Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Under the radar: Admin allied with Saddamists
There is a story brewing out there which has entirely been drowned out by the Justice Department brou ha ha and sundry other domestic affairs. Yesterday I saw a story on the prosecutors in Iraq who are going to bring charges against the anti Iranian group Mujahideen Khalq. The post I wrote yesterday focused on Fox News employ of a registered foreign agent for the National Council of Resistance of Iran. The NCRI was a front for the Mujahideen Khalq (MEK), which, as noted above, are being tied by Iraqi prosecutors to Saddam Husseins repression following the 1991 Gulf War.
The problem for the Bush administration if MEK is charged with crimes against humanity for helping Saddam is that MEK is a prime source of information on Iranian affairs for the administration. Not that the administration would consider the source of this intelligence and take it with a grain of salt... Past history serves to prove that bad information from biased sources are no problem if that intelligence fits the adminsitrations purposes. Heck, take MEK intelligence with a grain of salt? Try a freaking block of salt!
MEK is designated a terrorist organization by the State Department, has been affiliated with Saddam Hussein since the early 80's, conducts violent attacks against Iran, engages in cult like rituals with it's membership, is Marxist (fitting nicely with the Baath party of Iraq) and generally considered a bunch of weirdo kooks. Yet they have a cadre of conservative support from the likes of Tom Tancredo. Tancredo, far from distancing himself from this radical group thinks the U.S. ought to fund and support them. This support is based upon one fact, and one fact alone. MEK is fighting the Iranian regime.
Evidently it doesn't matter to Tancredo and his type that MEK are thuggish, Marxist, cultish, and now prosecutors in Iraq say, genocidal radicals. I can not WAIT for the fire works we are sure to witness when some intrepid reporter asks Tancredo if he regrets supporting groups now found to be in league with Saddam Husseins repressive regime? All of that is forgiven just as long as MEK fights Teheran, from the perspective of the Tancredo crowd. It is positively sickening.
Heres another interesting exercise in digging out the truth. Google Ghorbanifar mek. We already have learned who MEK is, but who is this Ghorbanifar character? Just the middle man between the Reagan Administration and Iran in all the activity that led to the Iran Contra scandal. He met administration officials in Paris in 2002 regarding Iran, apparently with several members of MEK. If you dig far enough you can connect all kinds of characters with MEK. Michael Ledeen introduced Oliver North to Ghorbanifar. It simply goes on and on. I would love to see Seymour Hersh write up a 2000 word article tying the neocons to MEK, and thus to the repression of Saddam Hussein.
Finally we need to make sure that the intelligence we rely upon in determining policy in Iran is corroborated by sources other than a terrorist organization who did Saddams dirty work. I'm certain the neocons are more than happy to take what MEK gives them and package it as proof of Iranian wrong doing. But history, and now justice for those repressed by Saddam dictate that we consider the source and judge accordingly.
[Update: Read this excellent article detailing the involvement of adminstration officials in turning MEK in Iraq into our special forces ops in Iran. Then deputy secretary of defense Paul Wolfowitz has his fingerprints all over that decision.]
The problem for the Bush administration if MEK is charged with crimes against humanity for helping Saddam is that MEK is a prime source of information on Iranian affairs for the administration. Not that the administration would consider the source of this intelligence and take it with a grain of salt... Past history serves to prove that bad information from biased sources are no problem if that intelligence fits the adminsitrations purposes. Heck, take MEK intelligence with a grain of salt? Try a freaking block of salt!
MEK is designated a terrorist organization by the State Department, has been affiliated with Saddam Hussein since the early 80's, conducts violent attacks against Iran, engages in cult like rituals with it's membership, is Marxist (fitting nicely with the Baath party of Iraq) and generally considered a bunch of weirdo kooks. Yet they have a cadre of conservative support from the likes of Tom Tancredo. Tancredo, far from distancing himself from this radical group thinks the U.S. ought to fund and support them. This support is based upon one fact, and one fact alone. MEK is fighting the Iranian regime.
Evidently it doesn't matter to Tancredo and his type that MEK are thuggish, Marxist, cultish, and now prosecutors in Iraq say, genocidal radicals. I can not WAIT for the fire works we are sure to witness when some intrepid reporter asks Tancredo if he regrets supporting groups now found to be in league with Saddam Husseins repressive regime? All of that is forgiven just as long as MEK fights Teheran, from the perspective of the Tancredo crowd. It is positively sickening.
Heres another interesting exercise in digging out the truth. Google Ghorbanifar mek. We already have learned who MEK is, but who is this Ghorbanifar character? Just the middle man between the Reagan Administration and Iran in all the activity that led to the Iran Contra scandal. He met administration officials in Paris in 2002 regarding Iran, apparently with several members of MEK. If you dig far enough you can connect all kinds of characters with MEK. Michael Ledeen introduced Oliver North to Ghorbanifar. It simply goes on and on. I would love to see Seymour Hersh write up a 2000 word article tying the neocons to MEK, and thus to the repression of Saddam Hussein.
Finally we need to make sure that the intelligence we rely upon in determining policy in Iran is corroborated by sources other than a terrorist organization who did Saddams dirty work. I'm certain the neocons are more than happy to take what MEK gives them and package it as proof of Iranian wrong doing. But history, and now justice for those repressed by Saddam dictate that we consider the source and judge accordingly.
[Update: Read this excellent article detailing the involvement of adminstration officials in turning MEK in Iraq into our special forces ops in Iran. Then deputy secretary of defense Paul Wolfowitz has his fingerprints all over that decision.]
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