Israeli secret service is training members of terrorist group People’s Mujahedin of Iran in Israel

[LVZ]

Beyond the obvious moral bankruptcy of supporting known terrorists, Israel might find a lesson in how quickly such groups can turn against their backers.

The US CIA's training of Afghani Mujahideen against the Soviets ultimately enabled what subsequent morphed into the Taliban, exploited by Osama Bin Laden, to turn our military and financial support disastrously against us. Our decade long CIA support of Saddam Hussein is another glaring example.

http://rockcenter.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/08/10354553-israel-teams-with-terror-group-to-kill-irans-nuclear-scientists-us-officials-tell-nbc-news

The group, the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), has long been designated as a terrorist group by the United States, accused of killing American servicemen and contractors in the 1970s and supporting the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran before breaking with the Iranian mullahs in 1980.

“The relation is very intricate and close,” said Mohammad Javad Larijani, a senior aide to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, speaking of the MEK and Israel. “They (Israelis) are paying … the Mujahedin. Some of their (MEK) agents … (are) providing Israel with information. And they recruit and also manage logistical support.”

Two senior U.S. officials confirmed for NBC News the MEK’s role in the assassinations, with one senior official saying, “All your inclinations are correct.” A third official would not confirm or deny the relationship, saying only, “It hasn’t been clearly confirmed yet.” All the officials denied any U.S. involvement in the assassinations.

Israel has long used assassination against its enemies, "hoping that by taking out individuals, they can alter, change the course of history," says Ronen Bergman, an Israeli commentator and author of "Israel's Secret War with Iran" and an upcoming book tentatively titled "Mossad and the Art of Assassination."

The U.S. suspicion of the MEK doesn’t end there. Law enforcement officials have told NBC News that in 1994, the MEK made a pact with terrorist Ramzi Yousef a year after he masterminded the first attack on the World Trade Center in New York City. According to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Yousef built an 11-pound bomb that MEK agents placed inside one of Shia Islam’s greatest shrines in Mashad, Iran, on June 20, 1994. At least 26 people, mostly women and children, were killed and 200 wounded in the attack.

[Angry Dragon]

1. Just who are the terrorists??

Hard to really know

[LVZ]

3. Have we really become so morally ambivalent about murderous cults?

MEK made a pact with terrorist Ramzi Yousef a year after he masterminded the first attack on the World Trade Center in New York City. According to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Yousef built an 11-pound bomb that MEK agents placed inside one of Shia Islam’s greatest shrines in Mashad, Iran, on June 20, 1994. At least 26 people, mostly women and children, were killed and 200 wounded in the attack.

Wikipedia:

On July 13, 2003, New York Times published an article that in 1991 when Saddam Hussein used the PMOI (MEK) and its tanks as advance forces to crush the Iraqi Kurdish people in the north and the Iraqi Shia people in the south, Maryam Rajavi as then leader of PMOI's army forces commanded: "Take the Kurds under your tanks, and save your bullets for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards."

Wikipedia:

According to the US State Department, the PMOI received all of its military support and most of its financial assistance from Saddam's government until the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.

"Human Rights Watch alleges that the Iranian exile group known as Mujahideen-e Khalq (MEK) has a history of cultlike practices that include forcing members to divorce their spouses and to engage in extended self-criticism sessions. More dramatically, the report states, former MEK members told Human Rights Watch that when they protested MEK policies or tried to leave the organization, they were arrested, in some cases violently abused and in other instances imprisoned. They were held in solitary confinement for years in a camp operated by MEK in Iraq under the protection of Saddam Hussein.

[leveymg]

4. During the US occupation of Iraq, MEK was kept at Camp Ashraf. Being moved to a former US

military base near Baghdad Airport, Camp Victory: http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/12/21/state_department_scrambling_to_move_the_mek_to_a_former_us_military_base

An alternate plan is to resettle this group in America and other western countries (Shudder).

The official could not say if there was any precedent for a group that the United States labels a foreign terrorist organization being housed in a facility built by the U.S. military with U.S. taxpayer dollars, but emphasized that all U.S. military installations have now been turned over to the Iraqi government. The Victory Base Complex near the airport has several facilities that could be used for the Camp Ashraf residents.

Nobody knows how many people are in Camp Ashraf, because nobody can go inside. The residents are also suspected to be well armed. There could be as many as 3,200 people there, according to the State Department. If they are evicted from the camp, some will voluntarily go back to Iran and some will go to other countries. Others still may not actually be MEK members but could be living there for their own reason, making their relocation easier, the official said. The unknown number of "card-carrying members" of the MEK who can't or won't be relocated are the ones who the United Nations and State are trying to move to the new camp.

The United Nations and the Iraqi government have agreed on the basic way forward, but the MEK is not on board, the State Department official said. The Iraqi government won't talk directly to the MEK, and the MEK leadership living in Paris may have different priorities than the people actually living in Camp Ashraf.

[DUIC]

5. One man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist

I hear that all the time. Anyone who considers Hamas and Hezbollah "freedom fighters" must equally conclude that MEK are "freedom fighters" as well.

[bemildred]

6. Apparently, the Israeli government disagrees. nt

[DUIC]

7. Do you agree or disagree?

nt

[bemildred]

8. I neither agree or disagree, I think it is a stupid thing to argue about.

Basically quibbleing over what bad names to call your enemies.

[jakeXT]

2. Reminds me of this guy

Lt. Gen. (ret.) Thomas McInerney told Fox, "Since Germany has backed out of helping economically, we do not have any other choice. ... They've forced us into the military option."

"I think the option should initially be tit-for-tat," McInerney went on. "For every explosively formed projectile from Iran that goes off in Iraq, two go off in Iran, no questions asked."


....

Although introduced by Fox merely as a military analyst, McInerney has been prominent for several years as an advocate of war against Iran and chairs the advisory council of the hardline Iran Policy Committee, known for its backing of the anti-Iranian terrorist group, MEK. McInerney was quoted in February 2005 as saying, &quot Bush) doesn't have any choice. "He understands (the Iranians) are the king of terror right now. They are striving for nuclear weapons that can get into the hands of terrorists, and then it's too late."
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Fox_US_makes_Iran_bombing_plan_0912.html