Posted on 07/27/2005 1:40:09 PM PDT by F14 Pilot
The U.S. Government is now openly supporting the Mujahideen-e-Khalq, an Iranian resistance movement designated as terrorist organization by the US State Department. On June 20th of this year, the Mujahideen-e-Khalq held a conference at the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad, which is where many foreign journalists stay and is under the full protection of the U.S. Army. I was in the area of the hotel that day, and saw at least 10 U.S. tanks heading in the direction of the hotel to provide additional security. I knew of the conference in advance, because of a report issued to all NGO's working in Iraq, which mentioned that the conference would take place. The report warned of an increased danger of attacks against the hotel, as anti- U.S. insurgents were likely to attempt to disrupt the conference [1].
The Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK) is a Marxist oriented Iranian resistance organization founded in the 1960's to topple the pro- western regime of Reza Shah. Since that time, MEK has carried out scores of attacks and assassinated a number of Iranian government officials. MEK killed several American military and civilian personnel in Iran during the 1970's, and assisted in the occupation of the US embassy in Tehran in 1979 where American civilians were held hostage. Though MEK participated in the 1979 revolution, which toppled the Shah, once the Ayatollah Khomeini consolidated power in Iran, MEK moved their headquarters to Paris and continued resistance activities against the Islamic Republic. In 1981, MEK bombed the offices of the Islamic Republic Party, killing 70 high-ranking Iranian officials. MEK established its military headquarters in Iraq in 1986, where Saddam Hussein became their main source of funding and protection. In return, the MEK fought alongside Iraqi forces during the war against Iran in the 1980's, and assisted Saddam's security forces in putting down the Kurdish and Shiite revolts after the first Gulf War in 1991. The majority of Saddam's recently discovered mass graves are filled with the Shiite and Kurdish dead from this uprising. MEK military operations against Iranian targets continued through the 1990's. The U.S. Department of State added the MEK to its official list of terrorist organizations in 1997, and shut down the organization's Washington, DC office in 2003 [2].
During the U.S. invasion of Iraq, MEK forces in Iraq surrendered to U.S. forces and turned over their military hard wear, including several thousand tanks, armored personnel carriers, anti-aircraft guns, and other vehicles. Despite denying suspected terrorists from Afghanistan and elsewhere prisoner of war status under the Geneva conventions, the US granted this status to detained members of MEK in Iraq [3].
Support for the MEK reveals one of the advantages the U.S. has acquired by occupying Iraq. The country can now be used as a staging post for carrying out attacks against regimes hostile to U.S. interests in the region, whether through proxy organizations such as MEK, or by attacking such countries directly by dispatching U.S. forces based on Iraqi soil. U.S. planners are currently somewhat constrained from using the latter option due to the difficulty they face in pacifying Iraq, so the first option, namely supporting terrorist organizations that are trying to destabilize the Iranian regime, will likely be their preferred course of action until U.S. control of Iraq is fully consolidated.
So when Paul Wolfowitz promised Iraqis in 2003 that the US would hunt down the "monsters" that assisted Saddam in digging the mass graves in 1991 [4], the Bush administration was in fact just beginning its support for some of the direct perpetrators of these crimes. Also revealing is U.S. criticism of the new Iranian president elect, due to his alleged involvement in holding U.S. embassy personnel hostage in 1979. Though the U.S. admits the MEK was involved in the same incident, White House support for this terrorist organization continues. This kind of hypocrisy reveals much about what the global "war on terror" is really about. It's not a war against terror as such, but rather a war of terror to subdue resistance to the US designs in the region.
Sources:
[1] The organization which provides these security reports does not allow them to be cited publicly, and thus I cannot indicate the name of the source. The report for June 19th, 2005 stated the following: "A large conference involving the mujahadeen kalk and sponsored by the Iraqi Government is scheduled to take place in the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad 20th June, this may lead to insurgent attempts to disrupt the conference, HOM are advised to advise their staff to avoid this area."
[2] US State Department, Patterns of Global Terrorism 2002 (pdf). See specifically Appendix B: Background Information on designated foreign terrorist organizations, pg. 115 for information on the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq
See also this description of the group from Globalsecurity.org.
[3] Why the US granted 'protected' status to Iranian terrorists, The Christian Science Monitor, 07/29/2004.
[4] New York Times, July 20th, 2003.
May be!
But like I said, it doesn't change the fact that MEK/NCRI/MKO is a terrorist group and we shouldnt work with them at all!
We are simply NOT killing them.
You're absolutely right: in 2003, we disarmed the MEK and interned their forces in their own camps. These weren't exactly "POW" camps, but neither were the MEK fighters allowed to leave. The compromise we reached with their leaders was that we would leave them alone if they stayed out of the fighting. So far, they've kept their word and we've kept ours.
Remember, just because anti-war activists say something is true, doesn't make it so. And what's this guy's beef, anyway? We neutralized a large militia without firing a shot. Would he rather we fight them in the streets of Mosul and Kirkuk?
- ThreeTracks
Pentago using them as informants.
May be we are gonna have an Iranian version of Ahmad Chalabi?!
It doesn't change the fact that if people go and look at the anti-American BS on that web-site they will take this whole article with a huge grain of salt. The people who wrote this grossly distort the truth to further their agenda.
For instance, they are pushing the true feelings of our military people...high lighting the anti-war songs written by them. In truth one of the authors of a song your source claims is anti-war was on FR and said it was entirely the opposite...they were just writting silly BS music and they aren't anti-war.
Like I said, before anyone gets too wrapped up with this story they need to take a long hard look at the source site and see how they distort facts and the truth.
The website is left-wing.
But the question remains, was there a an MEK conference in Baghdad, and did U.S. soldiers provide support?
The fact remains that you cannot believe anything that site writes.
Even Hillary sprinkles the truth in with her lies.
LoL
Why should I not believe it?
Just because they are so-called liberal/left wing?
And most people have no problem recognizing that it's all built around a lie.
LOL! There's nothing "so-called" about it. By your value and judgment Michael Moore is a legitimate documentary maker and American historian. In my world he is a lying POS that cannot be trusted to tell the truth.
And what is your point here?
It does not matter who wrote the article or what the article says about US, Iran or MKO.
FACT: US cooperating with terrorists which are condemned by all countries, groups, people... etc
AND QUESTION is WHY?
Whatever the US Government supports, I support.
Such a petty post.
It's been recommended to turn MEK loose in Iran - one claim I read was that they could put 100,000 boots on the ground. We didn't. And we really need to take this sort of story with a tub full of salt.
Only if you do believe Michael Moore is a legitimate documentary maker.
"Even Hillary sprinkles the truth in with her lies."
"And most people have no problem recognizing that it's all built around a lie."
But the point is, no matter how it's used, or what the motive is, there is some truth.
Be aware that these people killed at least ten American senior officers in Iran in 1970s and they helped seized the embassy in Tehran!
It fits his agenda to endorse this article. MEK is the only active Iranian group fighting the mullahs. Bush has repeatedly called on the "freedom loving" iranians to stand up. Until they do MEK is the only game in town.
I try to stick to my instincts!
Yep, same with Michael Moore's BS 9/11 movie.
LoL
Once again, here we go again with you!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.