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The Peoples Mujahedin of Iran (Mojahedin-e Khalq-eIran, or MEK) is an Islamic- and Marxist-inspired militant

organization that advocates the overthrow of the Islamic

Republic of Iran. The group was founded in 1963 as an

armed guerrilla group after the Shah Mohammad Reza

Pahlavi violently suppressed opposition to his regime.

Over the years, the group developed a track record of

violent opposition to the Iranian regimeboth against themonarchy and the Islamic government that succeeded

itand countries deemed supportive of it, including atone time the United States. For years, the group was considered a proscribed terrorist organization by the U.S. State

Department. But on the heelsof an aggressive and well-funded lobbying campaign supported by a bipartisan cast of high

-profile former public officials, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced in September 2012 that she was removing

the group from the State Departments list of foreign terrorist organizations, where the MEK had been listed since 1997.

[1]

The groups origins are eccentric and its history tumultuous. According to the U.S. State Department, The groupparticipated in the 1979 Islamic Revolution that replaced the Shah with a Shiite Islamist regime led by Ayatollah

Khomeini. However, the MEKs ideologya blend of Marxism, feminism, and Islamismwas at odds with the post-revolutionary government, and its original leadership was soon executed by the Khomeini regime. In 1981, the group

was driven from its bases on the Iran-Iraq border and resettled in Paris, where it began supporting Iraq in its eight-year

war against Khomeinis Iran. In 1986, after France recognized the Iranian regime, the MEK moved its headquarters toIraq, which facilitated its terrorist activities in Iran. Since 2003, roughly 3,400 MEK members have been encamped at

Camp Ashraf in Iraq.[2]

As of late 2012, most of the residents of Camp Ashraf had been relocated to another facility in Iraq to awaitresettlement in third countries. The MEKs cooperation in the relocationwhich had previously sparked concerns of aplanned mass suicide by group members resistant to the move[3]was reportedly a key

factor in Clintons decision to delist the group.[4]

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P U B L I C A T I O N O F A A W A - A S S O C I A T I O N

http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/peoples_muhajedin_of_iran_mek/

Washington backed People s Mujahedin Who are

they?

... The group was expelled from Iran in 1981 when it fell out of favor with Ayatollah Khomeini in a post-

revolutionary power struggle.Since then, it has launched thousands of attacks against Iranians it has

deemed agents of the regime, peaking at a rate of three assassinations per day in the 1980s, and staged

high-profile raids on Iranian diplomatic offices all over the worldincluding an orchestrated set of attacks

on 12 diplomatic facilities in 10 countries on a single day in 1992.In the mid-1980s, MEK settled in Iraq as a

guest of Saddam Hussein, who offered the group use of Camp Ashraf, an encampment and army base north

of Baghdad ...

Institute for Policy Studies www.ips-dc.orgRight Web, October 18 2012

Continued to page 4


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Page 2U P T O D A T E N 0 . 4 8 / O C T O B E R 2 0 1 2

The terrorist organizations that for national causes decide

to forswear violent campaign and practice of terrorism may

be granted the opportunity to accomplish their political

demands through peaceful avenues. The groups and

organizations that claim to have renounced armed

campaign are mostly judged by their actions rather than the

words. There are groups that indeed mean what they say

and declare it publicly for the world to see and judge. On the

contrary, there exist groups that their non-proclaimed but

quoted claims of renouncing terrorism corroborate the

intention of evading a just judgment rather than adhering to

non-violent practices to fulfill the rightful objectives.

The removal of Mojahedin Khalq Organization MKO/MEK/

PMOI from the State Departments FTO has been seen asthe result of a costly campaign by members of Congress,

Washington lobby groups and influential former officials tobury the MKOs bloody history of bombings andassassinations that not only killed American military

personnel and businessmen but also Iranian personalities

and thousands of civilians. It was also assumed a hard

campaign to portray it as a loyal US ally against the Islamic

government in Tehran. In fact, there does exist a credibility

gap between the taken decision and the existing fact about

the nature of MKO; it is impossible to consider a heavily

armed and militant group transformed into a pro-

democratic campaigner overnight with no officially made

statement.

Consider the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) for instance.Through an officially issued statement, UVF declared that

as of 12 midnight, Thursday 3 May 2007, the UlsterVolunteer Force and Red Hand Commando will assume a

non-military, civilianized, role. Formed as an armed groupin Northern Ireland, it declared war on the IRA and made

note of the fact that they were heavily armed Protestantsdedicated to this cause. In the course of its forty-year longarmed activities, UVF had been reportedly responsible for

the killing of some 550 people. Whatever the cause, it had

created a nightmare of terrorism threat that led to its

proscription as a terrorist group. Although the group had

already declared a 13-year long ceasefire, it was still known

responsible for a variety of scattered murders and crimes.

Transformation from a terrorist to a civilian organization

includes measures as stated in the groups issued

MKO Still Glorifies Violence and Militarism...Transformation from a terrorist to a civilian organization includes measures as stated in the groups issued

statement: All recruitment has ceased; military training has ceased; targeting has ceased and all intelligencerendered obsolete; all active service units have been de-activated; all ordinance has been put beyond reach and theIICD instructed accordingly. The statement seems to be a sensible recognition of a new political reality that theworld is no more a place for armed or violent actions, rather any pro-democratic move is welcomed if the repentant

armed groups really mean it...

Mojahedin.ws, October 27, 2012

http://www.mojahedin.ws/en/?p=16757

statement: All recruitment has ceased; military training hasceased; targeting has ceased and all intelligence rendered

obsolete; all active service units have been de-activated; all

ordinance has been put beyond reach and the IICD

instructed accordingly. The statement seems to be asensible recognition of a new political reality that the world

is no more a place for armed or violent actions, rather any

pro-democratic move is welcomed if the repentant armed

groups really mean it.

The sole move to recognize MKO a pro-democratic group

that has never renounced terrorism is a decision made by

the US for political considerations. MKO is a terrorist group

with a forty-year long history of violence and the most

vicious terrorist activities against Iranian people. There is no

exact number of the victims of its atrocities but it is

believed to reach thousands. Then, when reconsidering

MKOs terrorist status, if these terrors and atrocities have

been interpreted as democratic deeds in a process of civil

campaigns, MKO needs no issued statement of

renunciation as nothing has changed but definitions of

terms. Thus, according to a new definition of democracy,

any group has the right to shed peoples blood for the

cause of a self-defined democracy and accredited interests.

But who are to assume the responsibility for the shedbloods remain an unanswered question in such a new

political order.


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http://www.nejatngo.org/en/post.aspx?id=4879

Abdul Hamid Raufian speaks of his years of

imprisonment in the cult of Rajavi

. Sahar Family Foundation, Baghdad, October 29 2012

Translated by Nejat Society

Mr. Abdol Hamid Raufian who could manage to escape the terrorist Cult of

Rajavi describes how he was first trapped in the hands of Rajavis gang:I was taken as a war prisoner by Iraqi Baath forces in 1988 (during Iran-Iraq

war), I was then sent to Camp Ashraf following the deals made between MKO

leaders and Iraqi forces. Since then we were severely kept under the groupsdeceitful mind control system. Regarding their long-term programming they could

cut us off the outside world, so they succeeded to change our minds about our country. These criminals could even cut usfrom our family who was once so precious to us. We were so extremely under pressure that we would use offensive words

against our parents who were our dearest ones in life. We considered the criminal leaders of the cult, Massoud Rajavi and

the evil Maryam our everything and we were made-up to serve them.If you wanted to think about your family for a few seconds, they would humiliate you so severely that you would never

think about them again. They would hold numerous meetings such as Current Operation where a large number of zealous

members would attack you, verbally abusing you. Therefore nobody dared to talk about or even think about his family.

Four years ago, they gave me the letter my brother had sent to me via Red Cross, following my insistence on contacting

my family. There was a phone number on the foot of the letter. I could call my mother under a heavy mental pressure

because my contact was highly controlled by the cult leaders. I should talk with my mother after 23 years, and this was the

start of thinking about an opportunity to run away from the cult. Thank God, I could find the opportunity.

Leaders of the cult tried to call families as Intelligence Ministrys mercenaries and traitors because they had nothing elseto say regarding families presence in front of Camp Ashraf. When the loud speakers were off, they said that they (families)

ran away and then they would say that Iraqi soldiers were speaking in the loudspeakers. When they were encountered withvoices of defectors via loudspeakers they had to claim, "You wont be executed or imprisoned if you return to Iran but you

will have such a hard life ,you will earn so little that you will wish you would have stayed here with us to be safe.

We were transferred to temporary Transit Location (Camp Liberty) based on who the leaders chose to move. If one had

declared to be volunteer to move to TTL, he should have been called to attend meeting immediately. They feared that he

wanted to go there in order to be interviewed and get back to Iran, to denounce them. Thus, leaders of the cult decided

who was supposed to move. Members had no choice.

More MEK escapes expose collapse of the cult from within

Iran Interlink, Baghdad, October 21 2012, http://www.iran-interlink.org

According to Iraqi news agencies, Mr Hooshang Mirza Ghorbani has managed to escape from thetransit camp (Liberty) and has been given protection by the Iraqi security forces in Baghdad. Mr MirzGhorbani has spent more than two decades in the camps of Mojahedin Khalq and Saddam Hussein inIraq.

Although the MEK leaders claim that American support for this terrorist organisation and theirremoval from the list of 'friends and foes of the United States' will help them convince their membersto continue their terror campaign, but the increasing number of hostages managing to escape from

the cult shows that this support has had very little effect on the dismantlement of the cult fromwithin.

Nearly 10 years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, Mojahedin Khalq terrorist cult under the direct

protection of the United States of America continues to deny the hostages access to communication

with the outside world and denies them the right to be visited by their families.


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supporters of the MEK in Congress and elsewhere.[10]

Divisive Impact on U.S. PoliticsThe MEK has had a divisive impact in the United

States. While it has garnered supporters from across theU.S. political landscape, it has also spurred negative

reactions from representatives of nearly all political

factions. Neoconservatives are a case in point. Several

high-profile neocons outlets have praised the group,

arguing that it could serve to spearhead regime change

efforts in Iran.

After news agencies reported in early 2012 that the

MEKwith support from Israelwas involved in theassassination of Iranian scientists, a number of

neoconservative mouthpieces hailed the group. The

Rupert Murdoch-owned New York Post ran an editorial

stating: Were the MEK to play the critical role inderailing an Iranian bomb, it would be far more deserving

of a Nobel Peace Prize than a certain president of the

United States we could mention.[11]

Similarly minded ideologueslike Raymond Tanter, amember of the Committee on the President Dangerhave called the MEK the best source for intelligence onIran's potential violations of the nonproliferation regime,arguing that delisting the group would allow regimechange to be on the table in Tehran.[12] At a rally forthe group in Paris, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani

proclaimed, "Appeasement of dictators leads to war,

destruction and the loss of human lives. For your

organization to be described as a terrorist organization isjust really a disgrace."[13]

On the other hand, many neoconservatives view the

group with antipathy, largely because they think that an

alliance with it is short-sighted with respect to the goal of

achieving regime change in Iran. An example is Michael

Rubin, who has been sharply critical of MEK supporters.

Responding to the news about the MEKs alleged role inassassinating Iranian scientists, Rubin wrote: Byutilizing the MEKa group which Iranians view in thesame way Americans see John Walker Lindh, the

American convicted of aiding the Talibanthe Israelisrisk winning some short-term gain at the tremendous

expense of rallying Iranians around the regimes flag. Afar better strategy would be to facilitate regime change.

Not only would the MEK be incapable of that mission,

but involving them even cursorily would set the goal back

years.[14]

Lobbying CampaignOrganizations sympathetic to MEK garnered an

impressive array of establishment supporters inside

Washington to speak in favor of delisting the group. The

effort, according to the New York Times, won thesupport of two former C.I.A. directors, R. James Woolsey

and Porter J. Goss; a former F.B.I. director, Louis J.

Freeh; a former attorney general, Michael B. Mukasey;President George W. Bushs first homeland securitychief, Tom Ridge; President Obamas first nationalsecurity adviser, Gen. James L. Jones; big-name

Republicans like the former New York mayor Rudolph W.


Because of the MEKs cult-like organization under leaderMaryam Rajavi, its support for Iraq in the Iran-Iraq War, and its

participation in Saddam Husseins crackdowns on Iraqi Shiitesand Kurds, the group has been described by the New York

Timesas a repressive cult despised by most Iranians and

Iraqis.[5]

U.S. officials have recognized this reputation. While theypresent themselves as a legitimate democratic group worthy

of support, there is universal belief in the administration that

they are a cult," one official told CNN after the decision was

made to delist the group. "A de-listing is a sign of support or

amnesia on our part as to what they have done and it does not

mean we have suddenly changed our mind about their current

behavior. We don't forget who they were and we don't think

they are now who they claim to be, which is alternative to the

current regime."[6]Despite its murky reputation, MEK has presented itself to

western backers as a popular and democratic Iranian

opposition group that could lead the Islamic Republic to

democracyoften even referring to Rajavi, who lives in exile inParis and has never run for office in Iran, as the countrys

president-elect.[7]

This led some analysts to express concern that the Iranian

regime would use the U.S. decision to delist the group as a

pretext for a renewed crackdown on democratic and reformist

elements within Iran, tying them to the widely despised MEK.

For my money, the chances of war with Iran only get a boost

insofar as Iranians didn't already assume the worst of U.S.intentions, wrote Ali Gharib at the Daily Beast. As is, theparanoid leadership there believes America is in cahoots with

the MEK, or at least they already say as much in their

propaganda pleas. The more likely damage from the decision

will be done in justifying the ongoing crackdown against the

Islamic Republic's internal opposition, including human rights

and pro-democracy activists, which will be lent credibility

among ordinary Iranians who disdain the MEK.[8]

Indeed, there have been reports that the United States has

directly aided the MEK in the past, providing assistance that

would have been illegal given the groups terrorist designation.In April 2012, for example, journalist Seymour Hersh reported

that U.S. special forces had provided communications andweapons training to MEK members in the Nevada desert

sometime from 2005 to 2007, considerably improving the

groups capabilities. The MEK was a total joke, a Pentagonconsultant told Hersh, and now its a real network inside Iran.How did the MEK get so much more efficient? Part of it is the

training in Nevada. Part of it is logistical support in Kurdistan,

and part of it is inside Iran. MEK now has a capacity for

efficient operations that it never had before.[9]

Some analysts warned that the U.S. decision to delist the

MEK could cause U.S.-Iranian relations to deteriorate even

further. The decision will no doubt make the Iranianleadership even more distrustful of U.S. intentions regarding

the future of Iran, particularly given the congressional support

for the MEK to spearhead regime change, wrote Iran expertFarideh Farhi. Less trust will make compromise less likely,presumably a preferred outcome for the high profile

Continued from page 1


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Giuliani and Democrats like the former Vermont governor

Howard Dean; and even the former top counterterrorism

official of the State Department, Dell L. Dailey.[15]Mitchell Reiss, a top foreign policy advisor to Mitt Romney/

Paul Ryan presidential campaign, also spoke on behalf ofthe group.[16]

A potential explanation for this diverse list of supporters

is the large speaking fees the MEK network has offered to

big-name public figures. Your speech agent calls, andsays you get $20,000 to speak for 20 minutes, said aState Department official quoted by the Christian Science

Monitor. They will send a private jet, you get $25,000more when you are done, and they will send a team to

brief you on what to say.[17] Pro-MEK individuals andorganizations also reportedly donated thousands of dollars

to the campaigns of several sitting members of Congress,

including Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Bob Filner, Ted Poe,

Mike Rogers, and Dana Rohrabacher.[18]

Underlying MEKs more mainstream backing has been abedrock of support from foreign policy hawks. In addition

to Woolsey and other former Bush administration officials,

the group has enjoyed the avid backing of Iran hawks like

former ambassador John Bolton and groups like the Iran

Policy Committee (IPC), a right-wing U.S.-based outfit

whose putative goal is empowering Iranians for regime

change.

In a 2005 policy paper, IPC placed the delisting of MEK

at the forefront of its proposals for U.S. policy toward Iran.

The "continued designation since 1997 of the main

Iranian opposition group, Mujahedeen e-Khalq (MEK), as aforeign terrorist organization by the State Department

assures Tehran that regime change is off the table, wrotethe reports authors. Removing the MEKs terroristdesignation would be a tangible signal to Tehran and to

the Iranian people that a new option is implicitly on the

tableregime change.[19]

MEKs critics have likened the organizations advocacycampaign to that of the Iraqi National Congress (INC), an

Iraqi exile group led by Ahmed Chalabi that worked to

drum up U.S. support for an invasion of Iraq in the 1990s

and early 2000s. By presenting itself to Western

supporters as an Iraqi government-in-waiting, INC enabledIraq hawks in the United States to claim that there was

Iraqi support for the U.S. action. For Iran hawks, write Ali

Fatemi and Karim Pakravan of the National Iranian

American Council, Maryam Rajavi, the MEK leader andself-proclaimed president of Iran, is their new

Chalabi.[20]

IPC in particular has embodied the link between pro-

MEK groups and pro-INC groups. A 2010 investigation by

the U.S. foreign policy blog LobeLog found that through2006, IPC shared an address, accountants, and some

staff with multiple organizations that either fronted for or

had direct ties to the INC, even sharing staff members with

those groups. Some of those ties have continued throughtoday.[21]


HistoryFounded in 1963, MEK was one of the many Iranian

factions that supported the overthrow of the shah in 1979.

[22] However, according to a report by the Christian Science

Monitor, it was the only one that used violence against

Americans in the run-up to the revolution, launching a string

of assassinations and attacks against American military and

diplomatic officers in Iran in the 1970s.

The group was expelled from Iran in 1981 when it fell out

of favor with Ayatollah Khomeini in a post-revolutionary

power struggle.[23] Since then, it has launched thousands

of attacks against Iranians it has deemed agents of theregime, peaking at a rate of three assassinations per day inthe 1980s, and staged high-profile raids on Iranian

diplomatic offices all over the worldincluding anorchestrated set of attacks on 12 diplomatic facilities in 10

countries on a single day in 1992.[24]

In the mid-1980s, MEK settled in Iraq as a guest of

Saddam Hussein, who offered the group use of Camp

Ashraf, an encampment and army base north of Baghdad.

There, not only did MEK fight on the Iraqi side of the Iran-

Iraq war, but it also helped Saddam crush the CIA-instigated

Iraqi Kurdish and Shiite uprisings that came on the tail of

the 1991 Gulf War, leading to the precipitous erosion of its

support in Iran and Iraq alike.[25]

MEKs fighters at Ashraf were disarmed by the UnitedStates following the fall of Saddams government in 2003.In the following years, the camp was subject to occasionally

violent raids by the new Iraqi government, which sparkedconcerns about further violence or a humanitarian crisis

when it ordered the camp closed by the end of 2011.

Although the Ashraf issue is separate from the issue of

MEKs status as a terrorist organization, MEKs backers inthe West used the conditions at the camp to garner

sympathy for the groups broader agenda in Washington andto argue that its continued listing as a terrorist group is the

cause of its mistreatment.[26]

MEKs lobbying efforts were foreshadowed in a 1994report by the U.S. State Department, which concluded that

the group was unlikely to be serious about its democratic

overtures. According to the Christian Science Monitor:

Noting the MEKs dedication to armed struggle; the factthat they deny or distort sections of their history, such as the

use of violence; the dictatorial methods of theirleadership; and the cult-like behavior of its members, theState Dept. concluded that the MEKs 29-year record ofbehavior does not substantiate its capability or intention to

be democratic. That report describes tactics thatforeshadow the MEKs lobbying campaign today, 16 yearslater. It notes a formidable Mojahidin outreach program,which solicits the support of prominent public figures, andthe common practice to collect statements issued by

prominent individuals.[27]

The group formally renounced the use of violence in 2001,but an FBI investigation found MEK members to be actively

involved in planning and executing acts of terrorism as

recently as 2004. In February 2012, NBC News reported


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that the Israeli government had coordinated with MEK to

launch a series of assassinations against Iranian nuclear

scientists.[28] The groups delisting may open the door to

future cooperation with the United States as well.

S O U R C E S

[1] Elise Labott, Clinton to remove Iranian exile group fromterror list, CNN.com, September 21, 2012,http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/21/clinton-to-de-list-iranian-

exile-group-from-terror-list/.

[2] U.S. State Department, Country Reports on Terrorsm 2010:Chapter Six: Foreign Terrorist Organizations, August 2011,http://

www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2010/index.htm.

[3] Barbara Slavin, Mass Tragedy Feared as Closure of MEK

Camp Looms, Right Web, December 19, 2011,http://rightweb.irc-online.org/articles/display/

mass_tragedy_feared_as_closure_of_mek_camp_looms.



[5] Scott Shane, For Obscure Iranian Exile Group, BroadSupport in U.S., New York Times, November 26, 2011,http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/us/politics/lobbying-support-for-

iranian-exile-group-crosses-party-lines.html?pagewanted=all.



[7] See Matt Duss, The MEK Are Not Irans DemocraticOpposition, Middle East Progress, July 19, 2011,http://middleeastprogress.org/2011/07/the-mek-are-not-irans-

democratic-opposition/.

[8] Ali Gharib, Enemy Of My Enemy: Delisting The MEK, DailyBeast, September 25, 2012,http://www.thedailybeast.com/

articles/2012/09/25/enemy-of-my-enemy-delisting-the-

mek.html.

[9] Seymour Hersh, Our Men in Iran, New Yorker, April 6,2012,http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/

newsdesk/2012/04/mek.html.[10] Quoted in Jasmin Ramsey, Analysts Respond To Expected

US Decision To Delist MEK From FTO List, LobeLog, September22, 2012, http://www.lobelog.com/analysts-respond-to-expected-

us-decision-to-delist-mek-from-fto-list/.

[11] New York Post, Loose Lips, February 10, 2012, http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/editorials/

loose_lips_7xvSwHsWqSoIjyXIWl8nmI.

[12] See Right Web, Raymond Tanter profile, http://

www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/Tanter_Raymond.

[13] Edward Cody, GOP leaders criticize Obama's Iran policy inrally for opposition group, Washington Post, December 23,2010, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/

article/2010/12/22/AR2010122205180.html.

[14] Michael Rubin, Re: Israels Iranian Allies of Convenience,Commentary Magazine, Contentions blog, February 13, 2012,

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/02/13/israel-iran-

allies/.

[15] Scott Shane, For Obscure Iranian Exile Group, BroadSupport in U.S., New York Times, November 26, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/us/politics/lobbying-support-for-

iranian-exile-group-crosses-party-lines.html?pagewanted=all.

[16] Eli Clifton, Romney Adviser Advocating For ControversialIranian Terrorist Group, ThinkProgress, August 23, 2011,http://thinkprogress.org/security/2011/08/23/302480/romney-adviser

-mek/.

[17] Scott Peterson, Iranian group's big-money push to get offUS terrorist list, Christian Science Monitor, August 8, 2011, p. 3,http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/0808/

Iranian-group-s-big-money-push-to-get-off-US-terrorist-list/%

28page%29/3

[18] Chris McGreal, MEK decision: multimillion-dollar campaignled to removal from terror list, Guardian, September 21, 2012,http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/21/iran-mek-group-

removed-us-terrorism-list.

[19] Iran Policy Committee, U.S. Policy Options for Iran,February 10, 2005, http://www.iranpolicy.org/uploadedFiles/

USPolicyOptions_for_Iran_Feb2005.pdf.

[20] Fatemi and Karim Pakravan, War With Iran? US Neocons

Aim to Repeat Chalabi-Style Swindle Ali, Truthout, July 15, 2011.

[21] Ali Gharib and Eli Clifton, Neocon Iran Policy Committeetied to disgraced Iraqi National Congress, LobeLog, September10, 2010, http://www.lobelog.com/neocon-iran-policy-committee-

tied-to-disgraced-iraqi-national-congress/.

[22] U.S. State Department, Country Reports on Terrorsm2010: Chapter Six: Foreign Terrorist Organizations, August 2011,

http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2010/index.htm.

[23] U.S. State Department, Country Reports on Terrorsm2010: Chapter Six: Foreign Terrorist Organizations, August 2011,

http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2010/index.htm.



28page%29/7.



28page%29/8

[26] See, for example, Eli Clifton, Defending MEK, Mukasey,Ridge & Freeh Attack Obama For Hastily Exiting Iraq, While

Admitting Hes Trying To Stay, ThinkProgress, August 15, 2011,http://thinkprogress.org/security/2011/08/15/296188/

mukasey-ridge-freeh-obama-iraq-mek/.



28page%29/8

[28] Richard Engel and Robert Windrem, Israel teams withterror group to kill Iran's nuclear scientists, U.S. officials tell NBC

News, NBCNews.com, February 9, 2012, http://rockcenter.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/02/08/10354553-israel-

teams-with-terror-group-to-kill-irans-nuclear-scientists-us-officials-

tell-nbc-news.q



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commander of NATO; Louis

Freeh, former director of the

FBI; three former directors of the CIA Michael Hayden,

James Woolsey and Porter Goss; Rudolph Giuliani, former

Mayor of New York City; former UN Ambassador John

Bolton; General Hugh Shelton, former Chair of the Joint

Chiefs of Staff; Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for

Human Rights from 1997 to 2002; and many others.

Top Washington lawyers and lobbyists made the case for

the terrorist group as well: Akin Gump, Strauss Hauer &

Feld, Patton Boggs and others. Robert Strauss, of the firm

of the same name, was US Ambassador to the Soviet

Union during the critical months of August 2, 1991,

through December 26, 1991. A senior member of the firm

Tobi Gati was also head of the intelligence branch of the

US State Department.

When speaking about terrorist groups, one might think

of MEK as a ragtag bunch of cutthroats in shreds and

tatters, confined to an unsanitary tent city. The truth is

nothing of the sort. Watch this reportby CNNs Michael

Ware dating back to 2007: You will see a marching army

in crisp brand-new white-and-blue and khaki uniforms,

entering a spacious parade ground framed by sculptures

of lions. Camp Ashraf itself is one of the best-kept military

facilities in Iraq and a sprawling city of 4,000 people, with

shopping centers and hospitals, gardens, monuments,

fountains and illuminations quite unexpected in the war-

torn deserts of Iraq. The MEK is also armed with more

than 2,000 well-maintained tanks, artillery, anti-aircraft

guns and armored personnel carriers. Its supplies are

guarded by US military police, and the camp itself is

guarded by the American military.

Indeed,The coalition remains deeply committed to thesecurity and rights of protected people of Ashraf, US

Major General Gardner said, according to a Headquarters

Multinational Force Iraq document dated March 11, 2006.

Michael Ware calls the MEK the US officially protected

terrorists. Another film of Australian originshows Camp

Ashrafs own parliament and hundreds of tanks on the

camps parade ground.

Well-versed in American political mores, the MEKs

leadership says the group is pro-democracy. However,

even the New York Times disagrees: In the middle of the

2011 de-listing campaign, it described MEK as arepressive cult despised by most Iranians and Iraqis.

Totalitarian cult is indeed the most frequent label

applied to the MEK by people who come in contact with

the group. And American support for MEK is not limited to

military protection. Seymour Hersh, in his New Yorker

pieceOur Men in Iran?revealed that beginning in 2005,

MEK fighters were trained in Nevada by the Joint Special

Operations Command (JSOC).

Why is Washington backing the MEK? As General Shelton

said at a conferencein February 2011, When you look at

what the MEK stands for, when they are

antinuclear,separation of church and state, individual rights,

MEK is obviously the way Iran needs to go. By placing the

MEK on the FTO [Foreign Terrorist Organizations] list we

have weakened the support of the best organized internal

resistance group to the most terrorist-oriented anti-Western

world, anti-democratic regime in the region.

In an interview with Germanys WDR TV back in 2005, ex -

CIA operative Ray McGovern explained the logic: Why the

U.S. cooperates with organizations like the Mujahedin, I

think, is because that they are local, and because they are

ready to work for us. Previously, we considered them a

terrorist organization. And they exactly are. But they are now

our terrorists and we now don't hesitate to send them into

Iran . for the usual secret service activities: attacking

sensors, in order to supervise the Iranian nuclear program,

mark targets for air attacks, and perhaps establishing

secret camps to control the military locations in Iran. And

also a little sabotage.

Karen Kwiatkowski, formerly with the Department of

Defense, makes a long story short for WDR TV: MEK is

ready to do things over which we would be ashamed, and

over which we try to keep silent. But for such tasks we'll use

them.

Now is the time for Russia and the world community to

take active political measures preventing the United States

from launching another proxy war in the Middle East. The

MEK is much better trained and prepared for war than the

Syrian rebels were at the beginning of the conflict, or even

today. The MEK has all the necessary capabilities to become

the military arm of an American attack against Iran. This

time unlike in Syria the world should not ignore the

march to war, and must take steps to prevent it from

happening again.

Veronika Krasheninnikova, Director General of the

Institute for Foreign Policy Research and Initiatives in

Moscow, for RT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSm24lSrvNAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSm24lSrvNAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyKBjDLvGI4&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyKBjDLvGI4&feature=relatedhttp://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/04/mek.htmlhttp://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/04/mek.htmlhttp://64.78.33.77/ea/iranprospects.pdfhttp://64.78.33.77/ea/iranprospects.pdfhttp://64.78.33.77/ea/iranprospects.pdfhttp://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/04/mek.htmlhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyKBjDLvGI4&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSm24lSrvNA


8/8

Unsatisfied in "crippling" Iran with sanctions, the US looks to be

set for active operations there - and already has an in: a group

called the Mujahedin-e Khalq, which in the near future could

become the Persian equivalent of the Free Syrian Army.

On September 21, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

passed Public Notice 8050, de-listing the Mujahedin-e Khalq

(MEK) from the State Departments Specially Designated Global

Terrorist list, effective September 28.

What is MEK? Mujahedin-e Khalq is an Iranian Islamic militant

organization in exile that advocates the overthrow of the Islamic

Republic of Iran. Since its inception in 1965 in Iran, the group

conducted assassinations of US military personnel and civilians

working in Iran in the 1970s, jubilantly supported the takeover of the

US embassy in Tehran in 1979 and opposed the release of American

personnel, calling for their execution instead, fought against the

Islamic Republic together with Saddam Hussein during the Iraq-Iran

War (1980-1988) and set up headquarters in Iraq at Camp Ashraf.

In recent years, according to various sources including NBC, MEK

teamed up with the Israeli secret service to kill Iranian nuclear

scientists. NBC reported that US officials confirmed that the Obama

administration is aware of the assassination campaign but has nodirect involvement.

In 1994, the State Department sent a damning 41-page report to

Congresson why the MEK is a terrorist organization; that

designation was enacted in 1997. The report concluded: It is no

coincidence that the only government in the world that supports the

Mujahedin politically and financially is the totalitarian regime of

Saddam Hussein.Well, the MEKs mission to overthrow Irans

leadership has not changed since, but the US agenda has: In a

vertiginous about-face, Washington became the powerful protector of

the Mujahedin-e Khalq.

Over the past few years, a formidable fundraising operation and

campaign to de-list MEK from the Specially Designated Global


U P T O D A T E

N O . 4 8

O C T O B E R 2 0 1 2

www.aawaassociation.com

Publication of Association AAWA e.V.

Responsable:

Dipl.-Ing. Ali-A. Rastgou

Postfach 90 31 73

D-51124 Kln

E-mail: [email protected]

.

http://rt.com/news/iran-mek-us-military-237/

Mujahedin-e Khalq: Americas protected terrorists gearing

up against Iran (Op-Ed)Why is Washington backing the MEK? As General Shelton said at a conferencein February 2011, When youlook at what the MEK stands for, when they are antinuclear, separation of church and state, individual rights,

MEK is obviously the way Iran needs to go. By placing the MEK on the FTO [Foreign Terrorist

Organizations] list we have weakened the support of the best organized internal resistance group to the most

terrorist-oriented anti-Western world, anti-democratic regime

in the region.

Russia Today, Published: 26 October, 2012, 13:02

Continued to page 7

Terrorist register gathered some high-caliber US

supporters including General James Jones,

President Obama's National Security Advisor from

2009 to 2010; Bill Richardson, Energy Secretary

and UN ambassador in the Clinton administration

and Obama's Special Envoy to North Korea; Tom

Ridge, the first Secretary of Homeland Security;

General Wesley Clark, former supreme

Members of the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq

Organization (MKO) (Image from vkb.isvg.org)
http://rockcenter.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/08/10354553-israel-teams-with-terror-group-to-kill-irans-nuclear-scientists-us-officials-tell-nbc-newshttp://rockcenter.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/08/10354553-israel-teams-with-terror-group-to-kill-irans-nuclear-scientists-us-officials-tell-nbc-newshttp://rockcenter.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/08/10354553-israel-teams-with-terror-group-to-kill-irans-nuclear-scientists-us-officials-tell-nbc-newshttp://rockcenter.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/08/10354553-israel-teams-with-terror-group-to-kill-irans-nuclear-scientists-us-officials-tell-nbc-newshttp://iran.org/news/1994_10-State-Dept-MEK-report.htmhttp://iran.org/news/1994_10-State-Dept-MEK-report.htmhttp://iran.org/news/1994_10-State-Dept-MEK-report.htmhttp://64.78.33.77/ea/iranprospects.pdfhttp://64.78.33.77/ea/iranprospects.pdfhttp://64.78.33.77/ea/iranprospects.pdfhttp://iran.org/news/1994_10-State-Dept-MEK-report.htmhttp://iran.org/news/1994_10-State-Dept-MEK-report.htmhttp://rockcenter.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/08/10354553-israel-teams-with-terror-group-to-kill-irans-nuclear-scientists-us-officials-tell-nbc-newshttp://rockcenter.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/08/10354553-israel-teams-with-terror-group-to-kill-irans-nuclear-scientists-us-officials-tell-nbc-newshttp://rockcenter.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/08/10354553-israel-teams-with-terror-group-to-kill-irans-nuclear-scientists-us-officials-tell-nbc-news

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