Out of the Loop

Out of the Loop

Thomas Moore believed glory to be fleeting and obscurity endless.  Former officials Tom Ridge, John Bolton, Frances Townsend and Michael Mukasey, buried in obscurity,  are foolishly attempting to revive their 'glory' by proposing that the Obama administration delist the MEK -- a terrorist group , in order to replace the regime in Tehran.  These officials argue that delisting terrorists would  "show the world the United States is committed to its own values of freedom."

At least, the values and the freedom to commit murder and terrorism. Â Â Â Â Â

The recommendation of the obscure four comes on the  heels of a Jundallah suicide attack which took the lives of 38 civilians on December 15, 2010.   The Jundallah, another  U.S. supported terrorist group  with  a long history of attacks on civilians inside Iran, seems to be competing with the MEK to promote the 'values and freedom' the U.S. is committed to. Â

It appears the foursome's anonymity has kept them out of the loop. Â Busy and eager to promote their pet terrorists, they have lost sight of the fact that the MEK, the Jundullah, the Shah's son, Â and all other wannabe puppets are no longer favored by the neoconservatives - the American policy makers. Â Â The golden goose that the whole town is talking about is non other than Mehdi Khalaji - a mullah's son.

I came to this realization the hard way. An  article I posted on Huffington Post (the backlash caused Huffington to reject future articles) in response to Mehdi Khalaji, a native Iranian at the pro-Israel think tank, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP),  drew unprecedented fire from neocons of all stripes.  Given that this was not the first time I had gone after the neocons and their lackeys , I was left wondering what was so special about the mullah's son?   Â

The most prominent of the neocons who attacked me had been strong supporters of Chalabi, the man who was instrumental in helping America engage in an illegal war against Iraq - a war which took hundreds of thousand of innocent lives and bankrupted America morally and fiscally. Â Â Oddly, these same neocons were feigning compassion for a single Iranian - Mr. Khalaji senior -- the mullah. Â Â

How quickly they rushed to Khalaji's defense -- John Hannah, while Dick Cheney's  national security advisor,  showed little sign of compassion for 70 million Iranians as he 'conducted high-level, strategic meetings with Israeli officials regarding the Iranian government's refusal to capitulate (State Department, November 29, 2005).  Â

Danielle Pletka, the other well-known defender of Khalaji,  insisted that she had  sympathy for his father, Khalaji senior.  One has to wonder why the rest of the Iranians did not deserve her 'compassion'.  Pletka has  made it clear that she would support military action against Iran to prevent a nuclear-capable Iran (AEI, September 7, 2006).  "We have seen that engagement with the current leadership of Iran would not achieve policy change; all it would do is buy an evil regime the time it needs to perfect its nuclear weapons and to build a network of terrorists to deliver them" (Los Angeles Times, July 23, 2004).  Her reeling empathy towards the Iranian people has been ongoing.   In October 2009,  she was a moderator at a policy meeting at the American Enterprise Institute discussing Should Israel Attack Iran?   Â

Other noteworthy neocons such as Michael Ladeen and Ali Alfoneh joined the chorus of Khalaji. defenders. Â Â Surely then, Khalaji is someone to reckon with?

What the obscure four, and all the other wannabes neglect to understand is that Khalaji has left them all in the dust. Â Â Khalaji works with the outfit that is set on destroying Iran's nuclear program, killing the scientists, undermining the people, and overthrowing the regime. Â

Needless to be reminded that there has been some success, but the plan will not succeed. It would be wise for Tom Ridge, John Bolton, Frances Townsend and Michael Mukasey to retire in obscurity, if not with dignity.   It would be wiser still to invite Pahlavi, the MEK, and the rest of the wannabes  to join them.   It seems that the new game in town is Mehdi Khalaji - a mullah's son.   Â

Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich has a Master's in Public Diplomacy from USC Annenberg for Communication. Â She is an independent researcher and writer with regular contributions to various online blogs. Â