MEK Event in Washington, DC

I wasn't at the MEK event in Washington last Thursday, but Nick Hoover covered it for The Agonist. Several members of congress were there: Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), Tom Tancredo (R-CO), Ted Poe (R-TX), Dennis Moore (R-KS), and staffers for Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX), and James Talent (R-MO). If any of you live in these states/districts, I would strongly encourage you to write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper pointing out the fact that they appeared at an event sponsored by a group on the State Department's terrorist list. As I've mentioned before, congressmen are much more concerned about negative items in the local press than they are about one or two letters sent to them. Another good tactic is to ask them a question about this at the "town meeting" events they hold in their districts. Be polite and civil -- it's much more effective that way. This also has the potential to get mentioned in the local press.

Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) really is a good example of the link between the Iranian exile groups and AIPAC. He is one of AIPAC and the Israeli hardliners most reliable supporters on Capitol Hill, and the fact that he's now leading the charge to try to make the MEK respectable in Washington really shows how much the two groups are linked. The MEK and other such exile groups, along with individuals like Manucher Ghorbanifar, are intended to fill the role that the Iraqi National Congress played last time -- nice, English-speaking men and women who come to Washington to tell American politicians what the Israel lobby wants them to hear -- see, a real Iraqi named Chalabi just told you the Iraqi people would welcome us with flowers, not just some AIPAC member from your district (who wants the war to enhance Israel's security and leverage over other states in the region). The same tactic is being played out with Iranian exiles. One thing we need to do is to make clear to our elected representatives that there is a political price to pay for ignoring American interests in favor of those of Israel and ambitious Iranian/Iraqi exiles.

Historically, very few Americans knew or cared much about the Middle East -- and most members of congress were happy to toe the AIPAC line in return for some out-of-state campaign contributions. The calculation, in terms of politics, was extremely simple. Now, though, our involvement in the region has gone to the next level, an unpopular war is sending a steady trickle of Americans home in body bags, and people (at least some) are beginning to understand the motivations of those who pushed within the Bush administration to get us into this. What you heard at the House Armed Services Committee hearing on April 6 was really the sound of the dam breaking -- the taboo that congressmen are not allowed to link Israeli interests and political pressure to why we are in Iraq was broken, repeatedly. I fear that the scenario Wes Clark outlined is likely to play out -- we widen the war to Iran, and then our problem in Iraq gets much worse, with the concomitant rise in the number of Americans coming home in body bags. When the bombing of Iran fails to trigger the revolution, and instead sends Iranian volunteers and weapons pouring into southern Iraq, the American people are likely to start questioning this whole enterprise a lot more vociferously. What a smart politician should understand about this is that the political calculus has changed -- your constituents now care about what happens in the Middle East, and if they become convinced that you went along with the folks who bamboozled us into yet another unnecessary war, that's going to way more than offset the benefit of a few tens of thousands of dollars in campaign money from pro-Israel donors who want to see Iran attacked to enhance Israel's security and strategic position.

Update: 4/18/05 -- I had some technical problems with the blog over the weekend, which I think are now resolved. Posting may be a bit light this week, though, as I have been busy on other matters. Don't worry (or celebrate), I haven't gone away.