'Tank girl' army (MKO - US allies) accused of torture

[muriel_volestrangler]

Guardian and Human Rights Watch find evidence of abuse by Iranian revolutionaries under US protection

A bizarre revolutionary army supported by British politicians who want more "regime change" in the Middle East, has been accused of torture and brainwashing.

Evidence obtained by the Guardian backs a report by Human Rights Watch. This makes detailed accusations of abuse, including deaths under interrogation, against the "People's Mujahideen" of Iran (MKO).

The Mujahideen are a 4000-strong anti-Iranian dissident army, currently under US protection in a camp in Iraq. They have a vociferous public relations campaign in Britain and the backing of some Washington neo-conservatives.

The group, known as the "tank girls" because of the preponderance of women in its ranks, has also won the support of the Daily Telegraph, which wants it to help overthrow the mullahs in Tehran. It says in a leader: "We should back the main resistance group, the People's Mujahideen ... Give them the tools and they will finish the job".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1495692,00.html

If this is accurate, then these people are vicious nutters who use Abu Ghraib-style torture on a regular basis.

[maddezmom]

1. frightening read

:scared:

~snip~
An advertisement by supporters in the Guardian last month quoted Labour peer Lord (Robin) Corbett, as well as Liberal Lord (David) Alton and Tory backbencher David Amess in support, along with human rights lawyers Imran Khan and Geoffrey Bindman.

However, the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, calls them a "a nasty terrorist organisation" and British officials are barred from contact. The Mujahideen are officially proscribed but their British backers want the terrorist designation lifted.

~snip~

At the time, the "tank girls" were being financed by Saddam Hussein in camps in Iraq. The army was allocated illicit cash from the UN oil-for-food programme, according to Iraqi ministry documents.

[kliljedahl]

2. Here's the report

http://hrw.org/backgrounder/mena/iran0505/

This link also is good: http://www.iran-interlink.org/

This group has been under US "protection" since we invaded Iraq. HMMMM!!


Keith’s Barbeque Central

[maddezmom]

3. hmmm, things that make you go hummmmmmmm

Saddam used to pay and support them, now we do....great. :eyes:

[daleo]

7. Just one more way Bush has become Saddam.

The list must be hundreds of items long by now.

[Roland99]

4. Is MKO the PNAC-supported group or was that MKE?

[NNN0LHI]

5. Google People's Mujahideen or MKO and John Ashcroft once

This is one of his pet projects.

Don

[maddezmom]

6. WOW,,,thanks for the hint

just a couple links

Ashcroft's Baghdad Connection
Thursday, 26 September, 2002
http://www.pepeace.org/current_reprints/16/Ashcrofts_Bagdhad_Connection.htm

Four Iranian brothers detained for supporting MKO terrorist group
Jun 7, 2004
AP - Los Angeles Times
http://www.iranian.ws/cgi-bin/iran_news/exec/view.cgi/2/2529

[NNN0LHI]

8. Check this out

http://www.terrorismcentral.com/Library/Government/US/StateDepartment/CounterterrorismOffice/patterns/1994/1994AppB.html

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 Mujahedin 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 is perceived as excessive Western influence in the Shah's regime. In the 1970s, the MEK - led by Masud Rajavi after 1978 - concluded that violence was the only way to bring about change in Iran. Since then, the MEK - 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
The MEK directs a worldwide campaign against the Iranian Government that stresses propaganda and occasionally uses terrorist violence. During the 1970s, the MEK staged terrorist attacks inside Iran to destabilize and embarrass the Shah's regime; the group killed several US military personnel and civilians working on defense projects in Tehran. In 1979 the group supported the takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran. In April 1992, the MEK carried out nearly simultaneous attacks on Iranian embassies in 13 different countries in North America, Europe, and the Pacific Rim. The attacks caused extensive property damage and demonstrated the group's ability to mount large-scale operations overseas. Iran's belief that the MEK was responsible for the bombing of the Mashhad Shrine and subsequent attacks against Iranian oil facilities led Tehran in November 1994 to launch attacks against an MEK base.

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. Since the mid-1980s, the MEK has not mounted terrorists operations in Iran at a level similar to its activities in the 1970s. Aside from the National Liberation Army's attacks into Iran toward the end of the Iran-Iraq war, and occasional NLA cross-border incursions since, the MEK's attacks on Iran have amounted to little more than harassment. The MEK has had more success in confronting Iranian representatives overseas through propaganda and street demonstrations.