Congressman Kucinich Must Find a Better Role Model than Bob Ney
by Hassan Daioleslam | View comments |
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Dennis Kucinich and Bob Ney's support of Tehran's ayatollahs is quite similar in method and substance.
Bob Ney, a current federal prisoner and former Ohio Congressman, has left quite a legacy. Throughout his tenure in the US Congress he received bribes in exchange for providing services to a variety of clients. Ney was finally convicted for several charges, including accepting bribes from lobbyists and international arms dealers in an effort to circumvent sanctions against selling US-made airplane parts to Tehran.1 In the US congress, Ney was an active and outspoken advocate of the Iranian mullahs. He fought hard against sanctions, toned down pro-human right statements against Iran and worked hard to create a pro-Iran lobbying organization in Washington (the National Iranian American Council- NIAC).2,3 Ney wrote articles, organized meetings, delivered speeches and held fundraising events for various pro-mullah causes. It took about ten years for Ney’s criminal affairs to be exposed.
An alarming resemblance exists between Ney's advocacy of Tehran over the past decade and Congressman Dennis Kucinich's (D-OH) advocacy of Tehran now. On August 1, 2007, Baztab, the Farsi language website controlled by the former commander of the revolutionary guards, wrote an article about Kucinich's "lonely battle" in opposition to sanction efforts against the Iranian regime.4
Kucinich and Ney's support of Tehran's ayatollahs is quite similar in method and substance. They both call for engagement with mullahs; they both vehemently fight against any type of sanction against the mullahs; they both oppose human rights statements against Iran by the congress; they both associate with the same known mullahs' proxies in the US; and they both side with Iran when it comes to Iran's anti-Israeli rhetoric.
Kucinich's passionate criticism of H.R. 2347, the “Iran Sanctions Enabling Act of 2007,” and H.R. 957, the “Amendments to the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996,” and his demand for unconditional engagement with the mullahs,5 is remarkably similar in tone and form to Ney's tactics six years earlier.6
Kucinich voted against the bill that was designed to condemn the repression of religious minorities and especially Bahais, again identical to Ney’s activities in the past.7
Bob Ney's assistant and right-hand man in Iran-related affairs was Trita Parsi. Roy Coffee, one of the lobbyists involved in Ney's Iran sanctions affair, in a letter to media admitted that they worked with Trita Parsi to create an Iranian lobbying organization.8 Parsi, who is known in Washington circles as the voice of mullahs, was subsequently appointed the president of NIAC.9 For this reason, when Kucinich invited Trita Parsi to a congressional hearing and introduced him as “one of the nation’s top experts on Iran,” the Iranian community was deeply troubled.10
We note that the two Ohio congressmen have offered different justifications for their friendly gestures toward the Iranian mullahs. While Bob Ney claimed defense of US economic interests, Kucinich offers the more noble cause of preventing war with Iran. If this is indeed true, surely his peaceful inspirations could find a more suitable partner than Trita Parsi. Note that this individual was the advisor of Ney, a vehement defender of war with Iraq and the instigator of the "freedom fries" charade.
Anti-Israeli positions
Trita Parsi along with many other Tehran proxies in the US have always had a strong anti-Israeli undertone in their proclamations. They have portrayed Israel and the Israeli lobby in the US as the main reason that Iran is isolated, accused of human rights violations and terrorism in the world, and not allowed to pursue its god-given right of nuclear technology.11,12,13
They also used these arguments to justify Tehran's lobby in the US to balance the Israeli lobby. They proclaimed, “An Iranian-American lobby is needed in order to create a balance between the competing Middle Eastern lobbies. Without it, Iran-bashing may become popular in Congress again.”14
Bob Ney had no reservation in jumping on this bandwagon and blaming Israel for what the mullahs have done. After the Iran Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) was extended for five years in 2001, Bob Ney and his assistant Trita Parsi placed the blame on Israel.6
In 2005 and 2006, the ultra-fascist Iranian president Ahmadinejad embarked on a large-scale campaign of anti-Semitism, which has been condemned by the international community. This campaign included the "Holocaust" conference, calling for wiping out Israel, and criminal declarations and support of the most heinous racist figures of the contemporary world. The day after Ahmadinejad’s declaration, the Jomhouri Eslami, a governmental newspaper, dedicated its front page to an organized rally in support of Ahmadinejad’s speech. The front page read: “Israel should be eradicated” and a big picture of demonstrators showed a similar sign, leaving no doubt what the Iranian president meant and said.19
Siamak Namazi, Parsi's cohort and a leading figure of Iran's oil mafia, offered a ridiculous interpretation of Ahmadinejad's call for "wiping out Israel from the map." He suggested that there was a translation problem, and Ahmadinejad actually meant the Israeli regime should be changed.15
Two years later, the US Congress passed a statement condemning Ahmadinejad's deplorable declarations. Despite overwhelming support for the bill, Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) voiced the same shady argument that Ahmadinejad's true intentions were lost in translation.16
The Iranian-American community has not been surprised by NIAC's failure to denounce these horrible acts. We are not even shocked at the subsequent disinformation campaign by Trita Parsi and his partners from Tehran to spin the PR disaster of Ahmadinejad. We are, however, seriously concerned about Congressman Kucinich's direct participation in this anti-Iranian and anti-humanity campaign of hatred. Astonishingly, Congressman Kucinich’s friendly gesture toward the Iranian regime does not stop here as he declared: “President Ahmadinejad’s speeches can also be translated as a call for regime change, much in the same manner the Bush Administration has called for regime change in Iraq and Iran, making this resolution very ironic.”20
We wonder how Congressman Kucinich can can possibly interpret Ahmadinejad’s repeated declarations that the Jewish population must look for another place or country and evacuate the Israel as a call for “regime change” in Israel.17,18
The Iranian community in the United States is appalled at Kucinich's participation in the disinformation campaign and advocacy of Tehran's mullahs. The gentleman from Ohio needs to look for better role models than his previous congressional colleague who now resides in a federal prison cell.
* * *
A Personal Note: I wholeheartedly believe that a US war against Iran will be a catastrophe of unbelievable dimensions. It equally troubles me to see that Tehran’s lobbyists and ayatollahs’ advocates disguise their patronage for mullahs as anti-war pursuit. Their disinformation campaign is bringing us to the brink of a war they pretend they aim to deter.
— H. Daioleslam
Endnotes
1. "Lobbying: The Web Widens," in NewsWeek, Jan. 23, 2006 (www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10857676/site/newsweek/).
2. Daioleslam, "H. Ayatollahs’ Lobby In Washington Offering Human Rights As A Negotiating Item," in http://www.globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=3130&cid=2&sid=4
3. Daioleslam, H. "Iran’s Oil Mafia," in http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=27787
4. in Baztab, http://www.baztab.ir/news/72496.php.
5. "Kucinich Stands Against Drumbeat of War Targeting Iran." (July 31, 2007). http://kucinich.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=70545
6. Speech by Congressman Bob Ney (R-Ohio) (June 2001).
http://www.american-iranian.org/pubs/articles/Bob%20Ney%20speech.pdf
7. Condemning Repression of Iran's Baha'is a Pretext for War? Dennis Kucinich speaking from the Floor of the House. (Sept 19th, 2006). http://www.kucinichforcongress.com/floor_speeches/intl_bahai_pretext19sep.php
8. RE: A LAWYER IN TROUBLE. Front Burner, (February 1, 2006). http://frontburner.dmagazine.com/archives/013069.html
9. Timmerman, K.R. The Mullah's Voice. (Feb. 23, 2007). http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID={02549A0A-61FB-4A13-A574-756C67F9155B}
10. Kucinich, D. Opening Statement, Iran Briefing. (October 11, 2006). http://kucinich.house.gov/UploadedFiles/dkiranstatement.pdf
11. IRANIANS FOR INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION. in http://www.payvand.com/news/01/jul/1161.html.
12. Parsi, T. What's to fear? A challenge to Israel's strategic primacy. in (January 5, 2006).http://www.iranian.com/Parsi/2006/January/Nuclear/index.html
13. Parsi, T. A Modus Vivendi Between Jerusalem and Tehran. (March 17, 2006). http://www.forward.com/articles/a-modus-vivendi-between-jerusalem-and-tehran/
14. Namazi, S. & Parsi, T. Iran-Americans: The bridge between two nations. DAPIA Conference, (Cyprus, November 1999). http://www.geocities.com/tritaparsi/iranamericans.PDF
15. House Resolution Highlights Debate over Interpretation of Ahmadinejad Comments (Jun 19, 2007). in www.niacouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=807&Itemid=2
17. Iran's president tells Israel to find a new home. (Aug 4, 2007). http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070804/wl_mideast_afp/iranisraelalgeria_070804151914
18. Speech by Ahmadinejad. in http://emruz.biz/ShowItem.aspx?ID=9050&p=1
(1386/05/14 (Iranian Calander)).
19. http://www.jomhourieslami.com/1384/13840807/index.html
20. http://kucinich.house.gov/News/DocumentPrint.aspx?DocumentID=67929
hassan.dai@yahoo.com
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