One of the extraordinary developments has been the way that the shady Iranian exile group group known as MEK has managed to buy the support of many influential people in the US in its attempt to portray itself as an alternative government to the current one. Mehdi Hasan writes about the group and its US backers.
Iran hawks long ago fell head over heels for the Mojahedin-e Khalq, known as the MEK, and loudly and successfully lobbied for it to be removed from the State Department list of banned terror groups in 2012. Formed in Iran in the 1960s, the MEK, whose name translates to “Holy Warriors of the People,” was once an avowedly anti-American, semi-Marxist, semi-Islamist group, pledged to toppling the U.S.-backed Shah by force and willing to launch attacks on U.S. targets. The MEK even stands accused of helping with the seizure of hostages at the U.S. embassy in Tehran; the group condemned the hostages’ release as a “surrender” to the United States. But after the Iran’s clerical rulers turned on the group in the early 1980s, its leaders fled the country and unleashed a series of bombings across Iran.
Hasan says that the MEK has all the hallmarks of a cult, with members expected to pledge allegiance to its husband and wife leaders Massoud and Maryam Rajavi. He says that the people who have signed on to support the group include John Bolton, Prince Turki Bin Faisal, Newt Gingrich, Joe Lieberman, Rudy Giuliani, Howard Dean, former head of the CIA Porter Goss, ex-head of the FBI Louis Freeh, and former Democratic senator Robert Torricelli. What seems to be a key factor is that the MEK is able to cut fat checks to pay them off.
The MEK and its leaders are urging war against Iran.
Maryam Rajavi’s MEK is auditioning for the role of Ahmed Chalabi’s Iraqi National Congress: The group’s 3,000-odd fighters, according to former Democratic senator-turned-MEK-lawyer Robert Torricelli last Saturday, are keen to be the “point of the spear.”
That way madness lies. Have U.S. political, intelligence, and military elites learned nothing from their Mesopotamian misadventure and the disastrous contribution of Iraqi exiles such as Chalabi? Well, the brainwashed fanatics of the MEK make the INC look like the ANC.
There are always groups in any country who hope to get the US to throw its military might on their side to overthrow the current government and install them as leaders. These attempts have a long history and unfortunately also a pretty good track record of success in its initial goal but is then followed by long periods of chaos and suffering for the people of that nation.
I was a bit shocked to hear a CBC report on the MEK about a week ago. Steven Harper, our unlamented former prime minister, was giving a rousing speech to the MEK praising them for their devotion to democracy and predicting that they were the vanguard of freedom in Iran (or some similar bit of garbage).
Harper has an unerring ability to do the wrong thing in international affairs, but I actually thought that he was smart enough (paraniod enough?) to check out any group where he was going to speak. Clearly I was wrong or a large cheque confused him. Nothing like having a former head of government address your group to improve your claims to legitimacy
Looking at the UK political goon show, probably Theresa May will be available soon for speaking engagements. MEK are probably lining up an offer as I type.
From the few articles I have read, the MEK are detested and despised in Iran. US support for a murderous cult like this is likely to reinforce support for the current Iranian Gov’t even among Iranians who would like to see some liberal reforms.
US support for Cuban terrorists in the USA played into Fidel Castro’s hands immensely. Any US support for the MEK is a pure gift for the Iranian Government, particularly the religious side of it.
How quickly we’ve forgotten Ahmed Chalabi, but then that was 18 years ago.
I’m getting a strong “Bay of Pigs” vibe here…
The Grauniad also discussed the MeK a week or so ago.
I’ve seen Robert Torricelli on Stephanie Ruhle’s show -- in fact, he was on just this morning -- and he’s just awful.
“Have U.S. political, intelligence, and military elites learned nothing from their Mesopotamian misadventure and the disastrous contribution of Iraqi exiles such as Chalabi? ”
Is this a quick question?
Have U.S. political, intelligence, and military elites learned nothing from their Mesopotamian misadventure and the disastrous contribution of Iraqi exiles such as Chalabi? ”
Of course not. They are impervious to facts and recent the history of the recent past.
While we know that Trump lives in some dream world these elites have their own internally consistent universe that only very tangentially touches on the real world. And besides this time it will be different!