To the Bipartisan Delegation visiting Iraq and all members of Congress:
As there is only one post on this section, please forgive this extremely long post. I have done research using strong sources: Newsweek, Los Angeles Times, Center for Defense Information, court cases, direct quotes, US Code 18, section 2339B(a)(1), and more. This info is all over the Internet, but barely seen or heard of in the daily media, but it is so important. Lately, the Los Angeles Times has run stories questioning the Intelligence that the Bush Administration is using to hype his case against Iran. If the sound bits that are being developed against Iran, that have not been validated by our own Intelligence Agencies, are not accurate, we need to act immediately or we will have another war based on false evidence. The intelligence needs to be verified in any case, and not left to the word of the Bush Administration. We cannot afford to be polite to this administration or give them the benefit of the doubt. They have used-up all their credibility, and it is their own fault that their judgment and veracity is questioned and must be questioned. The security of our nation is more important than probable embarrassment to the Bush Administration.
I fear that we have another Curveball/Chalabi distortion-thing and an "Iran-Contra-like" situation on our hands. What is today's war-of-the-day for the Bush Administration and the Pentagon? I don't think it is Iraq, nor Afghanistan, but a covert plan offered to the White House by the Iran Policy Committee and other neocons to supplement the "surge". Bush and Gates are saying today that they don't intend to go into Iran, but will they be supporting the terrorist group Mujahedin-e-Khalq, or MeK, to be their proxy warriors while we provide money and military support from outside Iran? Apparently, he gave the order today for the next step in his plans for Iran. This just happened to coincied with another attrocious, unverified accusation against Iran from a front group for the MeK -- this time coming from their organization in Paris.
While Congress is debating whether to offer binding or non-binding resolutions, and whether or not there should be an escalation in the number of troops, Bush has stealthily moved the first wave of troops into place in Iraq, which kind of makes part of the debate moot. Is there any realistic hope that a non-binding resolution will stop him? He has already said that he will do what he wants.
Please immediately check the sources of Bush's intel and accusations against Iran. We MUST question who his sources are, and then question them, and verify. We would do no less in a court of law. Why are we so lax when it comes to questioning "intel" that may put us in another conflict and lead to more deaths all around? Little official questioning was done in the run-up to the war in Iraq. We regular Americans who read and connect the dots seemed to be more informed than Congress, and that is sad to say. There was no oversight, and Bush could say whatever he wanted to created a case for war. Why cannot let this happen again. Bush's past, documented history of lying, deceiving, issuing false information, and coverups make one have to believe that he is capable of creating similar conditions for whatever plans he has for Iran.
It seems like the Bush Administration has successfully repeated and repeated and repeated accusations of attrocities against Iran. It seems like more and more people, even reporters, are accepting the propaganda as proven, documented truth. Its a tried-and-true trick with words. And so, a group of retired, ancient military men from the Nixon and Reagan Administrations have made themselves the Iran Policy Committee. Sounds impressive, but it's not. Repeating the unverified accusations against Iran as fact and "evidence", they say that the only way to win in Iraq is to support regime change in Iran. All the problems in Iraq, they assert, come from Iran trying to destabilize Iraq. They say Iran has networks of arms, bombs, IED's, money, spies, etc., etc., etc. that are creating the sectarian strife inside Iraq and are killing American soldiers. So, we need to destabilize Iran, the say, by giving support to the "Resistance" who are fighting for democracy in Iran. (Again, carefully chosen words to conjure up the romanticism of the French Resistance during WWII.)
Another assumption from the Iran Policy Committee and other neocon advisors to the Bush Administration is that if we eliminate the regime in Iran, we will have victory in Iraq, because Iran is the cause of all that has gone wrong in Iraq. Retired General McInerny of the IPC said, after listening to their guest speaker, Alireza Jafarzadeh, who lobbies Washington on behalf of the terrorist group, Mujahedin-e-Khalq or MeK, that the presentation by Jafarzadeh was "powerful evidence" that Iran has become the primary killer of U.S. forces in Iraq. Apparently, the terrorist group MeK has won the ears and hearts of some members of Congress, too.
I am a reader, but I had to really search for information on the MeK and their relationship to our government. So, for readers like me...
In the early 1960's, a group of young marxist, Islamic extremist Iranian students thought there was too much Western influence in Iran and in the Middle East. They decided that they had to overthrow the Shaw of Iran. Then, they split with the next government of Ayatollah Khomeni. They were part of the terrorist movement that held Americans hostage in Iran. They supported the takeover in 1979 of the US Embassy in Tehran.
They killed American soldiers and defense contractors in Iran. They bombed embassies, assassinated public figures, and engaged in terrorist acts of violence. This info comes from the United States Department of State.
Eventually, Iran chased them out of the country. One group went to Paris, and the other group went to Iraq, bringing along a full contigent of soldiers, military equipments, and military vehicles. Saddam Hussein welcomed them and gave the MeK protection. In return, the MeK helped Saddam Hussein fight Iran in the 8-year Iran-Iraq war. They helped Hussein with his surge upon the Kurds and Shiia. Apparently, they were quite ruthless against their enemies and any member who crossed them. Saddam Hussein allowed the MeK to build training camps in Iraq, including one outside of Bagdhdad, Camp Ashraf.
In the late 1990's, Madeline Albright,the US State Department's Secretary of State, declared the Mujahedin-e-Khalq a "foreign terrorist organization." Since their designation as a terrorist organization, they have continued their attacks upon Iran. Former members have said that the organization is cult-like in its practices, and Human Rights organizations have documented abuses by the Mek, mostly against their own members.
Compare the words that Bush and his administration use when they sputter out a litany of charges against Iran. They are exactly the same accusations that come from the mouth of Alireza Jafarzadeh, the front-man for the terrorist MeK in Washington and FOX News "analyst". As a lobbiest working the Congress for the overthrow of the government in Iran, Jafarzadeh is never short on "intel" about Iran that is readily picked up by the Bush Administration and belched out as fact and evidence. Note that Bush and company will not say from whom the "intel" comes. How much can you trust the "intel" from the terrorist organization MeK that assasinates, bombs, and becomes professional warriors for Saddam Hussein against fellow Iranians, Iraqi Kurds and Shias? I don't see a lot of loyalty here, just an organization that is obsessed with removing the government in Iran, almost as much as Bush, Cheney, and the neocons.
While the Bush Administration speech on the "surge" is leading everyone to question the escalation and wondering when the killing in the region will stop, Bush has gone a step further and is going for broke with his stepped-up rhetoric against Iran. Coincidentally, there were fantastic headlines today of legions of Iranians having infiltrated Iraq, kindly supplied by the MeK group in Paris.
If there is truth in this intel, why is the Bush Administration and the Pentagon hiding the origin of the info? Why is Defense Secretary Gates refusing to give specifics to reporters regarding Bush's authorization to strike Iran if deemed necessry? Was it necessary to even issue such an obvious authorization, a no-brainer that of course Americans would defend themselves if attacked? Is there an expectation that Iran will react to something?
Lastly, in a Los Angeles Times editorial, "Financing Terrorists is not about speech", January 22, 2007, we learned that seven Los Angeles residents are accused of soliciting donations for the MeK and wiring at least several hundred thousand dollars to an MeK bank account in Turkey. The courts decided to try the Los Angeles residents for violating the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act which says that it is a crime to knowingly provide material support to an organization that appears on the State Department list of foreign terrorist organizations. The case was appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Ninth Circuit denied a review of the case. As the Los Angeles Times editorial put it, "... Judge Andrew J. Kleinfeld pithily put it: "" Sometimes money serves as a proxy for speech, and sometimes it buys goods and services that are not speech. Guns and bombs are not speech.""
I wonder where the $60 to $80 million went that was supposed to go to Iranian dissidents to promote democracy in Iran? The MeK claims that their mission is to promote democracy. If the Bush Administration funneled those millions to the MeK, and covert funds are coming in from private citizens via MeK bank accounts in other countries, and our government does not shut-down those accounts, is the Bush Administration also guilty of violating the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act which is a punishable crime? This sounds a lot like another case from the past, of arms being covertly purchased and diverted to bring down another government, and it is ironic that the Iran Policy Committee are remnants from the Reagan and Nixon Administrations. Are the terrorist MeK organization and all of their front groups with feel-good names, today's Curveball, the Chalabi, yellow cake, and aluminum tubes of Bush's and Cheney's next war?
The past and present lies from the Bush Administration have compromised our country's national security, world security, and have put our soldiers in unnecessary danger. When do we believe the Bush Administration? Their advisors are putting out their opinions that certainly indicate that Iran is on their scope for strikes or regime change, but using Iranian dissidents to do the infiltration work with our support. Tony Snow says this is an urban myth. All the players deny that they are listening to the MeK. Former US representative to the UN, Bolton, says that it is fine to use intel from a terrorist organization. If Bush gets our country committed to another unnecessary conflict, what can we do if the train has left the station?
I urge Congress to use whatever powers they have -- powers with teeth -- to preempt the Bush Administration from a confrontation that need not happen. There must be some legal tool to stop this endangerment to our country from our own executive branch. There has been too much death. Please be strong. Please take away the power Bush thinks you granted to him to start conflicts around the world, to invade soverign countries at his whim. We have no idea what he is doing in Somalia. Your fast action is imperative. He is going ahead with his plans, without advising you, without advising upon what evidence he is hoarding. Please act together, in a non-partisan way, to protect our country. Please look beyond the "surge". I sincerely believe this is only part of the puzzle, and it might wind up that he has no intention to use our soldiers to give Iraq breathing room.
