No need to arm the MEK
Reader comment on item: Unleash the Iranian Opposition[, the Mujahedeen-e Khalq]

Submitted by Alex George (Germany), Jul 11, 2007 at 13:51

Kudos for an insightful and refreshing piece whose message came through loud and clear: its the MEK stupid! Stop beating around the bush for a solution to the Iranian problem.

I am sure Dr. Pipes was able to attend the event and to convey to the Ameican public what the MEK is really all about.; not a bunch of shadowy terrorists as the Iranian Intelligence and Tehran's apologists try to portray them to be, but a group of dedicated, modern and forward looking patriots who have carried out the struggle despite Tehran's brutal suppression and the West's collusion with the regime.

There is really no need for the US to give the MEK any guns. All the US needs to do is to undo what the Clinton administration undertook in a foolhardy attempt to mollify the terrorist mullahs: delist the MEK. They did not belong on the list back in 1997 and they don't belogn there now, 10 years later. Once the chain of terror tag are removed, the MEK can really flex its might in unseating the mullahs.

Instead of fighting in court rooms, they can devote their energies to organize the opposition in the streets of Tehran and elsewhere and mobilize the young people and women who have been particularly victimized by the mullahs.

In some way, by shackling the MEK, the US has painted itself in a box. As much as the Tehran's tyrants oppress Iranians, interfere in Iraq, kill coalition troops, destabilize Lebanon and wreak havoc in Palestine, the State Department and Condi Rice lose no opportunity to beg to Tehran for talks.

Instead they should at least try to hear what the MEK has to say about the situation in Iran and what the proper course of action should be to overcome the fiasco in Iraq.

As long as the US keeps caging the MEK, the mullahs will even worry about the consequences of their rogue behavior.

International sanctions and tough talk must be coupled with removing the obstacles on the path of democratic change in Iran. The MEK is the catalyst for that change and the sooner the US recognizes this fact, the better its chances of turning the obvious failure in Iraq into a success. The road to democracy in the Middle East goes from Tehran to Baghdad and not vice versa.

Alex George

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but comments are rejected if scurrilous, off-topic, vulgar, ad hominem, or otherwise viewed as inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the Guidelines for Comments. For informational purposes, we identify countries from which comments are sent.