In the past few weeks, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) has been launching relentless attacks against the National Iranian American Council (NIAC). The immediate reason is the Iranian-American campaign spearheaded by NIAC to keep the MEK on the U.S.'s terrorist list. NIAC and others have launched this campaign because delisting the MEK would unleash a major force for a U.S.-Iran war, undermine the peaceful pro-democracy movement in Iran while empowering anti-democratic hardliners, and put the free voices of the Iranian-American community under threat.
The MEK's attacks are not new. The MEK and neo-conservative elements supporting them have for years been orchestrating attacks against prominent Iranian American individuals and institutions who do not subscribe to their views. The targets have included not just me and NIAC, but also individuals like Ramin Jahanbeglou, Vali Nasr, and Shirin Ebadi. Indeed, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has detailed how the MEK accuses any and all of its detractors of being agents of the Islamic Republic.
NIAC poses a threat to the MEK in many ways - because we give the Iranian-American community a voice in Washington that opposes war, opposes indiscriminate sanctions and supports human rights and indigenous democratization in Iran.
The MEK has a radically different agenda, and like some of its neoconservative counterparts, wants to silence independent voices opposing their pro-war agenda.
The MEK and these neo-conservatives sought hard to hide the true source and reasons for the attacks against prominent Iranian Americans and NIAC. The MEK knows very well how despised they are in the Iranian-American community. More often than not, their attack dogs pretend to be Monarchists or of some other denomination. Few, if any, admit their ties to the MEK. And these neo-conservatives know that the attacks will appear more credible if they have an Iranian face.
But recently, the MEK's desperation has shone through. Now, they no longer pretend to be disconnected from their campaigns against other Iranian Americans. Their attacks are posted on their own websites, and the attackers openly declare their dedication and loyalty to the MEK.
In this new desperation, they have also revealed their larger agenda. In a recent article, the MEK juxtaposed NIAC's current campaign to educate the public about the ramifications of delisting the MEK from terror list against an analysis I wrote in 2007 describing the likely consequences of the Bush administration's plan to include the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) on that same list.
The purpose of this comparison is to support the baseless claims by the MEK and its network of supporters that NIAC supports the regime in Iran.
The comparison falls flat. The designation would have had no economic impact on the IRGC, which was already exhaustively sanctioned by the United States. Instead, the designation was intended to advance a cause for war before the Bush administration's term ended. Indeed, the entire issue seemed ripped straight out of the Iraq war playbook. This is why several leading U.S. policymakers opposed the measure, including the bipartisan leadership of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (led by now Vice-President Joseph Biden and Republican Senator Richard Lugar).
Senator Joe Lieberman, one of the strongest advocates for an Iran war in the Senate, later introduced the idea in legislative form and added language that explicitly gave a green light to conducting military action against Iran. The Kyl-Lieberman amendment stated the following:
(4) to support the prudent and calibrated use of all instruments of United States national power in Iraq, including diplomatic, economic, intelligence, and military instruments, in support of the policy described in paragraph (3) with respect to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxies.
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http://english.iranianlobby.com/page1.php?id=66&bakhsh=ARTICLES
http://news.officialwire.com/main.php?action=posted_news&rid=107524
The MEK’s prime concern, as far as I have learned, is the Iranian regime, rather than NIAC. But when NIAC proudly admits “spearheading” the Anti-MEK campaign – and apparently does nothing but the Anti-MEK campaign, one really can start wondering why it fills the Iranian government’s empty place in the debate.
When it walks like a Duck, when it quacks like a Duck; you want us to believe it isn’t a Duck?
MEK's primary goal is to gain power and that is it. They actively supported the Islamic Republic before and in the revolution. It was only after they fell out of favor with Khomeini that they broke away.
Very contrary to your statements NIAC does many things. They have been active in resolving multiple entry visa issues for Iranian students; preserving the Persepolis tablets and many many other issues. If you like their web site lists all their ongoing work.
"According to the U.S. Department of State and the presentation of the PMOI by the Foreign Affairs group of the Australian Parliament, the group conducted several assassinations of U.S. military personnel and civilians working in Iran during the 1970s. After the revolution the group actively supported the U.S. embassy takeover in Tehran in 1979, and opposed the release of the diplomats in 1981 by the Iranian regime, and called for their execution instead."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People's_Mujahedin_of_Iran
Wikipedia contains citations to other resources and these can be checked for accuracy. If you have any specific claims you'd like to make, let's see them.
Another useful resource with information from the FBI included? www.mekterror.com
He has so much other tools to use as Iranian-American (Ironically he is neither Iranian nor American) to confront the Iranian regime, whose violation of human rights, support to terrorism and other regional despots are well-known, well-documented and proven. But instead he uses all of its efforts to discredit MEK, to what end still unclear.
Trita Parsi has to choose between Shame and War. He has chosen shame and will get war.
Trita Parsi suggests as an American that the US government should appease the Iranian regime while the regime manifests its wish like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUezKsBCRbk&feature=related
Their attacks against Iranian-Americans over the past couple of months was the biggest public relations mistake they made since Rajavi kissed Saddam on the cheeks three times.