chalabi will give this group better investigative coverage?
I was disappointed, therefore, to see Bachmann’s uncritical support for the Mujahideen e-Khalq Organization (MKO/MEK/PMOI), which the State Department defines as a terror group…I also welcome the debate on whether the MKO is a terrorist group or not (I believe it is), there are certain incontrovertible facts: (1) the MKO has targeted Americans in past terrorist attacks; (2) they have embraced Saddam; (3) they operate as a cult which remains hostile to freedom, liberty, and democracy; and (4), they have very little if any support among Iranians in Iran.
… 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 …