Page 731 – Nejat Society

Iran pushes Iraq to close MKO camp

Pressure is growing on Iran’s main opposition group to leave Iraqi territory after living under US military protection in a camp north of Baghdad since 2003. Some 3,400 militants of the Mujahideen- e Khalq (known by the acronyms MKO or MEK) face eviction by the government of Iraq, which has tired of a group that once fielded its own army under the tutelage of Saddam Hussein and remains on Washington’s list of terrorist groups. On Saturday, Iran’s supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei, encouraged Iraqi President Jalal Talabani to follow through with Baghdad’s longstanding desire to disband Camp Ashraf, which came under Iraqi control on Jan. 1. "We await the implementation of our agreement regarding the expulsion of the hypocrites," Ayatollah Khamenei told Iraq’s visiting president, referring to the MKO by the term often used by the Islamic Republic. Mr. Talabani was quoted as saying that the MKO "have committed many crimes against the Iraqis, and the Iraqi government is determined to expel them and will go forward with its decision." His words echo those of Iraq’s national security adviser, Muwafaq al-Rubaie. "The only choices open to members of this group are to return to Iran or to choose another country," Mr. Rubaie said in Tehran last January. "Over 3,000 inhabitants of Camp Ashraf have to leave Iraq, and the camp will be part of history within two months," said Rubaie, adding that more than 900 are dual nationals and that he would be holding talks with officials of 12 countries. Those options are limited for the controversial cultlike group, whose armed wing came under Pentagon control after the fall of Mr. Hussein. Despised in Iran for bomb attacks and the killing of government officials and civilians in the first years after the 1979 Islamic revolution – and later for fighting alongside Iraqi troops against Iran during the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s -the MKO was disarmed in 2003 but kept intact as a possible tool for use by the US against Tehran.

Terrorist list status

In January, the group toasted its removal from the European Union terrorist list. But it was delisted for legal reasons – using its removal from the British terrorism list in 2008 as part of its case. The decision has been appealed by France, and the group remains on the terror lists of some individual member states. The delisting, though, may enable some militants to be accepted in Europe. Many fear returning to Iran, though more than 300 "quitters" – as the MKO calls those who leave the organization – have gone home with little incident. "This is the end of the terrorist label," says Alireza Jafarzadeh, the group’s spokesman in Washington until 2003, when the MKO, with its several arms and variety of names, was closed down in the US. Removal from the EU list is a "major victory for the MEK and the resistance movement overall," he says. Mr. Jafarzadeh says the EU decision "strengthens" those at Camp Ashraf who refuse either to return to Iran or to leave the camp for Europe. "Any justification to expel them [from Iraq], which has been always coming from Tehran, is now gone," he says.

Still, Baghdad announced that it planned to close the camp last December, the same month the US reaffirmed the MKO’s "terrorist" status. Last year, the State Department’s global terrorism report noted the group had "planned and executed terrorist operations against the Iranian regime for nearly three decades;" had killed several Americans in Iran in the 1970s; and "displayed cultlike characteristics," such as vows of "eternal divorce" [to avoid competing loyalties] and weekly "ideological cleansings." For years, Tehran has offered amnesty to members who voluntarily return to Iran, facilitated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Returns have almost stopped in the past year, as Iran now wants Iraq to first screen potential returnees. "For those who wish to come back to Iran, we hope the Iranian government would give again this green light," says Peter Stocker, the head of the ICRC delegation in Tehran. Concerns in Camp Ashraf that returnees could be mistreated in Iran have not proved true in cases the ICRC has handled. "It is important to know that if anything happened to them, I don’t think it could remain hidden," says Mr. Stocker. US officials say Iran wants to prosecute 50 top MKO leaders, and has provided a list, but that perhaps only 20 are at Camp Ashraf. Returning to Iran is "absolutely not" an option, says Jafarzadeh, now an Iran commentator for Fox, contacted in Washington. "These people who are staying at Camp Ashraf are the people who are determined to oppose the Iranian regime."

Lenient treatment for returnee

Still, at least one high-ranking MKO member forced back to Iran received prison time but relatively lenient treatment. Ebrahim Khodabandeh, a British passport holder, was arrested by Syria while facilitating the exit of MKO leaders to Europe from Iraq after the fall of Baghdad in 2003. The Syrians told him he was being taken to London, but then flew him to Tehran. If he had had a cyanide pill, he says today, he would have committed suicide. "The first time I was in Evin prison, I told them: ‘My bones, my blood, my flesh is all made with the name Rajavi, so the best you can do is execute me,’" says Mr. Khodabandeh, referring to the surname of the husband and wife leaders of the MKO. "It took me two years to come to the point of realizing the MKO was a cult and I had been manipulated." He was driven around Tehran by his case officers, who wanted to show him how the capital had changed in the decades he had been away – and to show how different it was from the world described by the MKO.. Khodabandeh says Iranian intelligence understands the need to avoid the death or abuse of MKO members who return, to avoid creating martyrs. "This was very much to the benefit of the Islamic Republic," he says, now free in Tehran. "If I were executed, I would be a martyr and have my picture in the newspapers. The problem for the organization is they haven’t had a martyr for many years."

Scott Peterson Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

March 3, 2009 0 comments

The Ideology of the MEK

Ethics defined by the cult of Mojahedin

One of the prevalent issues in studies on cultic relations of MKO is to determine to what extent the group acknowledges application of ethics in its internal as well as external relations. A review of the manifesto and publications of the organization and their ontological viewpoints indicate that MKO tend to equate ethics with their political feelings and ambitions. On the other hand, for MKO ethical standards are defined as whatever they relatively accept as the right and essential to the ultimate ends. It may give us a better understanding of the correspondence between MKO ethical standards and that of Machiavellianism as well as Marxism that incorporate a belief of “ends justify means”. In Machiavellian viewpoints, the application of levers including pressure, deception, breach of promise, betrayal, fabrication and all possible means for achieving and preserving political power is legitimate. Furthermore, in contrast to some contemporary thinkers who make an attempt to interpret ethics as a relative issue by means of complicated and equivocal philosophical discussions and theories, Machiavelli and his followers are outspoken in disregarding ethical principles.

However, the ideology and methodology of Mojahedin is based on the former policy. They managed to integrate philosophy and science to find a way of expressing their Machiavellian ideas in a novel form. As Machiavelli justifies using all means for achieving and maintaining political power, Mojahedin grab at ontological issues and the ultimate goal of creation. They feel much attachment to philosophical terms like dispensing of existence and absolute truth by which they try to justify their philosophical, political, social, and historical dogmatism. Here, the main viewpoints of Mojahedin on ethics as reflected in their pamphlets and organizational principles are to be reviewed.

Mojahedin distinguish between good and evil with regard to the factor of achieving objectives. In other words, they do not believe in substantive status of ethical values rather define them based on the extent to which they succeed to make the ground for attaining objectives. According to theoretical principles and doctrine of Mojahedin “Good and evil are always determined with regard to the objective”. 1

But what is the objective meant by Mojahedin? As it was mentioned before, Mojahedin believe in absolute good and absolute evil in their worldview yet on the other hand, recognize the legitimacy of using all possible means for achieving that absolute truth. In addition, they maintain the universality of material world and consider evolution as a general law governing all phenomena including man and the society. Consequently, all activities aiming at achieving absolute truth are considered an ethical issue and in contrast, all activities hindering the attainment of that absolute truth are regarded unethical. They define absolute truth and ethical values as follows:

The process that moves the society toward retaining the most dominant humanistic features, (unlimited to a certain time and place), is known as the absolute truth. Absolute good is those actions done for the achievement of absolute truth in any circumstance. 2

Therefore, according to Mojahedin, absolute truth and its opposite are two sides of a coin and there is no third option:

Non-truth is all actions done against truth as a barrier in its way unlimited to a certain time and place. 3

Also, absolute evil has been defined in the theoretical sources of Mojahedin as:

Absolute evil are all actions correspondent to non-truth unlimited to any certain form, time and place. 4

From this viewpoint, ethical standards have no value in themselves and it is only social and political conditions that determine their values. Consequently, in such a context individuals follow their own demands which may make them recoil from doing what is right and thus, they are frequently deviated from what is ethical. As a result, the concept of truth is metamorphosized into a relative issue, too, and is defined according to predetermined objectives as posed by Mojahedin. According to Mojahedin:

Based on circumstances, truth takes various forms. In other words, it is likely that a procedure in a certain time and place is considered as truth because of its furthering us in achieving our objective, yet in other circumstances it is considered false since it fails to help us and rather hinders the achievement of our objectives. 5

Undoubtedly, the terms “good” and “evil” have their roots in all acts that are accordingly evaluated and defined. It has to be pointed out that the terms objective, evolution, and truth are used as equivalence and complementary whenever needed. Mojahedin have elaborated on the integration of these concepts and their function, stating:

Truth is a practice moving parallel to evolution and all actions carried out in this regard are good. Non-truth is a practice done in opposite direction that is in the direction of decadency hence all actions done in the way of untruth are considered evil. 6

Coming to political power is the first step of achieving the stated objective, evolution, and truth. From this viewpoint, all actions are evaluated based on the extent to which they lead to getting the objective, evolution or truth:

All actions needed for achieving the final objective are evidently essential and necessary. 7

In a nutshell, positive ethical concepts like honesty, sincerity, … in contrast to negative ones like crime, absolutism, dishonesty, and betrayal cannot be evaluated and defined separate from conditions and their relation to the intended objectives rather they are defined according to external issues.

References:

1. Evolution, Second book of ideology. Theoretical sources of MKO, Mojahed publication, Tehran, 1979, p.97.

2. ibid, p.93

3. ibid.

4. ibid

5. ibid

6. ibid

7. ibid, p.96.

March 2, 2009 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Should the MEK Stay or Should it Go?

This is what Maryam Rajavi – head of the People’s Mujaheddin of Iran (PMOI, or MEK, or MKO) stated in Brussels on January 27, 2009 while standing in front of her many supporters, right after the decision of the ECJ (European Court of Justice) to put her movement off the list of terrorist groups:

"My fellow compatriots, Friends of the Resistance,

The MEK is still on the list of terrorist groups of the United States, because its fundamental values are anti-western and violent The obstacle of the terrorist allegation has crumbled. The spell has at last been broken. With perseverance and determination, you courageously rose above the flames of injustice and rendered law and justice victorious…This marks a decisive turning point on the course of democratic change in Iran."

Although, the US State Department’s report on terrorist organizations states the following:

"The MEK advocates the violent overthrow of the Iranian regime and was responsible for the assassination of several U.S. military personnel and civilians in the 1970’s. MEK leadership and members across the world maintain the capacity and will to commit terrorist acts in Europe, the Middle East, the United States, Canada, and beyond.

The MEK emerged in the 1960s as one of the more violent political movements opposed to the Pahlavi dynasty and its close relationship with the United States. MEK ideology has gone through several iterations and blends elements of Marxism, Islam, and feminism".

Funny, cause if you head your browser toward the official website of Maryam Rajavi, each time you’ll read a sentence like this one: "Our aim is not to attain power at all costs. Our aim is to guarantee freedom and democracy at all costs, even at the cost of sacrificing our own existence." It all sounds much more like a Ghandi’s statement that the one of a terrorist inspired by Marxism, Islamism and Feminism.

Who’s right?

The MEK is still on the list of terrorist groups of the United States, because its fundamental values are anti-western and violent. The group took part in the 1979 revolution against Reza Palahvi’s the pro-western government, helping the present Iranian government to take power in Iran. Although, once the main target has been hit (French revolution anyone?), the winning coalition starts an internal power struggle, with which the real leader will be chosen. This is what happened to MEK, at odds with Islamic Republic. The leadership of the PMOI attempted to overthrow the newly formed IRP (Islamic Republic of Iran) but failed. Ayatollah Khomeini, in response, started a crackdown on the MEK militia and the group was forced to move to France.

In "The Persian Puzzle", Kenneth Pollack describes these events as following:

"…the MEK had made itself a primary target of the IRP. It decided that the best defense was a good offensive and tried to decapitate the IRP leadership in the hope of either toppling the regime or forcing a compromise. On June 28, 1981, a massive explosion inside the IRP headquarters succeeded in killing much of the party’s top leadership. …

…Two days later, a bomb narrowly missed killing Hojjat-ol Islam ‘Ali Khamene’i as he delivered the Friday sermon in Tehran. Sensing that this was their last chance to survive (let alone take power), the Feda’iyan-e Khalq, the Communists, and other leftist groups also joined in the bloody campaign. Thereafter, the MEK and its leftist allies launched a sustained terror campaign that assassinated roughly two hundred government officials by the end of August. Then, on August 30, the MEK pulled off another dramatic coup, smuggling a bomb into the prime minister’s offices and killing President Raja’i (who had succeeded Bani Sadr in blatantly rigged elections), Prime Minister Mohammad Javad Bahonar (who had in turn taken Raja’i’s old office), and three other senior officials. 23 Naturally, the regime reacted with concomitant ferocity. …"

Are we talking about holy water or the devil itself? The Council on Foreign Relations has a detailed description of the MEK:

"…Experts say that MEK has increasingly come to resemble a cult that is devoted to Massoud Rajavi’s secular interpretation of the Koran and is prone to sudden, dramatic ideological shifts."

The MEK, in fact, also has a political arm, called The National Council of Resistance of Iran headed by Maryam Rajavi’s husband, Massoud. No one really knows where Massoud Rajavi is living now, but an interview to a former MEK member appeared (briefly) online on February 2, 2009. If you google for the words "mek" + cult the interview will come out.

Only, if you click on it, you’ll be redirected to some other piece of news not related to the subject. The only thing you can read is the title of the article – Ex-member says MEK, ‘is like a cult’ – and a few other words.

Of course, the fact that the EU removed the MEK from the list of terrorist organizations sparked the reaction of Tehran’s government: "The European Union must realize that a political approach to terrorism, which threatens the lives and security of people around the world, is totally unacceptable for the global public opinion." Iran’s permanent envoy to the United Nations, Mohammad Khazaei, wrote to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

"The EU’s politically motivated decision will not change the terrorist nature of the group. It will not ‘turn the page’ of history on the cult’s terrorist activities and massacre of innocent civilians, nor will it cleanse the terrorist group of its criminal past," he added.

It sounds like a power struggle between the EU and the IRP (of course there’s also a war going on between Teheran and the MEK itself). And it seems as if the MEK is being used as a leverage tool here. But this is just a superficial analysis. The truth is far from being exposed, and this could easily be a question of money. Several well informed sources claimed that the MEK leadership has been paying some major politicians and judges to get the sentence they wanted: their group out of that European black list as soon as possible. Of course this is just an assumption and there is no legal evidence to support the thesis of corruption.

On the contrary, it seems unlikely that the European Union could be so easily corrupted, even though they say that the MEK has a lot of money to spend. The fact that Saddam handed over the money he got from the "Oil for food" program to the PMOI, for example, is common knowledge.

Anyhow, the People Mujaheddin of Iran (this is the extended version of the name) may not be considered a terrorist group in the EU but it is still considered a terrorist organization in the US, should it stay there? According to Paulo Casaca, no: "I think this issue has several angles – he told us – all of them quite important. First: it raises the question of the rules, principles, methods and proceedings of terrorist lists. This is a very important question that I addressed in conferences and books; Second: it shows that only after four strong sentences the Council decided to act ‘better late than never’, but the lack of respect of the Court by the Council is scaring for all of those who believe in a "State of Law"; Third: the EU, as the US, are fully engaged in an appeasement policy that did not and will not work, .."

Casaca is a member of the European Parliament for Portugal’s Socialist Party and a supporter of the MEK. A very well informed journalist (anti-MEK), who has researched and written on the matter, told us that she cannot confirm allegations of corruption that have been made in the media. In her opinion, though, the real problem now is the MKO’s Ashraf camp in Iraq. The camp must be closed in two-three months from now.

"The Iraqi government has every right to send these people [the MKO members that are in the camp Ashraf] out, now the question is, where are they going? It will be easier to return to their country in Europe, now that the ECJ ruled them out from the list of the terrorist groups. They are more or less 2.000 brainwashed people, it will be a humanitarian crisis!"

The Iraqi National Security advisor, Muwafaq al-Rubaie, told the press that "the only choices open to members of this group are to return to Iran or to choose another country… Some of the MKO members have expressed interest to return to Iran and we are making the arrangements for this….We are acting under international humanitarian regulations and international laws. These people will themselves choose where they want to go."

So, someone thinks that the MEK (or MKO or PMOI) is a blood-thirsty terrorist cult that only wants to put its paws on Iran, whatever it takes. Someone else thinks that this group is the only democratic and legal alternative to the radical anti-western and corrupted Islamic Republic of Iran. It is very hard to give an answer here, but there are some good questions at least: what will the Obama administration do about the Ashraf camp and the MEK? Will the US State Department remove the group from the black list? Is the MEK going to play a role in the future of Iran?

hudsonny.org By Andrea Loquenzi – Italian Journalist and Research Fellow, The Magna Charta Foundation

March 2, 2009 0 comments

Iran

EU should revise approach to MKO

Prosecutor-General: EU should revise approach to MKO

Prosecutor-General Qorban-Ali Dorri Najafabadi on Saturday advised the European Union to revise its decision to remove MKO from its list of terrorist groups.

Those who have de-proscribed MKO are accountable to the international community as well as the Iranian nation, he said.

It should be clarified whether the EU has ignored the crimes of the group in the past or they have viewed the case through political considerations, he pointed out.

The so-called advocates of human rights have closed their eyes on assassination of thousands of innocent people by the group and therefore they should be accountable to their families of victims and millions of Iranian citizens, Dorri Najafabadi said.

The group spared no efforts to assassinate many Iranian civilians through bombing, violence and looting, he said.

The group also targeted a number of high ranking Iranian officials and politicians to attain their sinister goals, said the prosecutor-general.

Those who have not committed any crime can be pardoned by Islam, he said.

The prosecutor-general called on the EU to revise its illogical approach which runs counter to international norms and avoid bothering the Iranian nation and instead help the Islamic Republic of Iran bring the culprits to justice.

March 2, 2009 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

MKO: Past, Present, Future

Iran Today Program on MKO

Press TV’s programme Iran Today talking about the MKO, past, present and future

This TV documentary reviews on the terrorist MKO’s past atrocious history, its collaboration with the Iraqi ousted dictator and its present situation in Camp Ashraf in Iraq. Following the Iraqi government’s decision to close Camp Ashraf the group is facing an unclear future.

Press TV, Iran Today, February 10, 2009

Download MKO: Past, Present, Future

March 1, 2009 0 comments

France

Mr.Kouchner; P.M.O.I is a terrorist cult

We are the former members of PMOI( people’s MOJUAHEDIN organization of IRAN) , whom recently could manage to leave Iraq and safely reached to Bernard Kouchner:"this movement[PMOI/MKO], mainly based in Iraq, poses a number of problems." European countries. We had lots of obstacles and hurdles on our path to the free world such as possibility of being arrested and extradited to IRAN and dreadful dangers which exist in IRAQ daily because of sectarian conflicts, but successfully solved all the problems and after putting behind all those hurdles , fortunately we could reach to EUROPE safe and sound.

Now , we are in PARIS and we want to have a normal life in free and democratic countries such as FRANCE, and also we would like to notify all the human rights’ organizations as well as the governments and politicians about the dangers of this inhumane cult(RAJAVI’S CULT) and its representatives and operatives who are propagandizing and plotting in the favor of their terrorist cult and its destructive cultic ideology, in EUROPEAN countries as well as in USA by their agents ,right now. They have concealed themselves behind democracy and freedom to hide their dreadful past to prevent others knowing of the terrible crimes that they have done during these years.

This inhumane cult, which has assassinated American colonels and generals during the SHAH’S time(THE KING ) and had a very robust and powerful cooperation with the late dictator of Iraq(SADDAM HOSSEIN) in suppressing and repressing IRAQI people specially the KORDS, during the national uprising against SADDAM HOSSEIN and his government as well as oppressing its own members and dissidents inside the cult which many of them were vanished or killed by the operatives of this cult during past twenty years. We were all suppressed and oppressed every now and then by the operatives and commanders of this cult in different cultic gatherings and sessions such as CURRENT OPERATION(AMALIYATE JARI ),DIG ,DIGCHEH,GHOSLE HAFTAGHI, and etc. These gatherings and sessions were all suppressive tools to demoralize and punish the dissidents and members.

We are ready to testify against the crimes that PMOI have done . We are all victims of this cult whom have been tortured physically and psychologically by the cultic criminals in this notorious cult. PMOI is a terrorist organization and should face the consequences of killing innocent people of IRAQ as well as mistreatment , misbehavior , torture and killing of the dissidents who were against RAJAVI’s cultic terrorist ideology inside the cult. We are witnesses of killing and murdering of many members inside the cult such as killing of MR.GHORBANALI TORABI and MR. FARHAD TAHMASEBI in 1994 and many others under sever torture As well as committing suicide of MR. AHMAD REZAPOUR as a result of too much physical and psychological torture in this cult.

We are ready to reveal the crimes which have been perpetrated and carried out by PMOI operatives and its leaders MASSOUD and MARYAM RAJAVI. We are ready to reveal the killing of many dissidents such as MR.SAEED KIYANI ,who was drowned by the operatives and torturers of this inhumane cult just because he wanted to separate and secede from this cult to go to his normal life, and many others. We are ready to testify about committing suicide of desperate people in PMOI who were under sever physical and psychological torture by operatives of this cult. We know them by names and we are ready to testify in any court of law.

We have lots of information which substantiate and prove that this organization is a criminal and terrorist cult and the operatives and the leaders of this cult should be put on trial in the court of law. We, the victims of this cult, are ready to participate in the court of law to testify about the crimes which have been implemented and carried out by this cult.

We urge all the humanitarian organizations, UNITED NATIONS, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, ICRC, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, and the government of FRANCE to help us to put those criminals on trial. They are very dangerous and their cultic ideology is suppressive and destructive.

We want to inform and notify all the governments and countries specially EUROPEAN and NORDIC countries to be aware of the presence of the RAJAVI’s cult agents and operatives on their land because, these agents and operatives are taking advantage of these countries’ democracy and freedom to propagandize their terrorist cultic ideology in there. Actually the operatives and the agents of this cult are recruiting IRANIANS who are living in free and democratic countries, by deceiving and inciting them to go to IRAQ or work for them in European and Nordic countries to propagandize the cultic ideology of this terrorist and suppressive cult (RAJAVI’s cult) in these countries under direct control and supervision of MARYAM RAJAVI one of the leaders of this cult, in their main headquarter in PARIS.

We want to see the justice to be done for the inhumane crimes which have been implemented by the RAJAVI’s cultic criminals, against people of IRAQ and the dissidents and members of this cult whom we are part of those dissidents. For that reason we are ready to participate in any court of law to testify about our terrible observations of crimes which were perpetrated by the operatives and leaders of this cult. We have lost everything in our life as a result of being kept forcibly in this cult. we are the real victims ,both PMOI and ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN destroyed and ruined every valuable things we could have them in our life today. we are deserved to see the justice to be implemented . BEST REGARDS

TRANSCRIPTS

1. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

2. UNHCR

3. ICRC

Iran Payvand,

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Also Read:

For French diplomacy: PMOI remains a terrorist group

Bernard Kouchner, French Foreign Minister, replied on December 10 at the French Senate in a matter of a senator and has declared that”France is indeed in favor of retaining the Mujahedin (PMOI/MKO) on the European list of terrorist organizations. He added that”this movement, mainly based in Iraq, poses a number of problems.”French diplomacy, as a large part of European diplomacy, seems not to be deceived by the charming champagne of PMOI / NCRI (the two covering names of terrorist Mujahedin Khalq Organization).

All this falls very badly for the terrorist Mujahedin organization, including the latest members of its military organization, will soon be expelled from Iraq where Saddam Hussein had hosted them as performers of its dirty crimes.

Geostratos – 12 January 2009

March 1, 2009 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

Why is Rajavi holding onto Camp Ashraf?

In the last six years, mountains quaked yet Camp Ashraf stood stable. This is the chorus of mottos, messages, guidelines, victories, and hopes fabricated by Rajavi to foster hope in MKO members held captive in Camp Ashraf. The rationale behind considerable emphasis given to keeping Camp Ashraf, and its strategic advantage for Rajavi are evident and have to constitute one of the major issues to be elaborated on. It has been pointed out repeatedly that Camp Ashraf is the ideological bastion of Mojahedin and Iraqi soil is its strategic lever and instrument. Rajavi is well aware that its destabilization may result in the disintegration of the organization in ideological, political, and military aspects.

Rajavi’s problems have their roots in his tying Mojahedin destiny to the existence of Camp Ashraf; however, it was so at a time when Saddam was the dictator leader of Iraq and as Rajavi repeatedly asserted in his meetings with Saddam and Iraqi officials, he was out-and-out hopeful to Saddam and their ideological and even family ties and relations. Upon entering Iraq, Rajavi called his settlement there a historical event paving the way for immediate overthrow of the Iranian government. Now, after 20 years he still insists on his never-achieved promise and idea that Iraqi soil is the sole solution for furthering his so-called liberating war. The fall of Saddam was considered a turning point in his strategy enforcing him to run off to another region to evade the encountered cul-de-sac. His running away might result in the annihilation of his organization hence he attracted the attention of the world to a secondary issue, i.e. that of the necessity of keeping the integrity of Camp Ashraf for humanistic causes.

How long the process of Rajavi’s resorting to various subterfuges may last and what are his final objectives is unclear since Rajavi is always hew to the strategy of grabbing at the opportunity and now is after misusing the historical conflict of Iran-US to achieve his totalitarian and egocentric objectives. He assumes that the US-Iran conflict may lead to military conflicts that pave the way for Rajavi’s compensating his failure in forming a so-called liberation army in the reign of Saddam. Two years age, Rajavi put the termination of Bush’s taking office as the deadline of the fulfillment of the promise of overthrow and asked Ashraf residents to wait until then when they could decide on their destiny freely. Now, Obama’s anti-war policies has made Rajavi keep silent on his unfulfilled promise holding grab to the claim that even mountains quaked but Ashraf stood stable. In other words, he considers keeping Ashraf as his biggest political and strategic achievement in recent years. He considers the time being as a starting point in the history of MKO.

He still follows his past policies yet refrains to determine a deadline for his false promises. He seeks the sole solution to MKO challenges in two main factors. First, he attempts to keep Camp Ashraf as the ideological stronghold of Mojahedin and the sole factor securing the political and military integrity of Mojahedin in international scene. Second, he aims to use Camp Ashraf and its residents as a pretext to avoid taking a final decision concerning the destiny of the members kept there. It seems that he is waiting for troubled waters in the region to fish as he wishes.

The emphasis of Rajavi on keeping Camp Ashraf running implies that he equals its relocation to the disintegration of Mojahedin entity that also means his own degradation as the leader, another loser added to many other political losers. The sympathy of the world for an opposition that considered itself as the sole alternative for the Iranian government is but a complete defeat for Rajavi. It is likely that Rajavi’s undergoing relocation to another country works as a psychological and mental shock for Ashraf residents to overcome their deep frustration and disappointment but the fact is that the sole achievement of Ashraf for Rajavi is its overhanging role in postponing his answering to all his failures.

February 28, 2009 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq 's Function

The use of politics for MKO

In the politics arena, the politic men come to the scene either to achieve power or to serve people. Naturally, if the politic men work for the profit of their own pockets or their own ambitions, their reputation will be damaged soon because the people will no more tolerate the abuse of their support or funding. The true use of politics is in fact to bring freedom to people.

Unfortunately, for MKO leaders the only definition for politics is the power over their victims including their cult members and Western politicians. Given the use of politics is only to achieve power; the means to reach such a goal is justified to be anything. The means could include resorting to deception and lie to deceive western powerful governments, so dependence has no place in such a policy, an organization like MKO, without any internal support in Iran, has only one way to not only gain power but also to survive. The deception policy has been a very useful trick to win western support for MKO.

But the west, especially the US government has had various groups on its payroll at one time. Now, they are funding MKO, a decade ago, they funded and trained Bin Laden to fight Russians and even further back, they worked with Ho Chi Minh to bring change in China. As it has been the fate of any group depended on US administration, the role of MKO for the US will also be expired finally, as well as what happened to AlQaida.

All the above-mentioned groups, as well as MKO, used politics to gain control over people to practice their extremist revolutionary ideas and eventually as soon as they lost their western support, they lost their existence. The history has always witnessed various examples of extremist movements’ attempts to gain the support of superpowers for their ambitions and their collapse after missing the external support.

As a matter of fact, if any movement regards the politics as a means to serve people and to bring about freedom and democracy for people, they will definitely win public support and any movement which enjoys the support of the masses is never concerned about its survival.

Mazda Parsi

February 28, 2009 0 comments

The cult of Rajavi

PMOI’s Intimidating leadership

Cult leadership is feared. To disagree with leadership is the same as disagreeing with God. The cult leaders will claim to have direct authority from God to control almost all aspects of your life. If the cult is not a religious group then questioning the leaders or program will still be seen as a sign of rebellion and stupidity.

As Ann Singleton (former member of MEK) writes in her book “ Saddam’s Private Army” ,Masud Rajavi “ implied in his speeches that if such a leader has done his job well enough, then he starts a relationship with Imam Zaman ( the last and still awaited Imam in Shiite Islam) and therefore has direct contact with God.”

A brochure on MKO in Geostratos website explains that in 1990 Masud Rajavi declared himself ”as a person who receives his power directly from God” so the members were told to surrender their free will to the God’s representative and in case of disobedience they are called guilty or stupid. By this claim Masud Rajavi immunize himself against any criticism or opposition because the members feel guilty to oppose the order of God and also they are intimidated by their high officials in the peer pressure meetings where their character is assassinated.

Guilt, Character Assassination and Breaking Sessions. Guilt will be used to control you. Maybe the reason you’re not making money is because you’re not "with the programme". Maybe the reason you’re not able to convert new recruits is because "your heart is prideful and full of sin". It could never be that the programme isn’t working, or those new recruits have valid reasons for not joining. It’s always your fault, you are always wrong, and so you must try harder! You will also be made to feel very guilty for disobeying any of the cult’s written or unwritten rules.

Character Assassination is used to help create the guilt in you. Character Assassination is a type of false reasoning used by people and groups who have no real arguments. The technical name for Character Assassination is "The Ad hominem Fallacy". This is how it works. Imagine if you will a conversation between two men, Ford and Arthur…

"One plus one equals three", says Ford.

"No I don’t think so. You see when I have one thing, and I have another thing, then I have two things not three", replies Arthur.

"I see your point, but what you must realize is that one plus one when calculated in relation to this complex number domain, which I just invented, and then squared by the sum of the ninth tangent in the sequence of the Fibonacci series results in three!", stated Ford triumphantly.

Ok, Ford is wrong, but that is not the point. The point is that Ford tried to answer Arthur’s reasoning with more reasoning of his own. This is the healthy way people and groups debate subjects. Now lets see what would have happened if Ford had used Character Assassination…

"Arthur I have been a mathematician longer than you. How dare you disagree with me! You are obviously a very smug and prideful person. I think you are disagreeing with me because you are jealous of me, and to be honest with you Arthur your rebellion has really hurt me and a lot of other people too", stated Ford his face intimidating close to Arthur’s.

You see Ford didn’t answer Arthur’s argument, instead he attacked his character. If you are not aware of how Character Assassination works then it is a powerful way to exert control over you.

CHARACTER ASSASSINATION IS A SIGN OF A CULT

Breaking sessions are when one, two or more cult members and leaders attack the character of another person, sometimes for hours on end. Some cults will not stop these sessions until their victim is crying uncontrollably.

CULT MEMEBRS ARE USUALLY VERY FEARFUL OF DISOBEYING OR DISAGREEING IN ANYWAY WITH THEIR LEADERSHIP.HEALTHY ORGANIZATIONS HOWEVER ARE NOT THREATENED BY OPENLY DEBATING ISSUES.

Batoul Soltani is one of the eye-witnesses of character assassination sessions of the Rajavi’s cult who has been the victim of such sessions too. In her memoirs, she describes such meetings in detailed:

“ … while the member is confessing his sins (facts) in the meeting, the others in the group are insulting him with an abusive language using terms like lumpish, idiot …just because he has thought of his ex-fiancé.”

Therefore, after the deceptive methods were used to recruit the members the fearful and intimating atmosphere made by the God-like leader will keep the members in the cult.

Mazda Parsi

Reference: HowCultsWork

Imposing maximum pressure for laboring, to leave no time for thinking

Memoirs of Ms. Batoul Soltani- Part 8

To follow the previous issue, I’d say that the organizational control includes a group working (peer pressure) which is very important .That is they see it so Imposing maximum pressure for laboring, to leave no time for thinking bad to work individually. They never let you work on your own. When you want to do gardening or even watch something, you should do it together with a colleague.

The two individuals who work together are divided into one major and one minor, because the two members working together shouldn’t have the same ranking. That is done with the intention of preventing friendly relationships. According to the MKO leaders any emotional and friendly relations is basically forbidden. The only relationship allowed is the organizational supervising relations.

I would like to note another organizational control system called the "order" (cult jargon). They interpret the friendly relations as being very disgusting. So they label any person talking to another one as someone who holds an "order”. The term "order" is considered as a branch of the Iranian revolutionary guard (meaning the enemy) by MKO. Thus they control each two persons working together so seriously that they would never make a friendly relationship. If they know that two members have emotional relations, they will never let them work together again. The two members in a group should only have organizational relations (one major and one minor).

Another trick that is used to heighten the organizational control over members – and since the fall of Saddam has turned into a rule in MKO – is that the family visits should also be taken place in the presence of a third person. In other words a companion should escort you in your visit with your family, allegedly to help you be more comfortable! Generally the organization doesn’t like the families to come to Camp Ashraf. They do not welcome the families. They try their best to prevent members from contacting their families and if the families call the camp, they won’t let the members know about it. For example when my brother had come to Italy and contacted the offices of MKO and had tried to visit me, they didn’t let me know; or they gave my father’s letter to me so late. When they were assured that my brother had left Italy, they gave his letter to me. The organization works very cautiously to stop the members thinking about normal life like getting married or having children. So it is very difficult or even impossible to contact the families to gain money or financial support; but even this sort of contact should be made under the control of a third person. There is a rule for members who work with the internet for marketing, searching or free down loads. They have no right to sit alone in a room or at a desk with a computer which is connected to the internet. There must be a second person who is not busy supervising your clicks and the websites you search in. There is a rule for the arrangement of the computer rooms; the monitors shouldn’t face the walls so that the controller of the room can always see the screens. Such a high control is applied because MKO doesn’t want the members to have any access to the outside world except to what the organization wants.

I’d like to talk about another case of organizational control:

In the early days after the Revolution, when the organization was in the so called political phase and marriage was not totally forbidden, the man or woman who wanted to get married had to do it in the manner of the organization, so marriage was an organizational prearranged issue with no normal emotional base.

Another example is the process of sending the children out of Iraq. There arises a question: why did the MKO do so?

First they wanted to totally cut the mother-child relationship and secondly the MKO took the children to various corners of Europe and America as hostages.

That is how they exactly treated me. As soon as I left the group, they looked for my daughter and brought her to Iraq to visit her father in Ashraf and it is something strange that they never brought her to Iraq during the very long time I was living there. They took my daughter from Sweden to Holland to talk to my son and convince him not to reply my communications. Therefore the organization applies too much efforts to restrict the former members as well as to control the current members.

Any official must arrange the schedules of the personnel under his or her responsibility with maximum working hours. Masud Rajavi had even said: ”I assigned your sisters as leadership council members to make the guys of the organization work so hard that they become very thin.”

Or he said: "Blade, axe and pistol should always be over the members’ head”, they should be under the maximum working pressure in order not to find any time to think.

Translated by Nejat Society

February 23, 2009 0 comments

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