US unclear on listed terrorists

[CHIMO]

In an apparent turnaround, the United States military has conferred "protected status" on members of the armed Iranian People's Mujahideen Organisation currently based inside neighbouring Iraq. The same group appears on the US list of terrorist organisations, with some 3,000 members of the group having been disarmed and placed under US custody after the US-led invasion of Iraq.

The government in neighbouring Iran wants the Mujahideen members extradited to face trial in their home country, but with their new status they fall under the Fourth Geneva Convention, placing them under the protection of the International Red Cross.

"It looks like a contradiction. That means the American administration is split over the Mujahideen. I think the State Department is still working to appease the Mullahs. They are still hoping to strike a deal with the regime, and there are some circles in the diplomacy of the United States still hoping of reforming this regime from within, which has failed already. But also there are other sections in the American administration who think the Mujahideen have nothing to do with terrorism as they are actually an anti-fundamentalist force, using Islamic ideology against Islamic fundamentalism, and that has to be welcomed by the world community."

http://www.rnw.nl/hotspots/html/irq040727.html

[UpInArms]

1. gee, here's where we can compare dimson to raygun!

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:4UecdxZSRaEJ:www.cesr.org/Emergency%2520Response/Afghanistan%2520Fact%2520Sheet%25202.pdf+reagan+Mujahideen+freedom+fighters&hl=en

excerpt:

Between 1980-85 the CIA funds the recruitment and training of thousands of volunteers from three dozen Muslim countries to fight in Afghanistan. Among these “Afghan Arabs” is Osama bin Laden, heir to a Saudi construction fortune, as well as top officials from Islamic movements throughout the Middle East and Asia. Many of these fighters and groups later join to form the Al Qaeda network and turn against their former American and Saudi sponsors.6

President Reagan says that “The resistance of the Afghan freedom fighters is an example to all the world of the invincibility of the ideals we in this country hold most dear, the ideals of freedom and independence.”7

In 1985 the Reagan administration sharply escalates covert action in Afghanistan. Through the 1980s the US channels $2-3 billion in weapons and supplies through the CIA and ISI as part of the largest US covert action program since World War II.8

The Mujahideen enjoy widespread bipartisan support. Senator Orrin Hatch (Republican) praises these “freedom fighters” for their “determination and raw courage.” Senator Bill Bradley (Democrat) urges that they be recognized as “the sole legitimate representatives of the Afghan people.”

[dbt]

2. Decisive Wartime pResident Kick!

:evilgrin:
dbt

[PATRICK]

3. Sounds like

they are making complete and utter fools of the US, an easy thing to do in the current situation. Bush doesn't care so long as the home front doesn't notice and the Muslims are getting a lot of mileage out of this.

It is one thing to be hated. It might be even worse to be ridiculed.