Last week, Michele Bachmann appeared at a press conference at a Freedom Watch symposium titled "National security, freedom, and Iran—is it time for U.S. and Western intervention?" Bachmann voiced her support for The People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI, also known as the MEK), asking that they be removed from the U.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
More Republicans are supporting the terrorist group.
Matthew Partridge in The Guardian:
...it is disappointing that the former mayor of New York, Rudolph Giuliani, and the ex-secretary of homeland security, Tom Ridge, recently attended a conference run by supporters of the group Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK), currently banned in the United States (though not in Britain or the rest of the EU).
On the surface, MEK's goals – which include the replacement of the current Khamenei-Ahmadinejad regime in Iran with a democratic and secular government – are laudable and should clearly be supported. However, there is a strong credibility gap between the group's rhetoric and its past actions, especially its associations with Saddam between 1986 and 2003.
According to the Council on Foreign Relations, MEK directly participated in the savage reprisals against those who rose up against the Iraqi tyrant in 1991. Indeed, the extent to which it functioned as an effective arm of Saddam's totalitarian regime is demonstrated by the fact that, when it surrendered to US forces in 2003, it had "2,000 tanks, armoured personnel carriers, and heavy artillery pieces".
David Cole at the NY Times says prominent Republicans may have broken the law:
DID former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Tom Ridge, a former homeland security secretary, and Frances Townsend, a former national security adviser, all commit a federal crime last month in Paris when they spoke in support of the Mujahedeen Khalq at a conference organized by the Iranian opposition group’s advocates? Free speech, right? Not necessarily.
The problem is that the United States government has labeled the Mujahedeen Khalq a “foreign terrorist organization,” making it a crime to provide it, directly or indirectly, with any material support. And, according to the Justice Department under Mr. Mukasey himself, as well as under the current attorney general, Eric Holder, material support includes not only cash and other tangible aid, but also speech coordinated with a “foreign terrorist organization” for its benefit. It is therefore a felony, the government has argued, to file an amicus brief on behalf of a “terrorist” group, to engage in public advocacy to challenge a group’s “terrorist” designation or even to encourage peaceful avenues for redress of grievances.
Lawrence Davidson at Buzzflash asks the following question about prominent Republicans supporting the MEK:
The actions of the Paris Four should create a dilemma for President Obama. Consistency in applying the law demands that he make sure that Giuliani, Ridge, Townsend and Mukasey are treated in the same way his Justice Department is treating people in Chicago and Minneapolis. Will he do so?
In the following two videos, Bachmann (begins at 8:30), calls for supporting the The People's Mujahideen Organization of Iran, asking that they be removed from the U.S. list of terrorist organizations. Bachmann is followed by Alan Keyes who says the U.S should declare war on muslim "imperialism":
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