Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Watch out for MEK’s movements in Syria

Habilian Foundation Secretary-General warns Syrian officials against the activities of the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, a.k.a. MEK and PMOI) on the Syrian soil.

“With regard to the black record of the terrorist group and their being frequently utilized for assassinations and massacres by former Iraq’s dictator, US and Israeli intelligence agencies, it is not inevitable that the group perpetrate terrorist acts on Syrian soil,” said Mohammad Javad Hasheminejad in an interview with the YJC reporter.

“Therefore, the Syrian authorities ought to be aware of the depth of the threat,” he added.

Son of late Hasheminejad explained that US Department of State announced last year that the terrorist group trained little girls for bombing attacks on pilgrims in Karbala.

Referring to the latest events in Syria, including the killings of civilians, Mohammad Javad Hasheminejad said, “The West seeks to destabilize the Syrian government by internal conflicts, murder and bloodshed and to inter the terrorist group into the scene for these purposes.”

“MKO’s media have strongly focused on the Syria and they are acting in accordance with the armed groups in the country.”

He went on to say that the MKO ringleader’s request regarding the settlement of their members along the Jordanian borders was in line with the meddling in Syrian affairs and supporting the armed groups in the country.

He also pointed to his meeting with the Syrian ambassador to Tehran and reiterated that the authorities of the country have to follow the issue, since the presence of the terrorist group in the region follows irreversible consequences.

June 5, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

US to delist MEK/MKO? Who cares

So the Wall St Journal shook up some people with a report that the US will soon delist the MEK as a terrorist organization.

Question: so what? I mean, apart from the fact that the listing was never really enforced anyway, what with MEK members still strutting around in the halls of Congress and paying large sums of money to various officials to campaign for them, nevermind the MEK spokesmen who show up on Fox and HuffingtonPost to peddle their propaganda… apart from all that, the fact is that no one in Iran really gives a damn what the US State Department’s opinion on the matter is anyway. Iranians hate the MEK not because it is on the State Department’s terrorist list but because of the historical actions and agenda of the MEK, which isn’t going to change no matter how many times it gets added or removed from any lists.

Anyway, Laura Rozen reports that the Wall St Journal article about delisting the MEK "blindsided" the Iran experts in Washington. I think the true explanation is this: Lets not forget that the Wall St Journal is part of the far-right (just read their editorial pages) in the US that doesn’t want to see a peaceful resolution of the US-Iran standoff, and like other far-right anti-Iran organizations, it has been trying to do its part to scuttle the Iran nuclear talks.

Secretly, I suspect that the regime in Iran is quite happy to see the US remove the MEK from the terrorist list. After all, the MEK is the best opposition that the IRI could hope for. I mean, if you’re going to have activists opposing you, what better that these discredited, hated, and cultlike activists can you find?

Iranaffairs

June 2, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

MKO Planning Massive Terrorist Operation in Syria

Informed sources revealed on Monday that the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO also known as the MEK, PMOI and NCR) is preparing itself to stage a massive terrorist operation in Syria. Three more Mojahedin Khalq members flee Camp liberty today
"We hold proof and authentic documents showing an extensive and all-round presence of this terrorist organization in Syria. This terrorist grouplet is using all its possibilities to stage terrorist and sabotage operations in Syria," Seyed Mohammad Javad Hasheminejad, secretary-general of Habilian Association – a human rights group formed of the families of 17,000 Iranian terror victims -told the Syrian ambassador to Tehran on Monday.

Hasheminejad reminded that the MKO has been acting as a US mercenary ever since the fall of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hossein in 2003, and added, "The US and some western countries have been supporting all those terrorists who stage large-scale sabotage operations in Syria."

He reiterated the United States’ destructive role in recent developments in Syria, and said, "The MKO has even produced many video clips against President Bashar Assad on Syrian soil and has been distributing these clips among the people."

He reminded the MKO’s aid and assistance to Saddam Hussein in quelling the Shiite and Kurd uprisings in Iraq in the 1990s, and said in the last few years Habilian has held meetings with tens of Iraqi groups and presented them with authentic documents proving MKO’s direct role in the massacre of the Kurds and Shiites in Iraq under Saddam.

"As we presented such substantiating information and documents to the Iraqi government officials, we will present you with documents and proof about the Hypocrites (as the MKO members are called in Iran) meddling in Syria," he said.

The MKO’s main stronghold was a training center called Camp Ashraf in Iraq’s Northern Diyala province, but the post-Saddam Iraq decided to close the camp specially due to the MKO’s massacre of Iraqi Shiites during the Saddam era and its terrorist operations against Iran in the last 33 years. Iraq started expelling the group a few months ago.

The MKO is seeking to transfer its members to another country, but no world state, including the US and the European countries, accept to lodge the terrorist group.

To date, almost 1200 MKO terrorists have been transferred from Camp Ashraf to Camp Liberty which lies Northeast of the Baghdad International Airport, in three groups of 400 each, on February 18, 8, and March 20. About 2,000 members still remain in Camp Ashraf. Camp Liberty is a transient settlement facility and a last station for the MKO in Iraq.

The MKO cannot find a shelter outside Iraq because it is blacklisted by much of the international community, including the United States.

Before an overture by the EU, the MKO was on the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations subject to an EU-wide assets freeze. Yet, the MKO puppet leader, Maryam Rajavi, who has residency in France, regularly visited Brussels and despite the ban enjoyed full freedom in Europe.

The MKO is behind a slew of assassinations and bombings inside Iran, a number of EU parliamentarians said in a recent letter in which they slammed a British court decision to remove the MKO from the British terror list. The EU officials also added that the group has no public support within Iran because of their role in helping Saddam Hussein in the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988).

Many of the MKO members abandoned the terrorist organization while most of those still remaining in Camp Ashraf are said to be willing to quit but are under pressure and torture not to do so.

A May 2005 Human Rights Watch report accused the MKO of running prison camps in Iraq and committing human rights violations.

According to the Human Rights Watch report, the outlawed group puts defectors under torture and jail terms.

The group, founded in the 1960s, blended elements of Islamism and Stalinism and participated in the overthrow of the US-backed Shah of Iran in 1979. Ahead of the revolution, the MKO conducted attacks and assassinations against both Iranian and Western targets.

Leaders of the group have been fighting to shed its terrorist tag after a series of bloody anti-Western attacks in the 1970s, and nearly 30 years of violent struggle against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

In recent years, high-ranking MKO members have been lobbying governments around the world in the hope of acknowledgement as a legitimate opposition group.

The UK initiative, however, prompted the European Union to establish relations with the exiled organization now based in Paris. The European Court of First Instance threw its weight behind the MKO in December and annulled its previous decision to freeze its funds.

The group started assassination of the citizens and officials after the revolution in a bid to take control of the newly established Islamic Republic. It killed several of Iran’s new leaders in the early years after the revolution, including the then President, Mohammad Ali Rajayee, Prime Minister, Mohammad Javad Bahonar and the Judiciary Chief, Mohammad Hossein Beheshti who were killed in bomb attacks by MKO members in 1981.

The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it was protected by Saddam Hussein and where it helped the Iraqi dictator suppress Shiite and Kurd uprisings in the country.

The terrorist group joined Saddam’s army during the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988) and helped Saddam and killed thousands of Iranian civilians and soldiers during the US-backed Iraqi imposed war on Iran.

Since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the group, which now adheres to a pro-free-market philosophy, has been strongly backed by neo-conservatives in the United States, who also argue for the MKO to be taken off the US terror list.

May 29, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Nonsense date given by US for fixing Mojahedin status

The US decision on whether to remove the Mojahedin-e Khalq from the US terrorism list Nonsense date given by US for fixing Mojahedin status continues to be dragged out and will continue to be dragged for at least three more months, if not much longer.

The Wall Street Journal drew a lot of attention last week with a report that headlined that the State Department was “moving to remove” the group from the list of Foreign Terrorist organizations.

However, the explanation deep in the story did not day that at all. The article said that US officials had told the Journal Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will “make her final decision on the MeK’s status no less than 60 days after the last MeK member is relocated from Camp Ashraf” to the new site at Camp Hurriya near Baghdad.

That was a very odd formulation. Normally officials say they will make a decision no more than so many days or weeks in the future. The announcement that she will make the decision after no less than 60 days means the decision could be made in 100 days or 1,000 days or more. It means there is no deadline for a decision.

Clinton made a surprise announcement in February that she would take the Mojahedin’s willingness to cooperate in moving all their personnel from Ashraf to Hurriya into consideration when she decided whether to keep the Mojahedin on the terrorism list.

That was an odd posture since the only legal basis for keeping a group on the terrorism list is that it is terrorist. If the Mojahedin-e Khalq meets that threshold, it should be kept on the list regardless of whether it moves its people to Hurriya. And if it is not a terrorist organization, then it ought to be removed from the list even if it is fully cooperative in making the move.

Clinton said the group’s “cooperation in the successful and peaceful close of Camp Ashraf Ö will be a key factor in any decision” regarding its status as a terrorist organization. She didn’t say it would be the conclusive factor in the decision, just “a key factor.”

Combining that vague statement with the “no less than 60 days” time frame means there is really nothing there—no hint of what decision may be taken or when.

Back in July 2010, a federal appeals court ruled that the Mojahedin-e Khalq had not been treated fairly by the State Department when it was listed as a terrorist organization.

The court did not, however, order the Mojahedin-e Khalq de-listed. It simply said that the State Department had to go through the review process all over again and give the organization the full opportunity to defend itself.

The Mojahedin were first declared to be a terrorist group in 1997 and it has been re-designated as terrorist three times since then. Each time, the Mojahedin-e Khalq went to court and each time the courts said the State Department failed to recognize the group’s rights under the law. Each time the courts ordered the State Department to go through the review procedure again. And each time, at least up until now, the State Department has once again certified the Mojahedin as terrorist. It is that third review process that is now underway—and that has been underway for almost two years now.

The US Circuit Court of Appeals based in the District of Columbia declined to review the substance of the State Department listing in 2010. It simply dealt with process and ruled that the State Department “failed to accord the [Mojahedin] the due process protections outlined in our previous decisions.” It said the Mojahedin-e Khalq should remain listed as a terrorist group unless and until the State Department changed its position after reviewing the case file.

The basic issue that concerned the court was that the State Department notified the Mojahedin of its latest listing only after making its final decision. But the three judges unanimously ruled that the State Department had to notify the Mojahedin of the unclassified evidence it was using to list the group as terrorist and give the group a chance to rebut the evidence before it could publish a final ruling. “This did not happen,” the court said. “That deprived [the Mojahedin] of the of the due process protections detailed in our previous decisions.”

The Mojahedin had argued that its designation should be revoked because everything had changed in 2003 when it turned its weapons over to the US Army and all its members at Camp Ashraf in Iraq signed a document rejecting violence and terror.

The court decision carried a long footnote listing some of the damaging information the State Department said it had gathered about the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) in recent years: “The MEK trained females at Camp Ashraf in Iraq to perform suicide attacks in Karbala;” “the MEK solicits money under the false pretext of humanitarian aid to the Iranian people;” “an August 2008 US Intelligence Community Terrorist Threat Assessment clearly states that the MEK retains a limited capability to engage in terrorist activity or terrorism;” the MEK “publicly renounced violence in 2001, but limited intelligence reporting indicates that the group has not ended military operations, repudiated violence, or completely or voluntarily disarmed;” the intelligence community “assesses that although there has not been a confirmed terrorist attack by the MEK since the organization surrendered to Coalition Forces in 2003, the MEK retains a limited capability and the intent to use violence to achieve its political goals;” and “UN inspectors say that much of the information provided to the UN by the MEK about Iran’s nuclear program has a political purpose and has been wrong.”

The court said that when the State Department reports to the court on the latest review, it must say what allegations it considers credible and is relying on for its designation of the Mojahedin as terrorist.

New reports in 2009 said that the State Department’s top counter-terrorism official at the time, Dell Dailey, had wanted to drop the Mojahedin from the terrorism list but was overruled by superiors.

By Warren L. Nelson

May 29, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

The MEK are current terrorists not former terrorists

“The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend”…US to Remove MEK from Terrorist List?

If asked to name a terrorist organization most Americans could likely name Al Qaeda, Al Shabbab, and a few others. Few are probably familiar with the Mujahedin-e Khalq or Peoples Mujaheddin of Iran known by its initials MEK. Accused of killing American servicemen and contractors in the 1970s and supporting the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran before breaking with the Iranian mullahs in 1980 the MEK has been designated a terrorist group by the “The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend”…US to Remove MEK from Terrorist List? US State Department since 1995. The MEK, however do not simply attack Americans. According to The American Muslim: “The M.E.K. are terrorists. They were driven out of Iran and given a home at a place called Camp Ashraf in Iraq by Saddam Hussein, who they supported. Saddam Hussein used the M.E.K. to carry out terrorist acts in Iran.” In 2001, the MEK “renounced” terrorism. Irrespective of this renunciation, a 2004 FBI report on the MEK which was revealed in June 2011 states that the MEK The long and short is that the MEK are current terrorists not former terrorists. So why would the US consider removing the designation from the group?
Many people are likely familiar with some of the more recent activities of the MEK. The MEK is responsible for assassination of 5 Iranian nuclear scientists since 2007 and possibly destroyed a missile site. Trained, financed and supported by Isreal, the MEK has been used to disrupt the Iranian nuclear operations causing a delay of years to Iran’s objective of creating a nuclear weapon. In March 2012 Richard Engel & Robert Windrem of NBC News reported that:

“Deadly attacks on Iranian nuclear scientists are being carried out by an Iranian dissident group that is financed, trained and armed by Israel’s secret service, U.S. officials tell NBC News, confirming charges leveled by Iran’s leaders.” And then “”… Two senior U.S. officials confirmed for NBC News the MEK’s role in the assassinations, with one senior official saying, “All your inclinations are correct.” A third official would not confirm or deny the relationship, saying only, “It hasn’t been clearly confirmed yet.” All the officials denied any U.S. involvement in the assassinations.”"

It is certainly interesting that a terrorist organization that is now taking action which supports the US’ agenda may suddenly be reclassified as not being a terrorist organization. This post is not intended to question the validity of the decision simply educate and highlight the point that in world politics “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”.

By Chris Mark ,Globalriskinfo

May 21, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

J. Raimondo threatened over anti-MEK articles

The editorial director of Antiwar.com says he has been threatened from Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK, a.k.a. MKO and PMOI) supporters over his articles about the terrorist group. J. Raimondo threatened over anti-MEK articles

According to a Thursday report from Habilian Foundation website, in an article published on Antiwar.com on Wednesday, Justin Raimondo, American author and the editorial director of Antiwar.com, wrote that although MKO claims to have “renounced” terrorism, “exists in an atmosphere seething with violence, and my own experience with them has borne this out.”

“Whenever I have written about them I have invariably received emails from MEK supporters laden with explicit threats of violence,” he added.

He noted that it is to be expected from members of a “psycho cult”, adding “but in the case of the MEK it’s not like they’ve never killed any Americans before.” “Just ask the families of Paul Shaffer, Jack Turner, Louis Lee Hawkins, William Cottrell, Donald Smith, and Robert Krongard.”

May 17, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

No third country to host terrorist MKO members

A top Iranian lawmaker says the recent claims over relocating members of the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) to a third country after they were expelled from Iraq are only meant for propaganda purposes.

Head of Iran Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi noted on Tuesday that due to the terrorist nature of the MKO, no country is willing to shelter its members.

“Experience has shown that wherever the MKO goes, due to its terrorist nature, it will foster insecurity and crisis in the host country. Therefore, the plan to relocate the group in a third country is only meant for propaganda purposes,” he added.

Boroujerdi noted that none of Iran’s neighboring countries is ready to accept the terrorist group and the Republic of Azerbaijan will certainly not make such a mistake due to its neighborly relations with Iran.

On May 3, Press TV reported that Israel is seeking to relocate the MKO members to the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The report said Israeli lobbyists are pressuring Azerbaijani authorities to allow in the MKO terrorists and station them in bases and deserted air fields.

Referring to the recent escape of three MKO members from their new residence, Camp Liberty, near the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the lawmaker said the MKO is run by a dictatorial system which has put its members under the worst psychological conditions.

He added this is why the MKO members are looking for their first opportunity to flee the group.

Following the Iraqi government’s decision to expel the MKO terrorist group from its soil, the White House has been in talks with senior officials from Azerbaijan, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia in a bid to coax them into sheltering the MKO members in their countries.

The MKO fled to Iraq in 1986, where it enjoyed the support of Iraq’s executed dictator Saddam Hussein, and set up its camp, known as Ashraf, near the Iranian border.

The group is also known to have cooperated with Saddam in suppressing the 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq and carrying out the massacre of the Iraqi Kurds. The group has, as well, conducted numerous acts of violence against the Iranian civilians and government officials.

May 16, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

MKO terrorists receive funds from Saudi Arabia, Israel

A Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization defector says the terrorist group receives funding from Saudi Maryam Sanjabi,MKO defector Arabia and Israel, emphasizing MKO’s role in the suppression and massacre of Iraqis under the former Baath regime.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Ashraf News website in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Saturday, Maryam Sanjabi said there is evidence about the relations and cooperation between the MKO and the Saudi kingdom.

She added that the group has used the tactic of establishing relations with Jordanian lawmakers in order to expand their activities in Jordan with the help of Riyadh.

She also called on the remaining MKO members in camp Liberty in Iraq to think rationally and take advantage of the Iraqi government and UN decisions about their re-settlement in another country.

MKO members have now a better chance of escaping in the wake of their transfer from Camp New Iraq, formerly known as Camp Ashraf, situated about 120 kilometers (74 miles) west of the border with Iran, to the Camp Liberty, the former MKO leadership council member said.

The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it enjoyed the support of Iraq’s executed dictator Saddam Hussein, and set up its camp near the Iranian border.

The organization is known to have cooperated with Saddam in suppressing the 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq and carrying out the massacre of Iraqi Kurds. The group has also carried out numerous acts of violence against Iranian civilians and government officials.

May 14, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

The US never conducted a comprehensive search of Camp Ashraf

Research by RAND confirms that not all spots in Camp Ashraf were fully inspected

The remarks by the attorney for the U.S. Department of State, Robert Loeb, have provoked backlashes from MKO. During a May 8 hearing before the US Court of Appeal for the District of Columbia, Mr. Loeb stipulated that a decision on MKO’s status could be made within 60 days after the group’s main base, Camp Ashraf, is completely evacuated. He said that said the lack of total unfettered access to the MKO’s base inside Iraq demands more deliberation and time be given to the decision. Loeb argued questions still remain whether “hard core” elements of the group harbor weapons inside the base and thus retain the “capacity” to launch attacks.

Reported by the U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents (USCCAR), MKO-run active committees in the US, Mr. Loeb’s remarks are “absurd”: “Allegations by the State Department lawyer on lack of access to, and suspicion of existence of weapons and ammunition at Camp Ashraf, are absurd and insult the professionalism and integrity of U.S. troops who served at Camp Ashraf”.

Mr. Loeb in the court remarked that the U.S. military had “never been able to inspect it [Camp Ashraf].” He also stated that the residents of Camp Ashraf did not permit the U.S. military to inspect the camp. “The MEK did not permit it at that time, and the military was unable at the time” to inspect Camp Ashraf, and “the MEK did not permit an inspection. . . . They did not permit a sort of door-to-door inspection of looking for [caches] of weapons or to actually disarm them door-to-door.” He also claimed that the U.S. military had been unable to verify that the MEK had disarmed.

Quoting some US military commanders, MKO disputes the claims by the State Department lawyer by saying that “Having served at Ashraf during several tours of duty in Iraq, we repeatedly inspected the entire camp without any hindrance and found no sign of weapons or ammunition, nor any plans or intentions to acquire weapons or use violence. These inspections were undertaken impromptu and without prior notice. At all times and during every inspection, the leaders and residents of Ashraf cooperated fully with the U.S. commanders and forces”.

But the research already done by RAND Corporation is much more reliable to decide which party is on a right path of the facts. In a part of RAND’s A Policy Conundrum it is well confirmed that there are still spots and buildings in Camp Ashraf never fully inspected by the US forces in contrast to the group’s claims.

Lack of manpower has also meant that MNF-I has never conducted a comprehensive search of Camp Ashraf. The MeK would not allow it, and MNF-I was unwilling to divert manpower at FOB Grizzly from regular regional security missions to force a search upon the group. As a result, there are buildings at Camp Ashraf that no American has ever searched. Former JIATF staff believe that weapons, personnel files, and possibly even MeK members detained by the leadership would likely be discovered in some of these buildings. At the very least, on the basis of rumors that the MeK were storing WMD for Saddam, the Iraq Survey Group, an international team organized by the Pentagon and the CIA to hunt for Iraq’s alleged WMD stockpiles, should have secured access to every building.

May 13, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Why delisting the MKO is a threat for peace?

To illuminate the minds of those who wonder why supporting Mujahedin Khalq Organization Why delisting the MKO is a threat for peace? cause danger to the world, we should have a look at various records on the history and current practices of the group. There have been various documented reports on the MKO including reports by RAND Corporation, 2009 and HRW’s “No Exit”, 2005 but recent analysis on the group and its supporters in the West sheds light on the potential threat of harboring a terrorist designated cult.

After the last enlightening article by Seymour Hersh on the American financial and military support for the group a large number of analysts and journalists commented on the issue criticizing the US government for their double standards towards terrorists.

Members of the MKO are so notoriously famous that no country is willing to accept them. Their fate in Iraq is uncertain. Martin kobler, the head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) warns that finding a place for the group members after they leave Iraq “is the most difficult part of the story”. No country is willing to accept a number of brainwashed, isolated military trained cult-like insurgents. Josh Rogin of the cable also suggests that part of the difficulty of dealing with the MEK is that they have been cut off from the world for years and little is known about their individual histories.[1]
Having been isolated in a Camp in Iraqi deserts, under sever mind control techniques, the MKO have turned into a cult of personality that Jeremiah Goulka truly describes:

“I studied the MEK for the U.S. military and visited Camp Ashraf, the MEK facility 40 miles north of Baghdad. I also interviewed former MEK members. As Human Rights Watch also concluded, I saw that the MEK is a cult. It uses brainwashing, sleep deprivation, and forced labor to indoctrinate members. It segregates men from women, mandates celibacy, forces married members to divorce (except for its leaders), and separates families and friends who must seek permission just to converse.

MEK members must report their private sexual thoughts at group meetings and endure public shaming. In a Catch-22, those who deny having sexual thoughts are accused of hiding them and shamed, too. The cult has but one purpose: to put itself in charge in Iran.”[2]

Goulka concludes that an MEK regime in Iran will bring neither liberty nor justice.

The MKO is often described by as a “cult-like organization” with “totalitarian tendencies”. Former members of the group interviewed by various human rights bodies and journalists explain how they were victims of the totalitarian cult like organization. Owen Benett Jones in recent article on BBC “An Iranian Mystery: just who are the MEK” clarifies the two sides of positions towards the group. He himself wonders who to believe, former members who are either” embittered “or “broken”; or western supporters of the group who are either financially “motivated” or just “naïve”. However, he comes to a conclusion with his dilemma:” in over 25 years of reporting .I’ve been lied to often enough but, as successive former MEK members told what they had been through, their tears seemed real enough to me.”[3]

The MKO has also a four-decade history of violence, assassination and espionage against the Iranian people and authorities, as well as targeting American military and civilians living in Iran in the 1970’s. Tony Cartalucci also strongly criticizes Western support for the MKO as “treason and overt criminality”. He writes about the group’s terrorist acts:

"Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK), has carried out decades of brutal terrorist attacks, assassinations, and espionage against the Iranian government and its people, as well as targeting Americans including the attempted kidnapping of US Ambassador Douglas MacArthur II, the attempted assassination of USAF Brigadier General Harold Price, the successful assassination of Lieutenant Colonel Louis Lee Hawkins, the double assassinations of Colonel Paul Shaffer and Lieutenant Colonel Jack Turner, and the successful ambush and killing of American Rockwell International employees William Cottrell, Donald Smith, and Robert Krongard.

"Admissions to the deaths of the Rockwell International employees can be found within a report written by former US State Department and Department of Defense official Lincoln Bloomfield Jr. on behalf of the lobbying firm Akin Gump in an attempt to dismiss concerns over MEK’s violent past and how it connects to its current campaign of armed terror – a testament to the depths of depravity from which Washington and London lobbyists operate."[4]

But why is that the MKO can gain such a support from the West although it is literally a cult-like terrorist organization?

Actually, the MKO foists itself as a democratic freedom lover organization. Goulka writes about the MKO’s propaganda and how western figures are trapped by it:

"The MEK presents itself well and is good at running “Astroturf” campaigns. Its NCRI is a self-proclaimed “parliament in exile,” dedicated to the principles of western liberal democracy. Over the years, lots of American civilian and military officials have failed to do their homework and fallen for the MEK’s sales spiel, excited as they were to hear what they wanted to hear. (If something sounds too good to be true…)"[5]

What is the potential danger of harboring a terrorist cult?

As it is widely known by different reports, the MKO is more than a terrorist group, it is a cult of personality, around a disappeared leader, Massoud Rajavi very similar to that of Al-Qaida around Osama bin Ladan, maybe more dangerous. Giving financial and military support to members of a cult of personality with a history of numerous terrorist attacks may hardly endanger the Iranian National security because the cult of Rajavi barely has supporters inside Iran. Most Iranians view them as traitors. But, it will risk the US national security. Removing the MKO from US list of Foreign Terrorist Organization will allow the MKO to act –even more freely– in the US society. Members who are totally obedient to their leaders will not hesitate to run their cause in a western free environment –where they can accelerate the leaders ambitions for power achievement in Tehran. To gain such a goal war with Iran would be inevitable and more American soldiers would go to endless battles and more taxpayers’ dollars would d be spent for the so-called US national security – which is already threatened by the cult of Rajavi. The MKO is a key for war and insecurity not only for Iran and the region but for the US national security.

By Mazda Parsi

References:
[1]Rogin, Josh, U.N. Iraq chief:the countries of the world must take MEK ‘refugees’, The Cable, April26,2012
[2]Goulka, Jeremia, THE IRAN HAWKS FAVORITE TERROR GROUP, Salon.com, March 28, 2012
[3] Benett Jones, Owen, An Iranian mystery: just who are the MEK?, BBC, April16,2012
[4]Cartalucci, Tony, US State Department Hands Terror Cult US Base in Iraq, Infowars.com, March 9, 2012
[5]Goulka, Jeremia, INVESTIGATINS BEGIN INTO MEK SUPPORTERS, Salon.com, March28, 2012

May 3, 2012 0 comments

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