[BRIEF NOTE] Who do you talk with?
Aug. 30th, 2006 06:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rfmcdonaldLast week, Canadian Conservative parliamentarian Jason Kenney attacked opposition MPs who visited Lebanon and suggested that negotiations should be opened by Hezbollah. After comparing Hezbollah to the Nazi Party, Kenney denounced their bias.
More recently, it has come out that Kenney delivered a speech at a rally organized by the Mujaheedin-e-Khalq.
After being expelled from Iran by the young Islamic Republic, the Mujaheedin-e-Khalq went on to ally itself with the Iraq of Saddam Hussein, staging attacks on Iran in conjunction with Iraqi forces and then, after it was easily fought off, establishing training camps in Iraq that did double duty as prison camps for dissidents within the movement. Many American neoconservatives wanted to cultivate the Mujaheedin-e-Khalq as an alternative government for Iran, proving the truth that you shall know them by their works. The best thing that can be said about a Mujaheedin-e-Khalq government in Iran, at least after reading the relevant reports from Human Rights Watch and other organizations, is that it would collapse quickly, long before it could ensure that everyone received their special Kool-Aid rations.
What's the difference between the two movements? The Mujaheedin-e-Khalq is a terrorist group with a vile ideology with no influence on the ground; Hezbollah is a terrorist group with a vile ideology with plenty of influence on the ground. Talking to the Mujaheedin-e-Khalq yields nothing since the Mujaheedin-e-Khalq can provide nothing. Talking to Hezbollah, however unpleasant a task, can yield quite a bit. If North Korea is a plausible diplomatic actor, after all ... But then, ideology always obstructs vision, doesn't it?
"Their idea of a balanced approach is one where Israel is always wrong," Kenney said at the press conference. "This represents a totally irresponsible approach to foreign security policy."
More recently, it has come out that Kenney delivered a speech at a rally organized by the Mujaheedin-e-Khalq.
Conservative MP Jason Kenney is coming under scrutiny for his appearance at a rally organized by supporters of a banned terrorist organization.
This comes two days after Kenney, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, condemned fellow parliamentarians for their comments about another terror group.
A photograph of Kenney at an April rally, organized by the Committee in Defense of Human Rights in Iran, appears on the website of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the Toronto Star reported Thursday.
The council is the political wing of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), which is one of the names used by the Mujaheedin-e-Khalq.
The Mujaheedin-e-Khalq is an armed Iranian rebel group formally designated as a terror group by the governments of Canada, the United States and the European Union.
After being expelled from Iran by the young Islamic Republic, the Mujaheedin-e-Khalq went on to ally itself with the Iraq of Saddam Hussein, staging attacks on Iran in conjunction with Iraqi forces and then, after it was easily fought off, establishing training camps in Iraq that did double duty as prison camps for dissidents within the movement. Many American neoconservatives wanted to cultivate the Mujaheedin-e-Khalq as an alternative government for Iran, proving the truth that you shall know them by their works. The best thing that can be said about a Mujaheedin-e-Khalq government in Iran, at least after reading the relevant reports from Human Rights Watch and other organizations, is that it would collapse quickly, long before it could ensure that everyone received their special Kool-Aid rations.
What's the difference between the two movements? The Mujaheedin-e-Khalq is a terrorist group with a vile ideology with no influence on the ground; Hezbollah is a terrorist group with a vile ideology with plenty of influence on the ground. Talking to the Mujaheedin-e-Khalq yields nothing since the Mujaheedin-e-Khalq can provide nothing. Talking to Hezbollah, however unpleasant a task, can yield quite a bit. If North Korea is a plausible diplomatic actor, after all ... But then, ideology always obstructs vision, doesn't it?
