MASKS AND DECEPTIONS

“Whose needs do you statisfy?” ~ Loesje.

Politics is a disgusting business. It is so full of filth, deceit and hypocrisy that I understand why some people are attracted to anarchy, and, at times, it seems that there is no answer but anarchy.

This week, I noticed a little entry on Dragons Teeth that reminded me of the hypocrisy of the West in general and the US in particular, and the hypocrisy I mean is one that is directed at The List, the US State Department's official list of FTO's--that's Foreign Terrorist Organizations, for those of you with your eyes wide shut. The entry on Dragons Teeth should make everyone question the legitimacy of The List, what it really means and whom it really serves.

First of all, what does it take to get your organization placed on The List? Well, your organization has to be foreign, it has to engage in terrorism or retain the capability and intent to engage in terrorism or terrorist activity according to section 140 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989, and this activity must threaten the security of US nationals or the national security of the US. National security is further defined as including national defense, foreign relations or economic interests. More information is located on the US DOS website, here

The DOS page also includes The List. Item number 27 is Mujahedin-e Khalq, which brings us back to the information from Dragons Teeth and the mention of one Ali Reza Jafarzadeh as a political analyst of, get this: FOX News. If you don't realize it, FOX News has a huge reputation as a voice of the American neocon administration, so it becomes very interesting to read about Jafarzadeh's political pedigree and his lifelong devotion to MEK. A little research revealed that Jafarzadeh has created a seemingly legitimate face for himself at a place called Strategic Policy Consulting, Inc.

SPC has a page listing their 2005 media presence. There are 30 listings for FOX News, compared to 6 listings for other TV media. SPC (read: MEK) is also all over the radio broadcast waves, including ABC, PRI, and BBC. MEK's presence in print media can also be browsed from this page. You can also read Jafarzadeh's bio, but any information on him prior to his work as president of SPC and his designation as an official foreign affairs analyst for FOX is skimpy. But skimpy is too generous a word. . . Jafarzadeh's bio is nonexistent. To fill in the picture on Jafarzadeh, let me quote from Dragons Teeth:

Jafarzadeh quickly became a devoted member of the MKO and on the order of the organization's Ideological (or cult) Leader, Massoud Rajavi, married Robabeh Sadeghi of Babol, Iran, after she fled her country in 1986. In 1990, Massoud Rajavi ordered all MKO members to divorce for ideological reasons. Jafarzadeh and Sadeghi, were divorced on his command.

Jafarzadeh was such a committed member that he repeatedly volunteered for suicide operations. In the MKO publication No. 127, he is quoted as saying that he is ready to burn himself in front of the UN's New York office whenever it is needed for the MKO's cause.

In 1988, together with 15 other MKO members in the US, Jafarzadeh left for Iraq to participate in the Eternal Light military operation. He served in Hossein Abrishamchi's military unit in Iraq and undertook terrorist training in an Iraqi camp called Zaboli Camp. After the MKO's disastrous defeat in this operation, he was sent back to the US.

Jafarzadeh has something in common with Ahmedinejad; he is a murderer of Kurds:

In a press conference on 24 March 1991, Jafarzadeh explained the details of one particular MKO operation in Iraqi Kurdistan (Operation Morvarid). This was soon exposed, by Human Rights Watch among others, as the deliberate massacre of Kurdish civilians by the MKO on the direct orders of Saddam Hussein.

But he did it on the "direct orders of Saddam Hussein," so that's okay with the US and FOX News because that was back at the beginning of the 1990s, before the Gulf War, when Saddam was everyone's favorite butcher. Jafarzadeh even acted as a sort of ambassador for Saddam's mukhabarat.

In Jafarzadeh's on bio on himself, as president of SPC, we are told, "The international concerns about Iran’s nuclear weapons program has largely arisen from Jafarzadeh’s stunning revelations about 7 major previously secret nuclear sites, including the sites in Natanz, Arak, Karaj, Ab-Ali, and Tehran."

Stunning revelations?!! Why should anyone believe the "stunning revelations" of former Kurd-murderer and Saddam flunky, Jafarzadeh? But the phrase, "stunning revelations," takes on a whole different perspective if we consider what the American Naval Post Graduate School has to say about MEK:

The group’s worldwide campaign against the Iranian Government stresses propaganda and occasionally uses terrorism.

Notice that the MEK "stresses propaganda," while we have a lifetime member of MEK, Jafarzadeh, spinning "stunning revelations" on FOX, among others. Also notice that MEK only occasionally uses terrorism. . . not only against Kurds, but also Americans, as the NPS source goes on to say:

During the 1970s, the MEK killed US military personnel and US civilians working on defense projects in Tehran and supported the takeover in 1979 of the US Embassy in Tehran.

FOX News would have us believe the manufactured lies of the terrorist Kurd-murderer, Jafarzadeh and for what purpose? Why isn't Jafarzadeh on the US Treasury's list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons? There is more information on SDN's at this Treasury Department page, for anyone who wants to research and learn more for themselves.

How far has the terrorist Kurd-murderer, Jafarzadeh, ingratiated himself with the ruling elites in Washington? Ever hear of The Intelligence Summit? No? Have a read:

Welcome to the International Intelligence Summit, a non-partisan, non-profit, neutral forum that uses private charitable funds to bring together for the first time the intelligence agencies of the free world and the emerging democracies. The purpose of The Summit is to provide an opportunity for the international intelligence community to listen to and learn from each other, and to share ideas in the common war against terrorism. The Summit's Advisory Council includes former Directors of CIA, Generals, a former senior officer of the Mossad, and the former Chair of British Joint Intelligence Committee.

The list of presenters at The Summit will include many of the top leaders of the intelligence, espionage, counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence agencies from around the free world. The Summit is intended to be the most prestigious world conference on international studies, intelligence policy, terrorism, and homeland security.

Who is involved with The Intelligence Summit? None other than our very own MEK propagandist, Jafarzadeh. What a coincidence! Once again, Jafarzadeh's MEK pedigree is left out of the bio. Of course, in this case, I don't believe in coincidences. While you browse this defective bio, take a look at the list of other speakers for the February, 2006, Intelligence Summit program. But, hey! These guys are neutral. That's what they said, right?

Yeah, baby, I know I believe them.

What's the point? The point is that The List is only mildly entertaining and utterly meaningless. You have to have big lobbying bucks to get someone put on The List. This entire farce of the US government's support for MEK and terrorist Kurd-murderers like Jafarzadeh, his pet status with the current administration, the endorsement of MEK propaganda by the likes of FOX News, among others, is proof, beyond any reasonable doubt, that The List is a lie.

It's possible to get off The List, but only when your FTO of choice, or your SDN, can serve your national interests. Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress were removed. I guess it would be embarrassing for the US government to have any relations with South Africa while Nelson and the ANC are running it, so the US must have made this change in order to make itself look good. The idea has already been raised to remove MEK from The List. Again, this is only to make the US look good and to give legitimacy to any future plans for Iran.

MEK and their fanatic members, people who have targeted and murdered Americans in the past, are free to come and go in Washington. They are free to spread their propaganda among others who are lulled into complacency by endless video and commentary on garbage, like hours of speculation about which Hollywood star is screwing whom or which superstar athlete is being charged with the crime of the week.

Meanwhile, back in Kurdistan, a few thousand gerîla fighters, who have never taken up arms against Americans and have never thought of bearing arms against Americans, who defend the honor of the Kurdish people under Turkish occupation, are labeled as "terrorists." Where were all the Americans and Europeans to defend these Kurds against the atrocities committed against them? The West is like a spectator at an ancient Roman game. Thumbs up--Kurds can live. Thumbs down--Kurds can die. All depends on the whim, the national security or economic interests of the spectator. Worse, it can all depend on the whim of self-absorbed, selfish idiots, like Ambassador Joe Wilson.

It is past the time of permitting others to determine the survival, or not, of the Kurdish people.

The fact is that no one is going to come to the help of Kurds so it does not pay to wait for help, nor does it pay to worry about the labels that others put on Kurds or Kurdistan in any part of its occupation. It is time to work for the interests of the Kurdish nation and, if the interests of others coincides, then there can be collaboration. If the interests of others conflicts, let there be no appeasement. Let us make sure that we serve our own needs first.