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Here is the Agonist's report on the MEK conference held today near the White House. I talked to the State Department this morning and they were well aware of the gathering in advance, and referring all questions to the Justice Department. The conferees were addressed by MEK leader Maryam Rajavi by live video feed and were waving MEK flags, in case the authorities needed any hints that this was a front for the State Department-listed foreign terrorist organization. So what's with Condi Rice's "a terrorist is a terrorist is a terrorist?" -- just hot air? In all seriousness, why did the administration allow this large conference of a designated terrorist group to take place within a stone's throw of the White House? Several Iranian-Americans I know have been on Iranian TV the past few days fussing that the Bush administration was allowing this terrorist group to have a rally here, TV which is beamed into Iran. What's more, the firm, Premiere Speakers Bureau, recruiting speakers for the MEK event told me Dick Armey vetted the group for them, including by checking with the State Department, and got the go-ahead from State. (I called State for confirmation on this today and was not given a clear answer). Was this what the administration intended? Did they want Teheran to see that they were allowing this MEK conference?
I know for a fact that Premiere was made well aware of who they were recruiting speakers for. They were also the speaker recruitment firm for the conference last year that MEK leader Maryam Rajavi also addressed by live video feed, that was monitored by the FBI, and was reported on by the Washington Post. Indeed, Premier's rep told me about the article and the problems for speaker Richard Perle with the conference's MEK association. But it was Premiere's impression from Dick Armey that State had cleared this conference, the organizers and the financing. Hey, Washington Iran experts, what does that mean?
Anyhow, back to the conference. Here is some of the Agonist's Nick Hoover's very interesting report:
It's worth noting that according to the LA Times' Ken Silverstein and Walter Roche Jr., former CIA director James Woolsey is a paid advisor to Livingstone's Washington-based firm, GlobalOptions. More on the conference here...."Freedom and democracy and support for Rajavi," supporters urged in unison.
"God bless you, Rajavi," the people cried after urging from an older Iranian man who sat near the back of the large hall.
Another speaker at the event, Neil Livingstone, is often interviewed by the press as a terrorism expert. He has been quoted as saying he has had good relations with the MEK for 30 years and also advised Ahmed Chalabi's INC. Livingstone urged the government to step up its efforts to destabilize the Iranian government, saying "we must recognize the Iranian government in exile." This refers to Rajavi, who was declared by her movement to be President-in-exile. "We are all members of the Iranian Resistance," he closed.
Two of the speakers at the event were American soldiers who dealt with the group at Camp Ashraf in Iraq, where the U.S. government has detained and disarmed them.
Lt. Col. Thomas Cantwell was the commander of the 324th MP Batallion at Camp Ashraf from June through December 2003.
"Our assessment was that the mujahideen represented a minimal threat to U.S. forces," he said.
He also questioned the designation of the MEK as a terrorist group. "If we have a terrorist group in Ashraf, where are the terrorists?" he asked. He said this despite admission in a later interview that he was not "routinely granted access" to intelligence on the group and left Camp Ashraf before debriefings of MEK members there moved into full swing.
Captain Vivian Gambara was a Jag officer who participated in disarmament negotiations with the MEK. Although, by her own admission, she was one of the most junior lawyers there, she said that she and special forces soldiers around her recognize the security possibilities that the MEK represented.
Update: USA Today's Barbara Slavin has a report from Tehran on her interview with an imprisoned MEK member. Arash Sametipour, 29, originally of Burke, Virginia, was jailed for trying to assassinate a former police chief:
A very worthwhile piece.[Sametipour] says he became involved in the Iranian opposition group in the late 1990s when he developed a crush on one of its members. In love and convinced that the group was working for the good of Iran, he agreed to go to an MEK base in Iraq for military training. In 2000, he says, he was selected to go to Iran to assassinate a former police chief.
The murder attempt failed and Sametipour tried to commit suicide by swallowing cyanide. But the poison had lost its potency so he detonated a grenade, blowing off his right hand. Iranian authorities jailed him for four years. One of six former MEK members produced by the Iranian government to talk to a reporter here, he acknowledges that his criticism of the MEK serves the Islamic government but says his main motivation is to stop others from joining the group.
Knight Ridder's Hannah Allam had a very good piece on the MEK members living at Camp Ashraf in Iraq in the Philly Inquirer a couple weeks back.