US / Israel continue to support anti-Iranian guerillas
Reese Erlich is author of the upcoming book "The Iran Agenda: the Real Story of U.S. Policy and the Middle East Crisis.”
Erlich, a journalist, just came back from spending three weeks with Kurdish resistance organizations in Iran and Iraq's Kurdish region.
He confirms that the USA and Israel are funding armed groups to overthrow the Iranian government.
He says Bush’s strategy is mainly focused on media propaganda -- such as websites and satellite television and radio stations -- but also includes military training, plus armed incursions.
Erlich says Kurdish compounds in Iran are like small villages. They have barracks for the single male "peshmurga" (i.e., resistance fighters—AZ). Political cadres live with their families in small homes, as do Kurds in Iraq. They have meeting halls and offices.
There is also a Kurdish guerilla group called PJAK [Partiya Jiyana Azad a Kurdistanê, or Party of Free Life of Kurdistan]. These fighters live in the cold mountains in rudimentary huts, and are radical.
One PJAK leader is a textbook case of a modern guerrilla general, with a cell phone, Internet access, and satellite TV.
Kurdish women guerrillas claim they only watch news programs, but Erlich got them to admit they also like movies with Brad Pitt and Mel Gibson.( What--don't they like Jewish actors?--AZ )
The US and Israel give money and training to these groups are part of an overall strategy against Iran.
Erlich also spoke with Iraqi members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK or MKO), a bizarre cult listed by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organization.
Erlich feels that Kurds and other minorities in Iran have legitimate grievances. They are not allowed to learn in their local languages, and face other forms of discrimination. (They are equally persecuted in Turkey, whose government is an ally of Israel. – AZ) However, he does not agree with U.S. policy of seeking out the most extremist of minority groups and pushing them to violence.
PJAK guerillas are affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and have become a nationalist cult built around the personality of Abdullah Ocalan.
The MEK cult centers on terrorist leader Maryam Rajavi, an Iranian who lives in France. Both these groups get support from extreme right wingers in the U.S.
None of the Kurdish groups call for separatism, but if Israel and Bush make the Kurdish part of Iraq a separate country in order to get at its oil, then the Kurds may push for separatism in Iran. They may seek toform a Kurdistan.
Some Kurdish groups (e.g., PJAK) would welcome a Bush / Israeli attack on Iran, thinking it will topple the government. Other groups think the reverse. KDPI strongly opposes any attack, saying it will make the Iranian government stronger.
Erlich spoke with U.S. military officials in Iraq, all of which said the USA does NOT support any Kurdish groups. “In reality, the U.S. is doing everything in its power to overthrow the Iranian government and install a regime that is friendly to the U.S.”
In 2006, KDPI leaders visited the U.S. to meet with mid-level State Department and intelligence officials.
Morteza Esfandiari is the KDPI representative in the U.S. He told Erlich that KDPI applied to get some of the 85 million dollars Cheney gave his daughter Elizabeth to "promote democracy" in Iran.
Erlich thinks Iran will not be able to crush the Kurdish opposition. Kurds are as fierce as Afghans, and they can retreat into Iraq. (Iraq's president is himself a Kurd.)
The KRG (Kurdish Regional Government in Iraq) allows the KDPI to maintain compounds in Iraq, and train peshmurga, so long as they don't carry out armed actions inside Iran.
PJAK, however, does carry out armed actions. KRG officials say they can't stop PJAK, because of the rugged mountain terrain. In reality, they just look the other way, since PJAK has U.S. and Israeli backing.
In the past, Iran asked the Kurdish Regional Government in Iraq to shut down opposition groups operating in Kurdistan. However, the Kurdish Regional Government relies on the U.S., which wants to destroy Iran’s government.
Source:
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=36961
