Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker testified today that Iran is meddling in Iraq and is a great danger to the United States and stability in Iraq. Nobody with a quarter-inch of frontal lobe would disagree that Iran is a major problem in the Middle East and beyond for a number of reasons, including its push for nuclear arms.
One of the more frightening aspects of listening to the so-called leaders of our Congress as they cross-examine Gen. Petraeus is their general lack of focus on the Iranian problem – at least as of 2:45 p.m. Pacific Time.
We know that Iran is sending more and more sophisticated weapons to the terrorists who are slaughtering Iraqis and Americans in Iraq; we know that Iran is training suicide bombers and fighters; Gen. Petraeus testified that our troops have intercepted communications between Iran and terrorists in Iraq that showed a direct link between terrorist success and the funds Iran funneled to them.
I have spent some time now studying the Iran problem and have met with the leader of the country’s most popular resistance group, the People’s Mujahedeen Of Iran, also know as the Mujahedeen e-Khalq (MEK). Mrs. Maryan Rajavi is indeed a charismatic leader who is loved not only by many Iranians, but respected by a bipartisan group of America’s Congress, large swaths of parliamentarians in the European Union, and leaders around the world. She is also hated by the current Iranian regime.
The MEK is also a terrorist group, listed as such by both the United States and the European Union. I have spoken with Iranian expatriates who do not like the MEK or Mrs. Rajavi and support other resistance groups that work outside of Iran as well as inside.
Some don’t like the MEK because they mistakenly believe that the group killed Americans or they helped Saddam Hussein crush the helpless Kurds. I won’t argue these points right now, but I am convinced from hard evidence that these events did not happen. The National Council of Resistance of Iran (the NCRI), an umbrella group that includes the MEK, is composed of a cross-section of different religions and sects, including Kurds, Shiites, Christians, Jews and Sunnis. It is much more democratically friendly than the existing Iranian regime, which suppresses individuals and imprisons them for such little offenses as wearing the wrong color.
Others hate the MEK because they started out as a Marxist group. I’m no Communist and I don’t support Communism. It’s funny that I even have to say that, but some fruitloops have accused me of all sorts of strange things (I guess they haven’t read the many posts from the loons on the other extreme who call me a war whore, Attila the Hun’s right-hand whore and other well-thought out positions.
I’ve looked at the NCRI’s constitution and it doesn’t look like a Communist Manifesto to me. I understand that a paper doesn’t mean much until it’s implemented, so who knows for sure? I do know that the Iranian regime wants to kill Mrs. Rajavi and her followers and has assassinated hundreds if not thousands of MEK. The MEK is the only resistance group listed in the Iranian Constitution as blood enemies of the regime, and the regime always asks governments such as the United States to handcuff the MEK as concessions (which we shouldn’t be giving).
When I met with Mrs. Rajavi in Paris, she said she welcomes all resistance groups so they can work together to oust the current regime that stones women to death by burying them up to their necks and pounding them bloody with stones.
The most important point is there are resistance groups that know a great deal about the workings of Iran. America needs this intelligence and the MEK has given it to us.
My friend Alireza Jafarzadeh is a Fox News contributor and for years served as the chief congressional liaison and media spokesman for the U.S. representative office of Iran’s parliament in exile, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (the NCRI). Jafarzadeh has always answered my questions with candor, as far as I can tell. Unlike detractors, he has never called me names nor has he attacked others in this manner.
Jafarzadeh and MEK were the first to give the United States credible evidence that the Iranian regime was ramping up its nuclear capabilities. They even pointed out the exact spots where the Iranians were doing their dirty deeds: the Natanz uranium enrichment facility and the Arak heavy water facility in August 2002.
So he has credibility when it comes to Iran. He wrote an article pointing out the importance addressing the Iran quagmire:
Iraq’s No. 1 problem is, in fact, Iran’s widespread and deadly presence in Iraq. Iran is undoubtedly the main instigator of violence, instability and derailing the political process in that country. Unlike Al Qaeda, Iran is a strategic threat for a sovereign, unified and Democratic Iraq. It is a regime with vast resources dedicated to the sponsorship of terrorism and export of fundamentalism, a 900-mile porous common border, and huge political and intelligence assets both within and outside the Iraqi government. Tehran is spending nearly $70,000,000 per month arming, training and funding Iraqi Shiite and Sunni militias.
He further noted:
Moreover, many moderate Iraqi politicians, including some key members of the Iraqi Parliament, believe that Iran’s main opposition group, the Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK), based in Ashraf City, Iraq, has been the catalyst for building stability in Iraq and supporting moderate Shiites and Sunnis. In addition, 5.2 million Iraqis signed a document warning of the threat of Iranian meddling in Iraq and recognizing the MEK as a balancing factor to keep Iraq clear of Iran’s domination. A large bipartisan group of members of the United States Congress believe that Washington must open a dialogue with the MEK as a strategic partner in the fight against Islamic fundamentalism and a bulwark against the Iranian regime’s influence in Iraq. According to the U.S. military, since 2003, the MEK has unveiled a major part of Iran’s terrorist conspiracies in Iraq and as such has saved the lives of countless Iraqis and Americans.
Isn’t that the bottom line? Gen. Petraeus testified that we are at war in Iraq to protect America’s interests. Defeatists tell us something else. Some even accuse President Bush and others of saber rattling against Iran. Huh? We’ve been fighting Iran since the United States crossed the borders of Iraq. And Iranian madman Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has told us that Iran is ready to fill the void left when America vacates early.
So what’s it going to be? Are we going to hold hands with our allies and push the murderous regime back? Can we work together on this? Can we be the United States of America?
