Author: Editorial
Publication: The Washington Times
Date: November 21, 2002
URL: http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20021121-444886.htm
Tonight, Rep. Edolphus Towns will
host a reception in the Capitol with terrorists loyal to Saddam Hussein.
Of course, that's not how his office
bills it. According to the invitation, Mr. Towns will show "solidarity
with the recent anti-government pro-democracy demonstrations in Iran."
That in itself is a worthy goal. Since its Marxist-Islamic revolution in
1979, the country has been an economic and human-rights disgrace, and its
people deserve better. But what troubles us is Mr. Towns' co-sponsor for
the event, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, an alias for the
the Mujahedin-e Kalq.
Since 1994, the State Department
has listed the Mujahedin among the world's most dangerous terror groups
- right up there with al Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah. Not surprisingly,
the group has a history studded with violence. In the 1970s, the Marxist-Muslim
group killed at least six American civilians and servicemen, and blew up
a number of U.S. entities in Iran. In 1979, it participated in the seizure
of the U.S. embassy in Tehran. After it fell out of favor with the Ayatollah
Khomeini, the Mujahedin fled, eventually settling in Baghdad. Currently,
the group is almost wholly funded by Saddam Hussein and has fought with
the dictator's troops on several occasions, including attacks on Northern
Kurds in which chemical weapons were used.
Meanwhile, through lavish political
donations and buckets of whitewash, the group has tried to repackage itself
in Congress as a legitimate democracy movement - a claim scoffed at by
serious scholars and diplomats. But, despite numerous press accounts and
State Department warnings over the years, some in Congress persist in supporting
the group.
Mr. Towns, New York Democrat, may
think he is striking a blow against Iranian repression with his event tonight.
But, all he's really doing is rubbing shoulders with an equally odious
set of oppressors - and in the halls of freedom, at that.
