Fri, 01 Aug 2008
By Nina Hamedani, Press TV
The United States of America has consistently and historically championed itself as a preeminent nation in the world. However, since recent international and domestic events left the US in a more precarious position, they are desperately making friends with unlikely groups.
Post 9/11 US Befriending the MEK or MKO
President George W. Bush, his administration, and the mass media have carried the banner of an age-old mantra post-September 11, 2001: “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Along with this mantra, the aforementioned have also propagated a polarizing theory with public statements declaring, “You're either with us, or against us.” However, political situations are not always so black and white - but neither are friends and enemies.
The relationship between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the US has remained strained since the 1953 British and US Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) orchestrated coup d'état of Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddeq, who had aims of nationalizing Iran's oil. Along with the following 1979 Islamic Revolution and ensuing 444-day student takeover of the US embassy in Tehran, Iran and the US continued to grow apart and remain isolated from one another.
US-Iranian political atmosphere and dominant American philosophies have encouraged the US government to forge a friendship with an Iranian opposition group that is living in exile, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK, MKO or PMOI for the People's Mujahedin of Iran).
BBC's Newsnight on January 17, 2007 uncovered an offer that Tehran sent to Washington in 2003, stating Iran would abandon supporting Hamas and Hezbollah if the Western countries would ensure the MEK be disbanded. Many officials in the US government saw an enormous potential of working with Iran, but the offer was stopped in its tracks by Vice President Dick Cheney - and remained unsigned.
Instead of attempting to bridge the gaps between Iran and the US, the American government has been funding the MEK under a guise of 'democracy promotion' in Iran. Reported amounts of money differ, but consider the following:
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