It has been a little over a month since one hundred and fifty U.S. congressmen came out in support of the Iranian Mujahideen Khalq (MKO), an opposition group both the Bush and Clinton administrations have called a terrorist organization.
The lawmakers, more than one third of the 432 current members of the House of Representatives, claimed that the Mujahideen were a legitimate resistance movement and should be removed from the State Department's list of "foreign terrorist organizations." To make matters worse, recently released White House documents show a top commander in President Bush's "war on terrorism" to also have been among the supporters of the notorious MKO: Attorney General John Ashcroft, who became involved with the MKO while a Republican senator from Missouri. The Attorney General liked to call them "Freedom Fighters."
Just to be clear, MKO/NCR are not nice people. And they are not freedom fighters.
The MKO, which originally fought to overthrow the Shah of Iran, were linked to the murder of several U.S. military officers in Iran in the 1970s and have "an extremely bloody history," according to one U.S. counter-terrorism official.
The goal of "removing a tyrannical regime from power" is one thing; supporting terrorism to accomplish that task is another.
The lawmakers, more than one third of the 432 current members of the House of Representatives, claimed that the Mujahideen were a legitimate resistance movement and should be removed from the State Department's list of "foreign terrorist organizations." To make matters worse, recently released White House documents show a top commander in President Bush's "war on terrorism" to also have been among the supporters of the notorious MKO: Attorney General John Ashcroft, who became involved with the MKO while a Republican senator from Missouri. The Attorney General liked to call them "Freedom Fighters."
Just to be clear, MKO/NCR are not nice people. And they are not freedom fighters.
The MKO, which originally fought to overthrow the Shah of Iran, were linked to the murder of several U.S. military officers in Iran in the 1970s and have "an extremely bloody history," according to one U.S. counter-terrorism official.
The goal of "removing a tyrannical regime from power" is one thing; supporting terrorism to accomplish that task is another.