Joseph Joubert said: “Imagination is the eye of the soul”. It therefore comes as no surprise that with terrorists lending their imagination to Lord Corbett of Castle Vale, a member of the House of Lords from Gordon Brown’s ruling Labor Party, his soul is blinded. Lord Corbett would have us believe that millions of Iranians are eagerly waiting for the “freedoms offered by Iran’s parliament-in-exile, the National Council of Resistance of Iran.” Perhaps it is the inaccuracy of the number that troubles this writer. , the only terrorists in Iraq, the MEK, were given ‘special persons status’; hardly a noteworthy credential for ‘self-acclaimed parliamentarians in exile’ who wants to offer freedom, unless the sort offered by the Bush-Blair coalition – complete destruction of Iran. One must wonder what has prompted a distinguished British Lord to rise up in the defense of terrorists, and more importantly, to accept the highly visible position of chairman of the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom? To believe in a ‘good Samaritan’ state is fool-hardy. Empirical evidence supports the fact that Britain’s foreign policy has been in direct conflict with that of Iran’s national interest. Given that the MEK’s history has been fully explored and recorded by the Human Rights Watch organization and the United States State Department, one has to examine Lord Corbett’s risky undertaking in associating his distinguished title with this group. Ronal Reagan once said: “Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first”. He was remarkably astute in his observation. In 1995, it became painfully clear to Lord Nolan that 30% of all MPs were being paid for consultancies (advice and lobbying) related to their parliamentary role. At the time of this revelation, the majority of Conservative backbenchers were ‘spoken for’ by one commercial lobby or another. An influential lobby group called ‘Decision Makers’ had Dame Angela Rumbold, Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party as one of its directors. She resigned when Mohammed Al-Fayed, father of Princess Diana’s fiancé, Dodi Fayed, made allegations against senior party figures[iii]. Another ‘lobbying company’ was set up by lan Greer who began in politics working for Cabinet Minister Peter Walker. He remained a Conservative agent for thirteen years after which he has enjoyed close links with senior Conservative politicians. In 1969 he began lobbying as a business. Among Ian Greer Associates (IGA) was Prime Minister Bhutto. Could it be that the MEK is using a lobby group to influence the likes of Lord
Middle East Online, Opinion, March 4, 2008 http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/opinion/?id=24624