1
   

Terrorist group has Republican voice in Congress...

 
 
Reply Wed 16 Feb, 2005 07:58 pm
Doing my usual trawl through news items to find something juicy when I noticed a name that rang some bells.

Quote:
Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen says Iran's support for Hezbollah reflects Tehran's determination to oppose U.S. interests:

"Hezbollah has helped Iranian interests through continued terrorist attacks against the United States and our allies in the region," she said.

source


Apart from being a mouthful to say there is something else about Ileana. She is the 'spokesperson' for a certified terrorist group, the Mujahadeen-e Khalq (MEK). How do I know this? Because I bother to read and take time to research. In my reading/research I have come across the State Dept's list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), they are all designated 'black hats' and a patriotic US citizen should NEVER:

It is unlawful to provide funds or other material support to a designated FTO.
Representatives and certain members of a designated FTO can be denied visas or excluded from the United States.
US financial institutions must block funds of designated FTOs and their agents and must report the blockage to the US Department of the Treasury.
  • Topic Stats
  • Top Replies
  • Link to this Topic
Type: Discussion • Score: 1 • Views: 619 • Replies: 7
No top replies

 
Mr Stillwater
 
  1  
Reply Wed 16 Feb, 2005 08:00 pm
Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK or MKO)
a.k.a. The National Liberation Army of Iran (NLA, the militant wing of the MEK), the People's Mujahidin of Iran (PMOI), National Council of Resistance (NCR), Muslim Iranian Student's Society (front organization used to garner financial support)

Description
Formed in the 1960s by the college-educated children of Iranian merchants, the MEK sought to counter what it perceived as excessive Western influence in the Shah's regime. Following a philosophy that mixes Marxism and Islam, has developed into the largest and most active armed Iranian dissident group. Its history is studded with anti-Western activity, and, most recently, attacks on the interests of the clerical regime in Iran and abroad.

Activities
Worldwide campaign against the Iranian Government stresses propaganda and occasionally uses terrorist violence. During the 1970s the MEK staged terrorist attacks inside Iran and killed several US military personnel and civilians working on defense projects in Tehran. Supported the takeover in 1979 of the US Embassy in Tehran. In April 1992 conducted attacks on Iranian embassies in 13 different countries, demonstrating the group's ability to mount large-scale operations overseas. The normal pace of anti-Iranian operations increased during the "Operation Great Bahman" in February 2000, when the group claimed it launched a dozen attacks against Iran. During the remainder of the year, the MEK regularly claimed that its members were involved in mortar attacks and hit-and-run raids on Iranian military, law enforcement units, and government buildings near the Iran-Iraq border. The MEK also claimed six mortar attacks on civilian government and military buildings in Tehran.

Strength
Several thousand fighters based in Iraq with an extensive overseas support structure. Most of the fighters are organized in the MEK's National Liberation Army (NLA).

Location/Area of Operation
In the 1980s the MEK's leaders were forced by Iranian security forces to flee to France. Most resettled in Iraq by 1987. In the mid-1980s the group did not mount terrorist operations in Iran at a level similar to its activities in the 1970s. In the 1990s, however, the MEK claimed credit for an increasing number of operations in Iran.

External Aid
Beyond support from Iraq, the MEK uses front organizations to solicit contributions from expatriate Iranian communities.

State Dept list of FTOs
0 Replies
 
JustWonders
 
  1  
Reply Wed 16 Feb, 2005 08:05 pm
You saw them mentioned here (several pages ago).

http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1153994#1153994

I think there's more to this than meets the eye.
0 Replies
 
Mr Stillwater
 
  1  
Reply Wed 16 Feb, 2005 08:08 pm
Quote:
A senior lawmaker on the House International Relations committee has defended her ongoing support for a group the State Department says is a terrorist organization fighting against coalition troops in Iraq.

"This group loves the United States. They're assisting us in the war on terrorism; they're pro-U.S.," said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) in an interview with The Hill.
................
The group killed several Americans during the 1970s. It also participated in the 1979-1981 U.S. Embassy seizure in Tehran. In 1997, the MEK and its various appendages were designated a "foreign terrorist organization."

Last week, State Department spokesman Greg Sullivan told The Hill the MEK is considered "a combatant" and U.S. officials believe its soldiers "are undertaking some of the action in the south [of Iraq] where enemy combatants have disguised themselves as civilians.
..........................
Ros-Lehtinen dismissed the group's anti-American actions as "past history." She said, "It has no bearing on what is going on right now in the field."

"In no meeting or briefing I have ever attended has anyone called this group an anti-U.S., terrorist organization," she continued, adding that the group has provided useful intelligence to the U.S. government on Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Ros-Lehtinen further said that there is "wide support" in Congress for the MEK and that it will be "one of the leading groups in establishing secular government in Iran."

source
0 Replies
 
Brand X
 
  1  
Reply Wed 16 Feb, 2005 08:13 pm
Ileana seems to be the leader in wanting to support this group...but there have been some on both side of the isle.

Excerpt:



Quote:
FAILED GESTURE

Like other defenders of the group, Ros-Lehtinen said the decision to put the MEK on the terrorist list resulted from an attempt to gain favor with a reformist president, Mohammed Khatemi, elected in 1997.

''It was a goodwill gesture that failed,'' she said.

The Bush administration, which sees Iran as part of the ''axis of evil'' for its support of terrorism, recently credited the MEK with disclosing vital information about Iran's nuclear and missile programs.

But the administration continued the MEK's terrorist designation, and some of the group's earlier supporters in Congress are now retreating.

Ros-Lehtinen last fall sought colleagues' support for a letter praising the opposition group and asked the State Department to reconsider its terrorist label. She claimed 150 signatures but did not release the list.

The group's backers include Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Miami Republican, and such liberal Democrats as Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas and Gary Ackerman of New York.

In recent months, some House members asked that their names be taken off the letter, including Reps. Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio, and Richard Pombo, R-Calif.

The chairman and ranking Democrat on the International Relations Committee -- Henry Hyde and Tom Lantos respectively -- warned colleagues away from the MEK.

The MEK and the National Council ''are a well-funded, well-organized group, but they have now discredited themselves,'' said Rep. Bob Ney, a Ohio Republican who was an English teacher in Iran.

''They are a danger to our men and women fighting in Iraq right now,'' added Ney, who said ''only a handful'' in Congress back them now.

Equipped and protected by Hussein, the MEK's ''national liberation army'' of several thousand has launched forays into Iran from bases in Iraq, attacking police stations and assassinating some top Iranian military leaders. According to the State Department, the MEK helped Hussein crack down on Kurds and Shiites.

Last month, early in the invasion, U.S. forces bombed two MEK units near Baghdad, according to a defense intelligence officer who spoke on condition of anonymity. ''They were seen as a threat to coalition forces,'' the officer said.

Neither the State Department nor Central Command could confirm that the MEK had taken up arms against coalition forces.

Diaz-Balart said Tuesday he still backed the ''pro-democracy efforts'' of the National Council, but said he would retract support if it's shown that the group is involved ``in either anti-U.S. terrorism or combat against U.S. forces.''


Source
0 Replies
 
Mr Stillwater
 
  1  
Reply Wed 16 Feb, 2005 08:21 pm
Quote:
The National Council of Resistance, known for its articulate, well-financed lobbying efforts, once attracted the support of 220 House members and John Ashcroft before he became attorney general. Members of the group made sizable contributions to incumbents in the 1990s.

source

Hello!!! A dyed-in-the-wool terror group paying congressmen/women for influence in US foreign policy? Any laws broken here? Any blowback?


Am I the only one to think that if it was the Clinton Whitehouse or the French Parliament, President Numbnuts would be ranting and raving and how 'supporting a terrorist group is a criminal act against the United States of America and freedom everywhere'??.

Maybe it's time for Ms Ros-Lehtin to get a US-sponsered trip back to Cuba to explain her 'leanings' whilst enjoying the sunny hospitality of the US Marine Corp at Gitmo Bay.
0 Replies
 
Mr Stillwater
 
  1  
Reply Wed 16 Feb, 2005 08:23 pm
Brand X- it is 'aisle', couldn't work out which island you were referring to for a moment there.
0 Replies
 
Brand X
 
  1  
Reply Wed 16 Feb, 2005 08:25 pm
Mr Stillwater wrote:
Brand X- it is 'aisle', couldn't work out which island you were referring to for a moment there.


LOL! Thought you could use some land as you were drowning.
0 Replies
 
 

Related Topics

Obama '08? - Discussion by sozobe
Let's get rid of the Electoral College - Discussion by Robert Gentel
McCain's VP: - Discussion by Cycloptichorn
Food Stamp Turkeys - Discussion by H2O MAN
The 2008 Democrat Convention - Discussion by Lash
McCain is blowing his election chances. - Discussion by McGentrix
Snowdon is a dummy - Discussion by cicerone imposter
TEA PARTY TO AMERICA: NOW WHAT?! - Discussion by farmerman
 
  1. Forums
  2. » Terrorist group has Republican voice in Congress...
Copyright © 2023 MadLab, LLC :: Terms of Service :: Privacy Policy :: Page generated in 0.03 seconds on 03/25/2023 at 08:04:24