[FREE IRAN Project] In The Spirit Of Cyrus The Great Forum Index [FREE IRAN Project] In The Spirit Of Cyrus The Great
Views expressed here are not necessarily the views & opinions of ActivistChat.com. Comments are unmoderated. Abusive remarks may be deleted. ActivistChat.com retains the rights to all content/IP info in in this forum and may re-post content elsewhere.
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Mehdi Zand condemns Khatami's UK visit and Honorary Degree
Goto page Previous  1, 2
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    [FREE IRAN Project] In The Spirit Of Cyrus The Great Forum Index -> Noteworthy Discussion Threads
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Eternal1



Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Posts: 52

PostPosted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 9:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is deeply disturbing, and I'm sorry for your family, and I am sadened by the fact that although we are living in the 21st century these acts of brutality are still a very real (but rarely covered by the media) part of modern life in certain parts of the world.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
James McAllister



Joined: 01 Oct 2006
Posts: 9
Location: United States

PostPosted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 6:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Who in any state of mind would align themselves with such A tyrant!!! I am agast with the very thought of honoring A man that sleeps in the devil's bed!!!
He condemns women to death and condones rape and torture...he is the devils seed and the degree this fool has is one of evil!!! Mad
_________________
Men that believe women are property to be handled as they see fit are ignorant, small minded fools!!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
blank



Joined: 26 Feb 2004
Posts: 1672

PostPosted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 5:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I believe the Islamic thugs of Iran should look at Sadam when he is hanging from the gallows and see that as their own fate.


Liberty can be achieved only by spilling the blood of tyrants.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
blank



Joined: 26 Feb 2004
Posts: 1672

PostPosted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 1:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Everyone should send an e-mail to CNN Lou Dobbs, and reveal the real job of AmirAhmadi, lobbying for the IRI.

*******
From: "sosiran97" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
To: Undisclosed-Recipient@,
Subject: Fw: Prof. Amirahmadi on CNN, Today, Tuesday, November 28, about 6:30 pm
Date: Tue, 28 Nov 2006 16:45:42 -0800

There we go again. The top-dog mullah-appeaser will be on CNN again while few fake opposition members are chasing MadTV, Mr. Moshiri and others.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----- Original Message -----
From: American Iranian Council
To:
Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 1:37 PM
Subject: Prof. Amirahmadi on CNN, Today, Tuesday, November 28, about 6:30 pm


Dear Friends of the American Iranian Council,

Professor Hooshang Amirahmadi will be interviewed on Lou Dobbs Tonight program of CNN, sometimes between 6 pm to 7 pm, US Eastern Time, Today, Tuesday, November 28. The subject covers the role of Iran in Iraq.

Hooshang Amirahmadi is a Rutgers Professor and Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and President of American Iranian Council. This notification is being sent to friends of AIC as a courtesy notification of his television appearance. Please also know that sometimes the subject for programming is changed at the last minute due to breaking headline news.

American Iranian Council
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
blank



Joined: 26 Feb 2004
Posts: 1672

PostPosted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 5:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

These are just a very few of a large number of IRI supporters, lobbyists, misinformation machine, that keeps this regime in power.
Hope someday every single one of them would be tried for treason....
*****************************************


From: "sosiran97" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
To: Undisclosed-Recipient@,
Subject: Read about CASMII, Amirahmadi, Gary Sick, Soraya Ulrich, Vali Nasr and more ...
Date: Sat, 25 Nov 2006 02:01:38 -0800

In case anyone knows Professor Zucker's email address, please forward him the attached document which I've compiled regarding CASMII operatives. Oh, when reading the attached and when you reach Hamid Dabashi in that document, don't forget to read this by Gateway Pundit about Dabashi's possible inflitration in James Baker's Commission.
Siavash

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=2300&cid=2&sid=4

Iran's Foreign Agents of Disinformation: More About VEVAK

Professor Daniel M. Zucker - 11/17/2006

In September I presented a report (Iran's VEVAK: Disinformation, Inc., GP, September 17, 2006; see also http://www.iranterror.com/content/view/229/46/) about Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), or VEVAK as it is known in Farsi. For those who did not see that article, I suggest that a look at its first section will be helpful in order to understand VEVAK's methodologies and operating procedures. The essay obviously hit a sensitive nerve in Iran as a variety of regime web sites and one of its agents issued belligerent replies. I would like now to continue to discuss a variety of individuals and groups that serve the Islamic Republic of Iran as agents for disseminating VEVAK's program of disinformation.

Our first subject is Kam Zarrabi, a naturalized Iranian who came to the United Stares in 1956 to study at UCLA before returning to Iran to work in the oil industry for the Shah's government. Mr. Zarrabi left Iran in 1979 and claims to be non-religious. His writings are political and invariably suggest that Iran is not a threat to either the United States or Israel. In article after article Zarrabi suggests that the US should come to terms with Tehran and distance itself from Israel. In a shrewd attempt at masking their intentions, he attacks Vali Nasr and Ali Gheissari for their article in the December 13, 2004 New York Times entitled "Foxes in Iran's Henhouse". But despite this "attack" on the two Iranian academics, Zarrabi's bottom line is similar - the US should not confront Iran but rather come to an accommodation with the regime.

Like the traditional VEVAK agent, he tells the truth 80% of the time and bends it sideways or upside down about 20%. When he lies, he doesn't lack for hutzpah, the following being a good example of "reality according to Zarrabi: "Curiously, no mention has ever been made of the fact that not a single American has ever been killed, not even by mistake, by an Iranian anywhere in the world; while the same is not true of the Saudis, Egyptians, Israelis, Colombians, Iraqis, Afghans, etc, etc." ("Speaking of Tolerance", Asia Times Online, March 22, 2005) It seems that Mr. Zarrabi has conveniently justified himself by the fact that VEVAK traditionally covers its tracks by using proxies. He certainly is sidestepping the fact that Iran is supplying the arms, munitions, funding, training and direction to the Shiite militias in Iraq that are causing a high percentage of American military fatalities and casualties in Iraq, and have been doing so since late 2003. However, it seems that Zarrabi's memory has had a lapse; the following was published in Iran Focus on August 14, 2005: The attack [on the Marine barracks in Beirut] killed 241 U.S. service members. Two years ago, a U.S. federal court order identified the suicide bomber as Ismail Ascari, an Iranian national. In July 1987, Iran's then-Minister of Revolutionary Guards, Mohsen Rafiqdoost, said, "Both the TNT and the ideology which in one blast sent to hell 400 officers, NCOs, and soldiers at the Marines headquarters were provided by Iran".

If Mr. Zarrabi is not an employee of VEVAK, he must be a "true believer" as he is a good spokesman for the policy objectives of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a fine apologist for the regime. However, as far as his commitment to a democratic Iran is concerned, that seems to be a different story.

Our next subject is Hooshang Amirahmadi, founder and president of the American

Iranian Council. Amirahmadi, born in Iran and completing his undergraduate studies in 1969 in Tabriz, continued his education in the US but maintained ties with his homeland, receiving scholarships from Tehran. The change in regimes did not seem to cause him problems as he has done economics research for the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Plan and Budget, published in Tehran in 1986 and 1991, as well as written for a variety of ministries in the early 1990s and served as consultant to the Center for Scientific Research and Middle East Strategic Studies, a think tank in Tehran in 1994. Last year (June 2005) he returned to Iran to run as a candidate in the presidential elections, saying: "I have never done anything against the Islamic Republic of Iran", which however, did not stop his disqualification from candidacy by the Guardian Council because of his American citizenship.
Amirahmadi has consistently called for dialogue and accommodation with the regime, suggesting that it has been a belligerent American policy that rebuffed all of Tehran's overtures that is the cause of the present impasse with the Islamic Republic, and that it is only through constructive engagement that Iran can be transformed over time into a democracy. Like his less sophisticated compatriot, Kam Zarrabi, Amirahmadi blames Israel for the tensions between Tehran and Jerusalem, conveniently forgetting that it is Ahmadinejad, Khameneí, and Rafsanjani that have threatened to wipe Israel off of the map and not Olmert, Sharon or Netanyahu that threaten to send Iran back into the stone age. Again, it may be that Amirahmadi is not on the VEVAK payroll, but his lengthy history of service to the current regime and his longstanding avowed policy of reconciliation with the present regime indicate his being what used to be termed a "fellow traveler". When the regime's support of anti-American terrorism is so well documented, today such a position as Amirahmadi's seems to reveal to whom and where are his real loyalties and sympathies.

Iranian born, American reared and educated Karim Sadjadpour, based until late 2005 in Tehran, first as a journalist for National Geographic and for the past three years as an analyst for the International Crisis Group, a Brussels based international liberal think tank, is next on the list. Sadjadpour's frequent and long sojourns in Iran should cause us to ask how he is permitted by the regime to report about it without its approval. Remember, censorship and managed news is the order of business in the Islamic Republic of Iran. No one gets past the censor's red ink. Foreigners that offend the regime are invited to leave immediately if not preceded by a detour to prison, and don't receive return visas. But Karim doesn't offend the regime; he defends it by saying that the United States can only deal with Iran by opening up direct diplomatic relations with the regime and assuring Tehran that regime change is not on the agenda. By continually discrediting any of the opposition groups both in- and outside of Iran, Sadjadpour sets the equation as a binary choice between confrontation (including the possibility of use of the military) or diplomatic and economic engagement which he claims will help promote reforms and the development of democracy in Iran. I guess that our experience with China is not a relevant example for Sadjadpour, but in my book, more than thirty years of engagement with China has not done much in the way of democratizing that country. It has made China a burgeoning super-power that has surpassed Russia, but as for democracy, no such luck. Indeed, since Sadjadpour's May 18th testimony before the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, the limited attempts at engagement offered by Secretary of State Rice and the 5+1 have resulted in nothing but more belligerent and bellicose talk from Ahmadinejad and a total refusal to stop unclear enrichment. The regime has changed the signals on its front-man without informing him.

Our next subjects are Ardeshir and Eleanor Ommani, founders two years ago of the American-Iranian Friendship Committee. Ardeshir is an Iranian-American who has been in this country for decades but who returned to Iran during the 1979-1980 revolution as well as this past spring along with his wife Eleanor Ommani. Both the Ommani's political stances match the Tudeh (Iranian Communist) Party in that they support ultra-leftist workers' party political goals and yet defend the Khameneí theocratic regime. In a recent article, Eleanor Ommani attacked leftist feminist Jennifer Fasulo for her op-ed that criticized Hugo Chavez's support for Iran as a sell out of women's rights. Defending the Venezuelan strong-man as a true socialist and friend of Castro, Ommani also defended the Islamic Republic in its treatment of women. Her defense of the IRI was one that would make Massoumeh Ebtekar ("Tehran Mary") proud.

Ms. Ommani tries to gloss over the fact that the IRI continues to practice stoning for the crime of adultery, calling it “the rare and out-dated practice of stoning”. But as Ommani knows, this barbaric practice still takes place--a man and a woman were stoned to death just this past May in Mashad and another nine women and two men await such execution (according to the state-run daily "Rooz") - and stoning is enshrined in the IRI's law code (it applies to both genders, but as Moslem men are permitted polygamy, relations with an unmarried woman is not considered adultery). Citing statistics of Iran's successful birth control and family planning campaign as well as Iran's progressive laws concerning maternity leave, and the integration of female students into the educational system, Ommani attempts to paint a picture of Iran as a completely progressive society. Indeed, Iran has made great progress in these areas. However, she conveniently ignores or forgets that which she doesn't want to admit: Ahmadinejad has just begun a new campaign to once again substantially increase the Iranian population. Ommani also fails to mention that the IRI regards women's testimony in court as carrying only half the weight of that of a man, and that a similar ratio applies as to the value of a woman's life. So too, Ommani "forgets" that women have virtually no rights to their children in cases of divorce, or that women must receive the written and notarized permission of a male relative (husband or father) to be able to travel abroad. Ommani neglects to mention that all buses are segregated by gender (women sit in the rear), all Islamic prayer rooms strictly segregated, and that segregated instruction in schools and segregated seating at the universities is the way of the IRI. Ommani also neglects to mention that all medical treatment is strictly segregated, that women may not sing alone in public, or for that matter, be seen in public with a male who is not their relative. Ommani makes no mention of the strict enforcement of the hejab laws which require all women in Iran to be covered from head to ankle with only hands and face visible on pain of lashes (or imprisonment for multiple offenses).

Ommani also skips over the Shiite practice of "sigheh" ("mutaah") temporary marriage(many in Iran and abroad would term it a legalized form of prostitution) which permits men to take an unlimited number of temporary wives (for as short a period as an hour) but which is regarded as adultery if the woman is already married. Men may contract such "marriages" at any time, but women must wait three monthly cycles between such marriages to prove that they are not pregnant. Should the temporary husband die before the termination date of the marriage, the woman does not inherit from him. Ommani neglects to mention that the IRI reverted legally to the old Islamic view that girls are regarded as reaching majority age for the purpose of marriage at age nine, and may even wed earlier if both fathers give consent! Ommani also has conveniently overlooked the new law passed by the Majlis since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became president that prohibits women from owning and running any business by themselves; all businesses, including restaurants, require a male partner in order currently to conform to the law.

Ms. Ommani demonstrates her “objectivity” when she portrays the IRI’s terrorist proxy Hizballah, as the innocent victim of Israeli aggression. Eleanor: "fess up - it's time to admit that you are an agent of a foreign government!
Ardeshir Ommani, like his wife Eleanor, has a distinct attitude of "workers of the world, unite!", which would seem to suggest that he be critical of the theocratic IRI regime which has not only refused to allow the bus drivers of Tehran to unionize, but also has arrested and imprisoned the group's leaders. The same story applies as regards the Mine and Industry Commission's anti-labor approach to the mine workers from eastern Tehran and Keraj. But this is not the case! Just like the old Iranian communist Tudeh Party which sold out on its socialist principles and backs the IRI regime, so does Ardeshir Ommani defend the IRI, describing it as a modern, independent nation fighting the imperialist United States! Like his wife, he claims that women are not debilitated (his words) in their social status in the Islamic Republic. He also defends the regime's nuclear program, calling it popular and the absolute right of the Iranian nation. Like his wife, he neglects the poll that found over two thirds of Iranians opposed to the expenditures involved in the current enrichment program. His opposition to the Iraq war should come as no surprise, but the fact that he fails to suggest that an immediate withdrawal will leave Iraq in even greater chaos demonstrates that he is following Khamenei's party line in order that Iran have a free hand in turning Iraq into a carbon copy of Iran. Shame on both the Ommanis for failing to admit that Iraqi women have suffered a reversal of their civil rights not because of the fall of Saddam Hussein but because the Iranian trained and supplied Shiite militias (SICRI's Badr Organization and al-Sadr's Justani al-Mahdi) have forcibly applied Sharia (Islamic law) upon the regions they control which includes almost all the southern half of Iraq. The Ommanis prove that the world is round: the far left comes and supports the fascist Islamist mullah regime of Tehran. Are the Ommanis paid by VEVAK? They know what is the truth as regards this question, but they definitely are helping VEVAK to do its job of disseminating disinformation.

Our next subject is an entire group, and especially its leaders. I refer to CASMII the Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran" (www.campaigniran.org) which was founded by Professor Abbas Edalat in London on December 1, 2005, with a branch in the US headed by Rostam Pourzal and includes Behrad Nakha and Daniel M Pourkesali among its board-members. CASMII is connected to similar groups throughout Europe. Whereas military intervention in Iran may be proscribed by many in the United States and the wisdom and efficacy of sanctions can be debated for many hours, it is the support for the positions of the Islamic Republic of Iran that gives away the real identity of this group. It is a cleverly disguised front for the IRI and engaged in promoting VEVAK's disinformation campaign. Let's take a look at some of its "information". In an editorial entitled "Opposing Theocratic Repression in Iran or Playing into the Hands of US Warmongers?" from June 11, 2006, the anonymous writer at CASMII wrote:

"The US and Israel are intent to deprive Iran of its 'inalienable right' under Article IV of the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) to develop a civilian nuclear program -- a right which belongs collectively to the nation and which will benefit each individual. It is this 'inalienable right' which CASMII is striving to defend and which must be granted to Iran as a sovereign nation."

If such were indeed the case, the US would have worked to prevent the building of the nuclear plant at Busheir. It is the history of Iran's long clandestine nuclear research program (eighteen years of secrecy) coupled with Iran's lack of genuine cooperation with the IAEA in permitting full access to all sites that has driven

the US and EU concerns. Ahmadinejad's threats to Israel's existence have not done anything to help the matter either, however well they sit with his Pasdaran cronies. The CASMII editorial counters with the following statement:

“The west is accusing Iran of having a covert nuclear program, an accusation used by the US and Israel to justify sanctions and military intervention in Iran. However, hundreds of intrusive snap visits in three years by the inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, when the Iranian government accepted to enforce IAEA safeguards well beyond the Additional Protocol, have failed to produce any shred of evidence of this.” The operative word in the above statement is found in the middle of the second sentence and is the word "when". When the IRI allowed IAEA inspections, it did not find clear evidence of military usage, but the inspections were not carried out at all times that the IAEA wanted to hold them. The editorial continues, giving away the real concerns of CASMII: "Today, we are witnessing a far graver interference: the threat of military action and regime change by the US neoconservatives who condemn the repressive regime" of a handful of "unelected clerics" in Iran and vow to support the Iranian people to liberate themselves from the "tyranny of the mullah."

Wow! If one condemns the repressive regime of a handful of unelected mullahs, vowing to support the Iranian people to liberate themselves from the tyranny of the mullahs, one must be the enemy! CASMII could hardly be clearer; its members don't want to see a regime change that would end the current Islamic government controlled by the mullahs!

The CASMII editorial, a commentary on the Iran Petition Letter of the "Campaign for Peace and Democracy", criticizes it, saying:

"However, by giving even more weight to an analysis of 'repression' in Iran and by calling for a regime change by the people of Iran when the US military attack is imminent your petition severely undermines its opposition to the warmongers and unwittingly aids the chorus in the western media in the prelude to a new war. Our foremost task in the west is to fight against the imperial aspirations of our own governments and in this effort we should not assist the imperial bandwagon in publicly condemning a sovereign country for lack of democracy when it could soon be facing a military attack by the US."

Did I read correctly? CASMII says: "We should not assist the imperial bandwagon in publicly condemning a sovereign country for lack of democracy." In other words, don't criticize the IRI, and certainly not for its dismal human rights record (the Islamic Republic of Iran has been condemned 52 times by the U.N. for its abuse of human rights). Who but a spokesman for the IRI would write such a line?

CASMII's republication of the pro-regime website Peyvand article by Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich, entitled "MEK, the West, and Iran" (November 1, 2006) and her cooperation with CASMII leaders in writing articles demonstrate CASMII's role as propagandist for the IRI. Her article attacks the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) in a manner that is only done by the regime, because only the regime has any real reason to fear the MEK. Sepahpour-Ulrich claims that the vast majority of Iranians hate the MEK, but the facts are otherwise. The MEK's disclosures of Iran's secret nuclear program and details of its missile program have only been possible because of the extensive cooperation of many ordinary Iranians within the country with members of the MEK to supply the necessary information for these revelations to take place. So too, the appearance of placards with the photos of the MEK leaders, Massoud and Maryam Rajavi, at anti-regime rallies in Tehran and other Iranian cities demonstrates the popularity of the MEK. Remember: to be caught with such a placard in hand is to receive a one way ticket to the notorious Evin Prison, and frequently an appointment with the gallows. And yet the placards appear.

CASMII, in its efforts to connect with the left-wing anti-war movement in this country and internationally, serves the purposes of the Islamic Republic which wants to remove American and British--indeed all Western—influence from the Persian Gulf region. Even more than the Ommanis, the members of CASMII are serving the interests of the Iranian regime. Their training and techniques indicate their familiarity with VEVAK. VEVAK's chief, cabinet minister Hojatoleslam Gholam-Hussein Mohseni-Ezhei, must be very pleased with what they are trying to do for the regime.

Our final subject is Gary G. Sick. While not a direct agent of VEVAK, Sick has done more to assist the Tehran mullah government than any other non-Iranian American since Oliver North and Robert McFarlane. Dr. Sick, formerly at the NSC during the presidencies of Ford, Carter and Reagan, now is Adjunct Professor of International Affairs at Columbia University and chairs Human Rights Watch's Middle East Advisory Committee. Dr. Sick has consistently criticized US foreign policy for not dialoging with the IRI. Sick has suggested that dialogue will bring Tehran to modify its animosity towards this country and the West in general, and will also cause it to promote liberalization in the area of human rights and civil liberties. As the EU has been engaged in dialogue with the regime for decades without any apparent success "indeed Ahmadinejad's presidency witnesses a regression in these area" why should an Iranian-American dialogue fair any better? Sick has been recorded being interviewed by Iranian state television stating that he knows that the IRI's nuclear program is strictly "kosher".

His chairmanship of Joe Stork's HRW Middle East Advisory Committee produced the May 18, 2005, bogus report of human rights abuse among the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) ("No Exit: Human Rights Abuses Inside the Mojahedin Khalq Camps") which was based on telephone interviews with known agents of VEVAK, several of whom claimed to be in Iraq "in MEK captivity" at times that they were known to be elsewhere. Amongst other proof of the salacious nature of the HRW report is the testimony of US Army officers in charge of Camp Ashraf who totally contradict the HRW report. Similar salacious reports were issued by HRW in 1992 and 1997, the 1997 report being tossed out by the UN special rappateour for Iraq as "fictional". The 1992 report was answered by MEK leader Massoud Rajavi who invited Joe Stork and HRW to come to any of the MEK camps in Iraq to investigate "on site" for themselves; HRW never responded to Mr. Rajavi's invitation. HRW's February 15, 2006 review of the criticisms of last year's “report” did nothing to correct its shoddy methodology; in essence, it was a self-appointed whitewash. For what it is worth, Daniel Pipes of the Middle East Forum had this to say about Dr. Sick: "When commenting on America 's dealings with Iran, Sick has often expressed sympathy with Tehran's oppressive, terrorism-sponsoring Islamic fundamentalist regime. While characterizing the Bush administration as 'belligerent', he lauds the Iranian government for being "meticulous in complying with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty". He also opposes allowing American victims of Iranian-sponsored terrorism to sue Tehran for damages."
Gary Sick has proven himself to be a friend of the regime. Without access to his financial records it's hard to tell why. But for someone who served in the NSC during the 1979-1981 444 day Tehran embassy hostage crisis, friendship towards the regime seems a strange position to take.

Update on Dr. Vali Reza Nasr: Baztab, the VEVAK website, carried an article by former Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC/Pasdaran) chief Mohsen Rezai (now Secretary of the IRI's State Expediency Council) on October 26, 2006 praising Nasr's rise to prominence as an expert on Shiite political power. The article notes that both Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have met with Nasr, but that Nasr's advice that the US should accept Iran as a regional power, and start negotiations and come to terms with Iran's leaders has not yet been accepted as yet. Rezai calls Nasr's policy recommendations as "realistic and inclusive" as they accord the Shiites more power, as opposed to Orientalist Bernard Lewis' approach that gave greater control to the Sunni with hopes to democratize Iraq and the region. Rezai's article has disappeared from Baztab in the last few days, but it seems that he feels Vali Nasr is doing a good job. Given Rezai's background and his current position in the regime, we should wonder why Nasr is receiving his approval. Looks like Vali is telling it just like Tehran wants it told.

Professor Daniel M. Zucker is a Chairman of Americans for Democracy in the Middle-East.


Last edited by blank on Wed Jan 17, 2007 7:02 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
AmirN



Joined: 23 Sep 2005
Posts: 297

PostPosted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 9:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Update on Dr. Vali Reza Nasr: Baztab, the VEVAK website, carried an article by former Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC/Pasdaran) chief Mohsen Rezai (now Secretary of the IRI's State Expediency Council) on October 26, 2006 praising Nasr's rise to prominence as an expert on Shiite political power. The article notes that both Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have met with Nasr, but that Nasr's advice that the US should accept Iran as a regional power, and start negotiations and come to terms with Iran's leaders has not yet been accepted as yet. Rezai calls Nasr's policy recommendations as "realistic and inclusive" as they accord the Shiites more power, as opposed to Orientalist Bernard Lewis' approach that gave greater control to the Sunni with hopes to democratize Iraq and the region. Rezai's article has disappeared from Baztab in the last few days, but it seems that he feels Vali Nasr is doing a good job. Given Rezai's background and his current position in the regime, we should wonder why Nasr is receiving his approval. Looks like Vali is telling it just like Tehran wants it told.



Thanks for the informative link, blank. Ive taken a curious interest in this Nasr character ever since his articles started appearing, which sounded like exactly what the Mullahs want the West to believe. It seems that my original suspicion that he is their lackey is essentially confirmed.

Ill repost this paragraph in the Rejecting Talks with Islamic Fascists, since I posted replies to his articles in there.
_________________
I am Dariush the Great King, King of Kings, King of countries containing all kinds of men, King in this great earth far and wide, son of Hystaspes, an Achaemenian, a Persian, son of a Persian, an Aryan, having Aryan lineage

Naqshe Rostam
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
blank



Joined: 26 Feb 2004
Posts: 1672

PostPosted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 4:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

: "sosiran97" <sosiran97> Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
To: sorayau@earthlink.net, TIMES@iranian.com
Subject: Compulsive Appeasement
Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2006 00:55:29 -0800

Ms. Sepahpour-Ulrich is so eager to appease the clerical regime of Iran that she puts innocent Iranian people in danger of more pain and suffering



Ms. Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich:

In response to your Blind ambition http://www.iranian.com/Opinion/2006/December/Pahlavi110/index.html published on www.iranian.com and your baseless accusation against Mr. Pahlavi for pleading with warmongers, I must say that I admire you for having found yourself a better writer. However, it appears that you lack a fair and sound judgment perhaps needing an assistance to help you read Mr. Pahlavis writing once more and to understand it more clearly.

When Mr. Pahlavi stated:

"Terrorism is like an octopus whose weakness is the eyes in Tehran . If the U.S. wants to kill this octopus, it should start in Tehran.

He is correct that the eye of the terrorism (the regime of Iran ) resides in Tehran and to kill such octopus is through its eyes. However, to suggest that by this statement he meant for Iran to be bombed or attacked, is another clever type of disinformation that you and your colleagues at CASMII like to spread against opposition groups.
Millions of Iranians know that Mr. Pahlavi and all true opposition members are against military intervention and against bombing of Iran as we advocate Iran s integrity but fight the Iranian regime. However, there are several ways to kill the octopus, of which one is for Iranians to unite and with the moral support of world community to eradicate the beast from Iran .

For the majority of the readers, it is no longer a secret that you and your colleagues at CASMII are very much against opposition groups to unite as we know pro-Mullah lobbyists entities like NIAC and AIC are also against the opposition groups to receive any moral or financial support from the world community while AIC http://www.american-iranian.org/home.php?mains=10&subs=172 is hypocritically receiving financial support from foreign companies. Did you say Ambition and Betrayal?!
In addition to the above, it is also a public knowledge that NIAC http://www.niacouncil.org/board.asp and CASMII http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/index.php?q=node/70 enjoy the same Treasurer, namely Mr. Alex Patico. We are also not that ignorant that the founder of CASMII is Mr. Abbas Edalat who is the so-called professor at Sharif University in Tehran at the same University that Abbas Maleki is attending. Abbas Maleki was also the Deputy Minister of Rafsanjani for his entire 8-year term. There was also news that President of U.S. Branch of CASMII, Rostam Pourzal, attended a Forum in Portland Oregon in which Abbas Maleki was also scheduled to attend but at the last moment changed his plan (possibly due to Iranians protesting against his visit). Would you say all this networking and connections are not by design and Abbas Edalat of CASMII and Abbas Maleki were not in touch to plan this trip or was simply another accident?!

It is not a secret either how individuals like you oppose the two major rivals of the Iranian regime, namely the MEK and Monarchists. In fact if Iran, god forbid, is ever attacked, it is solely due to the supporters of the Mullah regime who have tirelessly worked outside and inside Iran not to allow Iranian opposition groups to unite. If Iran is ever attacked, I will hold responsible all the pro-mullah entities and individuals for such dire tragedy.
You said it all when you stated:

All the Iranians in exile and indeed those within her boarders who fight for Iran s integrity, do so not because their ideology is compatible with the regimes (although indeed some may be), but because they are patriots.

Did you say patriots? Ms. Sepahpour-Ulrich, unlike you, not only all patriotic Iranians proudly wave the ancient "Lion & Sun" flag of Iran, they will not pause for a moment in their quest for toppling the regime whose leaders are wrapping Palestinian rags around their neck. You see, you cleverly avoided admitting that countless exiles are fighting the Iranian regime and instead used the phrase fight for Iran s integrity. Would I be correct that you are one of those exiles outside Iran whose ideology is compatible with the Mullah regime? Frankly, it is not that peculiar to come to this conclusion when one reads the last paragraph of your past article http://www.payvand.com/news/05/apr/1091.html
stating:
However, in its 25 years of inception, the Islamic Republic has not betrayed Iran
Islamic Republic never betrayed Iran?! Were you missing a competent writer when you wrote that article, was it simply a bad advisor or was an order from the above? In the first paragraph of the same article you wrote:

...better a monkey than the Shah or as they literally said: a dog would be better than the Shah.. The 1979 revolution saw their wish fulfilled as it chased many Iranians into exile along with the Shah

I agree that in 1979 dogs and monkeys replaced the Shah but I'm baffled how, as an exiled, you could still support the same dogs and monkeys! If you called those who supported the shah as his cronies can we also call you a crony of the Terrorist regime of Iran and if Shah had tortured Iranians by SAVAK isn't the Dog and Monkey regime of Mullahs torturing Iranians by VEVAK in factor of thousand ?

Although Im neither a Monarchist nor an advocate of MEK, it was indeed very educational but not surprising to see your name next to other mullah appeasers in an article called: Iran's Foreign Agents of Disinformation: More About VEVAK.

Lets hope Iranian.com is unbiased and democratic enough by valuing the right of pen equally and to allow this response to also be published.


Siavash

A Human Rights Activist, a member of SOSIRAN and an advocate for a secular system of government for Iran similar to America

P.S. This is being copied to many friends throughout America , Europe and Iran
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
blank



Joined: 26 Feb 2004
Posts: 1672

PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 5:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

As everyone can see below, Iranian.com is one sided biased website, that would only publish articles from people that match their own ideology. Feel free to write to them and express your opinion. b.




Printable View This message is not flagged. [ Flag Message - Mark as Unread ]

From: "sosiran97" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
To: TIMES@iranian.com
CC: "freeandseculariran" <freeandseculariran@yahoogroups.com>, "sosiran" <sosiran@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Re: Compulsive Appeasement
Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2006 23:33:54 -0800

Dear Mr. Jahanshah Javid, Founder and Owner of www.iranian.com:

As it can be seen below, I sent you my response to Ms. Sepahpour's article while ago. As it can also be noted by the attached verification and confirmation, it appears that you have indeed received my below response related to Ms. Sepahpour's recent article.

For your information, I'm a patriotic Iranian and unlike Ms. Sepahpour who is being supported by ex-Board Member of NIAC, namely Nader Rastegar, in a group so appropriately called traitorsusa (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/traitorsusa/message/15080), I do not support the Mullah regime of Iran and I do not advocate negotiation or collaboration with the Mullah murderers.
As many of my friends who are also being Bcc'd here, have been anxiously waiting for my writing to be published on your online news media, could you be kind enough and let me know as to what it takes to be treated equally and for you to publish my below write-up as you have done for Ms. Sepahpour.
Best regards,

Siavash


Last edited by blank on Mon Dec 11, 2006 5:59 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
blank



Joined: 26 Feb 2004
Posts: 1672

PostPosted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 5:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It looks like Mr. Jahanshah Javid, owner of www.iranian.com decided to censore Siavash's response to Soraya Sepahpour article..... So...what do I think about him and his site? another Payvand!!! another site on the payroll....
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
blank



Joined: 26 Feb 2004
Posts: 1672

PostPosted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 6:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Trita Parsi, president of NIAC another Taazi lobbyist for iri -(does anyone remember what Salmon Parsi did to Iran? last names are similar what a coincidence!)--. About two weeks ago, C-SPAN was showing Potamac Institute (sp) meeting where Trita Parsi, and an arab woman (probably Palestinian), started talking about how wrong the US government has been not negotiating with Iranian goverment and how important it was to normalize the relationship with Iran, and start trades...etc..etc... all I could think of "traitor" or "bache mollah" serving his master.


http://web.peykeiran.com/new/articles/article_body.aspx?ID=10174
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
blank



Joined: 26 Feb 2004
Posts: 1672

PostPosted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 3:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Via Dr. Etebar.


Disinformation Campaign in Overdrive: Irans VEVAK in High-Gear


Professor Daniel M. Zucker - 9/3/2007

http://www.globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=3386&cid=2&sid=4


In two prior articles,[i] we looked at the Islamic Republic of Irans Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS = Farsi: VEVAK=Vezarat-e Ettela'at va Amniat-e Keshvar). The following essay is a third installment in what looks to be a growing research project. Reference to the earlier papers is suggested for those new to the subject.

Founded in 1984[ii] and ranked by experts as one of the worlds largest and most active intelligence agencies in the Middle East and possessing a global reach,[iii] VEVAKs activities and structure are shrouded in mystery, but its presence has been felt keenly with over 450 acts of terrorism carried out in less than a quarter of a century. With an almost unlimited budget, and a command structure reporting direct to the Supreme Leader (Farsi: faqih) Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the secretive agency is one of the key pillars of the theocratic regime.[iv] Led from 1999 until mid-2005 by the notorious hanging judge Hojjatol-Islam Ali Younesi,[v] it is now headed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejads appointee, Hojjatol-Islam Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ezhei, 51, formerly Prosecutor and Judge of the Special Tribunal for Clergy, and formerly Special Prosecutor in the MOIS, as well as a founding official and member of the staff selection board for MOIS[vi]

Although a government ministry, because of its secret budget and lack of accountability to either the cabinet or the Majlis (parliament), VEVAK remains above the law, being accountable only to the Supreme Leader. Under such conditions it is easy to see how it has become a major vehicle for political repression.[vii]

VEVAK agents traditionally have been tested vigorously before receiving security clearance and being trusted to take part in sensitive operations that could implicate the highest levels of the government if leaked to the public. Members, handpicked from other security agencies throughout Iran , are first required to torture and execute dissidents so as to test their loyalty to the regime and the Supreme Leader. Only the most loyal are inducted into the ranks of VEVAK.[viii]

One of the primary methods used by VEVAK is the dissemination of disinformation, a trick learned from the KGB playbook. Indeed, the largest directorate within the Ministry of Intelligence and Security is the Department of Disinformation (Farsi: Nefaq) which is charged with the task of creating psychological warfare and misinformation about enemies of the regime. Former VEVAK chief Hojjatol-Islam Ali Younesi admitted publicly on Iran State Television in October 2004 that the agency employed several thousand individuals just to staff that section. Some of those working in that department are former resistance members that were either seduced (with money, etc.) or coerced into assisting the regime. The regime gives high priority to this department and pays its agents handsomely.

In recent months, at the direction of Ahmadinejad, VEVAK has revived and expanded its directorate of Foreign Affairs to recruit foreigners to work with the intelligence agency.[ix] Although much of the increased budget for this directorate is earmarked for recruitment of those that will serve as jihadists in Iraq and/or Afghanistan,[x] VEVAK also recruits spies[xi] as well as agents to serve in its disinformation campaign. The recruitment methodology is basically the same for jihadists, spies and disinformation agents even if the three are different types of activities requiring different characteristics and skills. Recruiting agents begin the process, spotting and identifying candidates. After the initial contact, a positive response results in the following process being initiated:

Once recruited, the regimes local embassies take over in contacting such individuals;
Then the prospective recruits are informally interviewed by undercover MOIS agents in those countries and under such pretexts as seminars, visits, getting to know the Islamic Republic, etc., before they are sent to Iran; .
Once in Iran , the MOIS and Qods Force take it forward from that point. If the individual is willing to cooperate, the agents sign a contract with him and dispatch him to designated camps which are located in the suburbs of Tehran and the holy city of Qom for additional trainings.[xii]

If one surfs the net looking at sites that discuss Iran, one may encounter ads for cheap flights, special tours, and subsidized seminars in Iran; but beware, there is no such thing as a free lunch when it comes to Iran!

As pointed out in the earlier articles, VEVAK agents have been trained to use the old KGB 80/20 formula: tell the truth 80% of the time and spread lies 20%; attack the regime 80% of the time and the resistance 20%. Its amazing how successful the formula has proven to be. Occasionally an agent will up the percentage to 90/10 so as to better hide his/her real intentions, but the percentage never drops below 80/20, as that would risk detection.

Now, lets begin to examine the list of candidates that work for VEVAK. Our first subject is already known to those who read my first paper on VEVAK.[xiii] I am referring to British-born Anne Singleton and her Iranian-born husband, Massoud Khodabandeh, currently of Leeds , England who organized and run the pro-regime/anti-resistance website Iran-Interlink.org. In the late 1980s, Ms. Singleton worked with a pro-resistance Iranian student group in London , but was dismissed on moral grounds. Massoud Khodabandeh and his older brother Ibrahim were both members of the resistance movement group, Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK, also known as the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran=PMOI) in the 1980s when they lived in England.[xiv] Massoud abandoned his affiliation with the PMOI in 1996. Singleton and Khodabandeh married sometime after that and subsequently were recruited by VEVAK,[xv] apparently after the agency had coerced the Khodabandeh brothers wealthy elderly mother to assist them or lose her extensive property in Tehran . Using wire-taps and monitoring her contacts abroad with her sons, VEVAK was able to flip Singleton and Masoud Khodabandeh to its service. On the invitation of her mother-in-law, Singleton made several trips to Iran [xvi], including a visit to Tehran in the winter of 2002 where she was met at Mehrabad Airport by VEVAK agents interested in her background. She apparently volunteered to work on her brother-in-law, and then spent the month in training before returning to England and going on to found the Iran-Interlink website in the winter of 2002.[xvii] The trips to Iran as well as to Singapore (where VEVAK generally holds briefings for its foreign agents) made the resistance suspicious of the Khodabandehs and tipped them off as to their new loyalties.[xviii] In 2004 she was seen in Evin Prison with VEVAK agents visiting her brother-in-law, Ibrahim, who had been arrested by the Syrians and extradited to Iran. Ibrahim has since recanted his MEK affiliation and now likewise works for VEVAKs anti-resistance campaign.[xix] The Khodabandehs have been very active over the years in VEVAKs campaign to vilify the MEK. The materials disseminated on the Iran-Interlink site are all produced by VEVAK in Tehran.[xx]

Iran-Interlink.org[xxi] is probably the most sophisticated of the regimes anti-resistance websites. Other sites include several that are disguised to look like resistance sites, such as www.mojahedin.ws[xxii], www.hambastegimeli.net[xxiii], www.iran-aawa.com[xxv], or neutral as www.perseetavenir.com[xxvi] and www.iranpeyvand.com, and those that clearly are anti-resistance, such as www.irandidban.com, www.theblackfile.com, www.pars-iran.com, www.nejatngo.org, and www.negaheno.net. Anyone associated with these websites should be considered a VEVAK agent or loyal supporter of the IRI regime.

Our next subject is Mahtub (Mahtaub) Hojjati, aka Mathilde Fein, Mattie Fein, Mattie Lolavar, and Mattie Lolavar-Cohen. Ms. Hojjati is the founder and self-appointed president of a very new Iranian opposition think tank in Washington, DC, the Institute for Persian Studies, which she claims aims to replace the current regime of Iran with a democracy. At first glance, Hojjati sounds as if she has all her priorities in the right place. But when one examines her words more carefully, things begin to go awry. In a recent interview with Global Politician Associate Editor Ryan Mauro[xxvii], Ms Hojjati attacks the idea of American funding for the establishment of indigenous Iranian civic organizations and programs, and lambastes the largest, oldest, best-organized and most popular of resistance groups, the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK), saying it commands no indigenous adherents in Iran .[xxviii] When asked about the Iran Policy Committees suggestions[xxix] that the MEK be removed from the US Department of States Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list[xxx] she says:

The MEK should not be removed. The signal to the people of Iran would be devastating because they despise the MEK for its treason in the Iraq-Iran war. Any U.S. support of MEK would dishearten many Iranians, continue to cultivate mistrust that the U.S. is far removed from the desires of the Iranian people, and would be a set-back to the U.S. [xxxi]

Ms. Hojjatis views of the MEK seem just a little too close to those of the regime. When 50,000 Iranians can be gathered from around the world to attend a rally in support for the National Council of Resistance of Iran and the MEK in the Paris suburbs[xxxii] and 5.2 million members of the Iraqi anti-fundamentalist coalition Solidarity Congress commend the MEK[xxxiii], Hojjatis suggestion of MEK unpopularity rings very hollow. So too, the $75 million democracy promotion fund which Hojjati decries is intended for just the type of projects that Dr. Haleh Esfandiari of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Kian Tajbakhsh formerly with the Open Society Institute of U.S. billionaire George Soros, and Ali Shakeri of the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding were engaged in developing. For the most part, it seems that only the regime found such actions to be in any way objectionable, because of its fear of a velvet revolution[xxxiv]. Dare we ask why an opponent of the regime appears to be protecting it from the two things it fears the most? Is it possible that Ms. Hojjati isnt quite what she wants us to think she is?

Dr. Kaveh L. Afrasiabi is a political scientist who has taught at Tehran University , and Boston University , as well as done research at UC Berkeley and Harvard. He is an author of several books on modern Iran and a prolific essayist in the world press. Despite his impressive academic credentials, I believe that he serves an apologist for the Tehran regime. To substantiate my claim, I suggest that we look at some of his recent writings. Lets start with the Washington Posts Post-Global Power Barometer interview by the Denver Research Group, Inc., entitled A unique perspective on Iran; an interview with Kaveh Afrasiabi[xxxv] When queried about the popularity of the nuclear program within Iran, Afrasiabi replied: The Iranian people are solidly behind the government's nuclear program... Such an answer is refuted by the recent poll by Ken Ballen of Terror Free Tomorrow that found that only 29% support the current nuclear program,[xxxvi] a drop of about 5% from a poll taken almost five years ago! Most Iranians don't care about nuclear power; they do care about the horrible state of their economy. Next, when asked about the intentions behind Iran s nuclear program, Afrasiabi gave a very long reply that suggested that the nuclear program was purely a defensive mechanism instituted after the trauma of the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-1988, ignoring that Ayatollah Khomeini prolonged that war by at least six years. He then stated: It is baffling to the Iranians why Iran should be denied the right enjoyed by Brazil, Japan, and others with impunity, and why there should be continuing sanctions when Iran is fully cooperating with the IAEA (which has confirmed time and again the absence of any military diversion)?[xxxvii] [Italics are mine] As regards the intent of the Iranian nuclear program, 18 years of keeping it clandestine, and 5 years of obfuscation and non-cooperation with the IAEA[xxxviii] should make clear to all just what Tehran wants. Besides, Japan and Brazil possess nuclear power but havent threatened to destroy their neighbors or produced weaponry; neither of them has conducted clandestine programs like Iran s. Lest we forget, let me remind that last year the regime rejected the offer of a transparent light-water reactor system that was made by the 5+1[xxxix] negotiating group. Now Afrasiabi would have us believe that Tehran only wants electric power?

Afrasiabi is just like his fellow Iranian academicians, Vali Nasr[xl] and Ray Takeyh[xli]: Iran is too strong to bully into submission[xlii]; it would be much wiser to give poor, misunderstood Tehran more carrots, hold all the sticks, and slowly everything can be worked out! Meanwhile, our potential future friend (the Islamic Republic of Iran) is supplying the radical Shia militias of Iraq (Jaish al-Mahdi and the Badr and Wolf Brigades of SCIRI/SIIC) as well as al-Qaeda and the Taliban with explosively formed projectiles/penetrators (EFP's) that are killing our troops in Iraq[xliii] and Afghanistan.[xliv] Indeed, since dialogue between the US and Iran about Iraqi security began, Iran has increased its supplying of weaponry to the insurgents[xlv] and upgraded their training in the use of mortars and rockets.[xlvi] Claiming that Iran only wants to be recognized as a regional power and isn't interested in spreading its revolution's radical Islamism would be plausible only if one closed one's eyes to the horrible Islamist repression occurring daily in Hezbollah-controlled south Lebanon[xlvii], Hamas-controlled Gaza[xlviii], and the environs of radical Shiite (al-Dawa and SCIRI/SIIC, etc.), IRGC supported, militia-controlled Basra.[xlix] If you arent a fundamentalist Muslim in those areas, keep out of sight; your life is not worth the price of a cup of coffee.

Iranian-born, Oxford-trained scholar Ray Takeyh is currently a senior fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. Dr. Takeyh has trumpeted the same message for over five years: get rid of the sticks and offer better quality carrots to the Islamic Republic. Iran is open to dialogue and can be reached if only we would be serious in our attempts to do so. In article after article, its the same messageengaging Iran in a dialogue is the only way to solve our problems. Takeyh suggests that somehow dialogue will melt the hearts of the clerics and turn them into moderates that respect human rights and the concept of a civil society.

Lets examine one of Takeyhs recent essaysThe Iran Puzzle[l] to see how he operates. Suggesting that Tehran no longer fears regime change[li] and now is willing to work out a pragmatic deal with the US, Takeyh seems to read events with a very special set of rose-colored lenses. The recent spate of executions[lii] and this summers Bassiji campaign to enforce strict compliance with the Islamic dress code which has resulted in the detention of over 93,000 women[liii] might suggest that the regime is not as confident about its control[liv] of the discontented masses as Takeyh wants us to believe. Throughout his essay, Takeyh tries to give the impression that Iran has moved far away from the Islamic revolutionary fervor of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and that despite Ahmadinejads fiery rhetoric[lv], the leadership has become pragmatic. Indeed the vast majority of Iranians reject Khomeinism, but Supreme Leader Khamenei and his inner circle of fellow clerics, supported by the veteran leadership of the Islamic Revolutions Guards Corps (IRGC = Farsi: Sapeh-e Pasdaran), retain their desire to spread their revolution to other countries.[lvi] Irans financial, logistical, organizational, and military support for the Badr and Wolf Brigades of SCIRI/SIIC of Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim and the Jaish al-Mahdi of Moqtada al-Sadr in Iraq and its offshoots[lvii], of Hassan Nasrallahs Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Ismail Haniyehs Hamas in Gaza through the work of the Qods Force should be seen in this context.[lviii] When Takeyh writes: Yet Iran is no longer committed to refashioning regional norms in its image.[lix], he must be referring to the Iran on another planet, because this planets IRI, led by Khamenei, is doing a lot to spread the faith. A tour of Basra in Iraq , Gaza City , or almost any village in south Lebanon will present just how disinterested Iran is to spread its revolution.

Rather than repeat the many valid points presented in his lengthy expos of Dr. Takeyhs campaign to facilitate dialogue with Tehran at almost any price, I refer the reader to Hassan Daioleslams recent article, Pro-Ayatollah Disinformation and Manipulation Campaign by Washington Think Tankers, published in Global Politician.[lx] Bottom line: Dr. Ray Takeyh of the Council on Foreign Relations should be seen for what he is: an agent of the Islamic Republic of Irans campaign to turn back sanctions and buy more time to complete its nuclear program. It also should be noted that his wife, Suzanne Maloney[lxi], a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow and until recently at the State Department as chair of the Iran desk of the Policy Planning Staff, was responsible for vetoing expenditure of much of the $75 million democracy promotion fund earmarked for Iran.[lxii] How convenient for the IRI regime!

Professor Paul Sheldon Foote of California State University at Fullerton (Accounting)[lxiii] spent time in pre-revolutionary Iran where he met his wife Badri. A self-styled old school conservative (he likes to call neo-conservatives Neo-Trotskyites), he is a frequent contributor to VEVAK sites such as Iran-Interlink,[lxiv] hambastegimeli.net,[lxv] and Mojahedin.ws.[lxvi] Foote serves as the regimes attack-dog against the Iranian resistance organizations NCRI and MEK and their supporters, and is also an apologist for the Tehran regime. Now, not everyone needs to like the NCRI and MEK; we do live in a free country and have a right to pick whom we support and whom we dont. But unlike Dr. Kenneth Timmerman who is a vocal opponent of the MEK but even more vociferous critic of the Tehran regime, Foote defends the IRI. I guess that being as conservative as he claims to be allows him to be comfortable with the conservatism of Iran s radical Islamist mullahs.

Safa Haeri is the Iranian born editor-in-chief of the Iran Press Service, an internet website claiming to be a fully independent and private news gathering and disseminating service based in Paris , France ,[lxvii] that presents news and opinions from Iran and the Iranian diaspora. Carrying a variety of sources, the IPS website appears at first glance to be a neutral website, featuring news and opinions from all. However, when one checks out Haeris columns and letters, his pro-regime, anti-resistance position becomes fairly clear. A sampling of Haeris material will make my point. In a letter to Dr. Patrick Clawson and Dr. Daniel Pipes, posted at Dr. Pipes website, Haeri wrote:

That the US could benefit from the Mojahedeen for espionage and spy activities, might be. For how many items, I don't know, considering that 90 per cent of [what] the organization had said about Iran were (sic) wrong, except the recent disclosures, which, dont forget, were first provided by some Iranian officials.

Anyhow, but you must be SURE that if there is only one thing that could mobilize all Iranians behind the mullahs[, it] is the US backing the MEK, not a military attack, nor bombing out Iranian nuke installations.[lxviii] (sic)

Haeri has taken much liberty with the truth. Check my endnotes as regards the accuracy of the MEKs reports[lxix] and as to their popularity[lxx] in Iran a very different picture will emerge.

Now lets look at Haeris reporting. A quick perusal of his August 20, 2005 column entitled All MKO say are pure lies[lxxi] will show that he interviewed known VEVAK agent Massoud Khodabandeh who runs the VEVAK financed Iran-Interlink website from his home in Leeds , England . Khodabandeh was indeed a member of the MEK before leaving and then being seduced financially by VEVAK, but he never was a senior officer in the MEK as Haeri contends. However, Massoud Khodabandeh is one of nine VEVAK agents and two Iranian embassy associates detained by the French police for attacking Iranian dissidents in Paris in mid-June of this year.[lxxii] Haeris column is full of distortions and lies. Among the more blatant is the following:

The Mojaheedin collaboratedto overthrow the former Shah of Iran. As part of that struggle, they assassinated at least six American citizens, supported the takeover of the U.S. embassy, and opposed the release of American hostages.

Not only the group engaged in Iraqs war against Iran and killed thousands of innocent Iranians, not only the group collaborated actively with Iraqs secret services in the slaughter of Iraq Kurds and Shiites and took part in Iraqs attack on neighbouring Kuwait, but is [sic] also killed many of its own members, as reported by the New York-based Human Rights Watch.[lxxiii]

To refute these charges that the regime bandies about so freely, one only need consult the texts of the independent Iran Policy Committee,[lxxiv] the European Parliaments Friends of a Free Iran,[lxxv] or the report commissioned by former House Majority Leader Richard Armey and Dr. Neil Livingstone: DLA Pipers Iran: Foreign Policy Challenges and Choices.[lxxvi] It is interesting to note that Mr. Haeris articles are regular features at VEVAK websites such as Iran-Interlink,[lxxvii] mojahedin.ws,[lxxviii] or survivorsreport.org.[lxxix] It seems that Mr. Haeri is not as independent and private as he would like us to believe.

Finally we come to the class of useful idiots. In this category we need to place Dr. Gareth Porter for his defense of the Islamic Republic of Irans Sapeh-e Qods, the IRGCs most ruthless and blood-spilling unit. In an essay published on August 2, 2007, in American Prospect entitled The Iran attack that wasnt[lxxx], Porter tries to extricate Irans Qods Force from any involvement in the Karbala attack of January 20, 2007, in which five American soldiers were killed, four with a bullet to the back of the head, execution style, after having been kidnapped. Claiming that Iranian involvement in the raid was a fiction dreamed up by the White House in order to fan the flames of war-fever against Iran, Porter likewise claims that the Iranian regime is innocent on the charge of supplying arms and explosives that are being used to kill American troops.

The only problem with Porters fantasy is that the local Iraqi newspapers[lxxxi] carried the news that the local radical Shiite governor of the Karbala prefecture had given orders for the convoy to be waved through the check-point without inspection and that all the locals knew that these were Qods Force vehicles. Porter is correct when he says the Americans were highly embarrassed by the attack, but thats about as far as his accuracy goes. Just like the later incident involving the capture of the 15 British sailors, the IRGC bragged ahead of time[lxxxii] that it could do something of this nature to even the score for the Irbil raid.[lxxxiii] Although my source indicated that the convoy was flagged through the Karbala checkpoint[lxxxiv] without inspection, Steve Schipperts investigation[lxxxv] of January 26, 2007, provides an excellent open-source based analysis. So too, apparently satellite photos of Iran indicate that the IRGC had constructed a mock-up of the Karbala PJCC facility prior to the attack.[lxxxvi] No, neither Porter nor I have access to classified information; but, however I flip the coin, like Schippert, it lands with the Qods Force being the likely culprit.

Gareth Porter has a long track record of opposition to war; in many ways that is very admirable, if somewhat nave. However, saying categorically that Iran had no hand in the Karbala incident, and claiming that the White House is now pushing a false story just because General David H. Petraeus would not substantiate earlier press questions about Iranian involvement is not only naivet in the extreme, but also serves to once again release from culpability a regime that has a 28-year track record of attacking our citizens. I do not speak for the White House or the Pentagon, but I can fully understand General Petraues reluctance to indict the Qods Force before being sure that the government was prepared for the possible repercussions.[lxxxvii] Now that overwhelming evidence of Iranian support for attacks on our personnel has been substantiated, there is no reason to deny the evidence of the Qods Force involvement in the Karbala incident, Gareth Porters political fantasies notwithstanding.

Although far from exhaustive in coverage of the subjectthe Iranian regime having the budget and foresight to employ thousands of agents in its intelligence serviceI hope that this expos serves to call attention to VEVAKs extensive disinformation campaign and thereby combat it in some small measure. It is essential for us to realize that our conflict with Iran is played out at many levels, and that the public learn to read commentaries, opinion-editorials, and reports with a careful and critical eye. If one asks the crucial question Quo bene? (Who benefits?), the authors motives become clear. When the author protects the interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran, even having attacked it, one should suspect VEVAK involvement. Remember Jefferson s warning: The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.[lxxxviii]
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
blank



Joined: 26 Feb 2004
Posts: 1672

PostPosted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 5:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Iran Canada business ventures- Also a counter-part to NIAC, this group does more than NIAC, they actually are a Front for mullah's doing investment in Canada. I believe their official name is "Iranian-Canadian Business Council". I am sure Rafsanjani's interest is fully protected by these people. Read the comment section.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elVIePr_mqE
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
blank



Joined: 26 Feb 2004
Posts: 1672

PostPosted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 5:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

blank wrote:
Iran Canada business ventures- Also a counter-part to NIAC, this group does more than NIAC, they actually are a Front for mullah's doing investment in Canada. I believe their official name is "Iranian-Canadian Business Council". I am sure Rafsanjani's interest is fully protected by these people. Read the comment section.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elVIePr_mqE



Looks like once again the regime's agents succeeded in removing this video from the Youtube!... It was a good one; because it disclosed the names of the mullah's financial wheeler deelers in Canada!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    [FREE IRAN Project] In The Spirit Of Cyrus The Great Forum Index -> Noteworthy Discussion Threads All times are GMT - 4 Hours
Goto page Previous  1, 2
Page 2 of 2

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group