The Daily Caller has reported that the former Mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, is under scrutiny regarding his business dealings. Now that it is known that Giuliani is being considered for the role of Secretary of State in Donald Trump’s administration, his past work is being examined and several red flags have been raised. One red flag in particular is his work with the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (or MEK).
The New York Times, “editorializing” against Giuliani’s possible future appointment, said that “he was paid to deliver speeches in 2011 and 2012 defending a cultlike Iranian exile group that was on the State Department’s list of terrorist organizations”.
Matt K Lewis who wrote the article attended a “cultlike” meeting in Paris a few years ago and had two points to make.
Firstly, there was a huge number of prominent political figures from the U.S. who were in attendance. For example, former DNC Chairman Howard Dean, Democratic lawyer and scholar Alan Dershowitz, DNC Chairman Ed Rendell, former Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Ambassador John Bolton and a statement of support was read from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
The second point he made was about the label “terrorist” for the group. Alan Dershowitz told Lewis: “When you’re part of an armed resistance and you’re not a government, you’re deemed to be terrorists.”
Lewis said he was surprised to see Giuliani “apologizing on foreign soil for America’s behaviour”. But looking into the history of the group and its treatment by America he found out that the group that was listed as terrorist “laid down their arms years ago as part of a deal with the United States, in exchange for being given a safe haven”. He added: “But after America pulled its troops out of Iraq, the MEK were turned over to the Iraqi government, which is now (you guessed it) heavily influenced by the Iranian regime. Giuliani described the refugee camp as a ‘concentration camp’.”
In his apology to the group, Giuliani said: “I am embarrassed. I am ashamed. And I’m here to apologize.”
Josh Rogan wrote in an article in the Washington Post article saying that “the group does have legitimate grievances and has been the target of deadly attacks by Iranian-backed forces inside Iraq.” He also pointed out: “There are also reports that the U.S. and Israeli intelligence services have used the group’s members at various times to conduct covert operations inside Iran.”
Regarding Giuliani’s possible future role in Trump’s administration, Lewis said that speaking out against the terrible violations of human rights on the MEK is surely something to applaud, not something to be criticised.
