re: "The MEK is the new Code Pink"

Josh Rogin at The Cable ("Reporting Inside the Foreign Policy Machine") told us about the PMOI's visit to Capitol Hill and Foggy Bottom.

Money quote(s):

"About 50 supporters of the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK) took over the first three rows of the audience at Tuesday morning's hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee in the Senate Hart Office Building. The hearing was to examine President Barack Obama's decision to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of the year, and featured testimony by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey."

This was in mid-November of last year.

(Sorry about the time it took for me to get to this.)

"(T)he MEK supporters at the Hart building today sat politely in their bright yellow sweatshirts and ponchos, which had slogans printed on them calling for the State Department to take the MEK off of their list of foreign terrorist organizations -- a move that is supposedly under consideration.

We overheard one staffer at the hearing quip, "When your critics allege you are a cult, you probably shouldn't dress like one." "

Good one.

On the other hand, you see tour groups doing the same thing abroad. Maybe they just didn't want to lose anyone?

"The MEK, whose ideology fuses Islam and Marxism, was formed in Iran in 1965. It allied itself with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and fought against the Shah and his Western backers during the Iranian Revolution. After falling out of favor with Khomeini, the group was given shelter in Iraq by Saddam Hussein, who used them to conduct brutal cross-border raids during the Iraq-Iran war.

After the fall of Saddam, the United States helped broker an agreement whereby 3,400 MEK members were confined to a complex in northeast Iraq called Camp Ashraf, protected by the U.S. military. The camp was handed over to the Iraqi government in 2009."

Fusing "Islam and Marxism." Check. Very good. Now: what could possibly go wrong there?

"(F)alling out of favor with Khomeini"? You've got to be kidding me? The PMOI and the Revolutionary government went to war with each other!

"Since 2009, the MEK has conducted a multi-million advocacy and lobbying campaign in Washington, with the help of dozens of senior U.S. officials and lawmakers, many of whom have been paid for their involvement. The list includes Congressman John Lewis (D-GA), former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, former FBI Director Louis Freeh, former Sen. Robert Torricelli, Rep. Patrick Kennedy, former CIA Deputy Director of Clandestine Operations John Sano, former National Security Advisor Gen. James Jones, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, former Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Richard Myers, former White House Chief of Staff Andy Card, Gen. Wesley Clark, former Rep. Lee Hamilton, former CIA Director Porter Goss, senior advisor to the Romney campaign Mitchell Reiss, Gen. Anthony Zinni, former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, former Sen. Evan Bayh, and many others.

In an August rally outside the State Department, Kennedy declared, "One of the greatest moments was when my uncle, President [John F.] Kennedy, stood in Berlin and uttered the immortal words ‘Ich bin ein Berliner,'" Kennedy exclaimed. "Today, I'm honored to repeat my uncle's words, by saying [translated from Farsi] ‘I am an Iranian, I am an Ashrafi.'"

Kennedy admitted he was paid $25,000 to emcee the rally."

CAA would have served as "emcee" for free, but wouldn't have done it in as cheerleaderly a fashion as 25k to a Kennedy will buy you.

11/15

re: "A Question for Rick Perry"

Andrew Exum at Abu Muqawama ("a blog that focuses on small wars and insurgencies in addition to regional issues in the Middle East") asked a question regarding our old friends the PMOI.

Money quote(s):

"(O)ne of Perry's informal advisors, Gen. (Ret.) Peter Pace, has been shilling for the terrorist group Mujahedeen Khalq along with a boatload of other people from both sides of the aisle -- including former Obama Administration National Security Advisor Gen. (Ret.) Jim Jones.

What is the appropriate response here? Should Gov. Perry distance himself from those who have associated with and advocated on behalf of Mujahedeen Khalq?"

Given the Generals Pace and Jones' former access to the full stories on the MEK/PMOI, I think we should assume they made an informed decision before advocating on their behalf.

8/14

re: "Disgrace: American-Trained Forces Arrested for Israeli Family Massacre"

Diana West at Big Peace comments on a recent article by Aaron Klein (at World Net Daily) about the massacre of Rabbi Fogel, his wife Ruth, and three of their children, Yoav, Elad, and Hadas (ages 10 years, 4 years, and 3 months, respectively).

You very well may not have seen any coverage of this story before.

Money quote(s):

"Wasn’t training PA forces a pet project of Bush-special envoy-turned-Obama-ex-national-security-adviser Gen. Jim Jones? He who thought Israeli concerns about security were the problem?"

&

"(T)he Itamar family massacre wasn’t the first time US-trained Palestinian terrorists killed."

re: "Mr. Jones: Point, Counterpoint"

Charlie at Undiplomatic ("dedicated to covering the intersection of foreign policy, global issues, U.S. politics, and pop culture") explains how the professionals do it.

Money quote(s):

"Late hours do not translate into chaos. The idea that his staff is sloppy or lazy or unprofessional is nonsense — they all are, without exception, experienced foreign policy professionals who have dedicated their lives to making the United States a better place. You may disagree with their vision, but do not question their professionalism (and for the record, I would make the exact same point about Bush’s White House staff)."

"(O)nly in Washington could someone putting in a twelve-hour day be considered a slacker. The White House is a hothouse culture that tends to reinforce certain behaviors that are not always useful. To put it another way, what is a strength — the ability to work long hours and produce results — can become a liability if it’s overused. Our bodies simply cannot sustain themselves on caffeine and adrenaline. Sooner or later performance will erode; the key is to keep enough in reserve so that, like a marathoner, you have the ability to give your best when it’s absolutely necessary."

&

"(T)here are times for hard work and long hours (and pizza), and there are times when it makes sense to keep a more regular schedule so that you’re rested when the crisis comes."

This is the individual equivalent of staying on "red alert" all the time. You simply cannot sustain a constantly heightened alert all the time, day after day, year after year. Something gives, and sometimes catastrophically.

The professionals know that when you're on a 24-hour alert, you set up shifts so that people aren't trying to work 24 hour days.