Posted tagged ‘Senator McCain’

Iran: Possible US and Iranian Opposition Cooperation to Counter the Threat of Mullahs’ Rule

April 21, 2017

Iran: Possible US and Iranian Opposition Cooperation to Counter the Threat of Mullahs’ Rule, Iran Focus, April 20, 2017

(Please see also, Iran’s Top Judge Warns of Enemy Schemes for Election. Might the “enemy schemes” of the Iranian dissidents who met with Sen. McCain be among those referenced there? — DM)

Senator McCain’s visit to Albania to visit dissidents and Maryam Rajavi could perhaps be a step in the direction of cooperation between the US government and the main Iranian opposition. It is true that the NCRI is receiving more and more support from lawmakers in the West, and from all over the world, and it is making the Iranian regime nervous. Cooperation between the US and the Iranian opposition, which has large networks of people all over Iran, will be a positive move for the people of Iran. No one knows more about the Iranian regime and its activities than the main opposition group and it will help the US get foreign policy to counter the regime’s threat right.

*****************************

London, 20 Apr – Last week, Senator John McCain went to Albania where he met a number of the former residents of the Camp Liberty base. The dissidents were finally released from the former US military base last year and many of them have now made Albania their permanent residence. The dissidents at Camp Liberty had been victim to numerous attacks planned by the Iranian regime.

However, they have now all finally been released from Camp Liberty and have the freedom to continue their activism, must to the dismay of the Iranian regime.

Senator McCain also met with the leader of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Maryam Rajavi.

It was no surprise that the mullahs were unhappy about this encounter and claimed it was part of a conspiracy against the Islamic Republic. There were also threats that the US would be made to “pay” for the “mistakes” it has made. This predictable anger is nothing but proof that the Iranian regime is extremely weak and terrified of opposition.

For years, the Iranian regime has attempted to destroy the opposition via various methods including force, violence, false allegations and slander. It is clear that the opposition groups, especially the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), pose a very real threat to the mullahs’ rule.

The threat has got even more real now that the Trump administration is in place. While President Obama was in office, the Iranian regime enjoyed free reign over the Middle East. Obama did not dare call the regime out on its malign activities, let alone sanction it.

In his presidency so far, Trump has put Iran “on notice” after it conducted testing of ballistic missiles and has issued numerous sanctions on Iranian individuals and entities. The Trump administration is also weighing up whether or not to designate the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) as a FTO (Foreign Terrorist Organisation). However, the biggest message was sent to Iran when it launched a strike on its ally in Syria. As well as saying that the United States will not put up with such evil acts (the chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of civilians), it was a challenge to Iran’s position as the main backer of the Syrian regime.

Senator McCain’s visit to Albania to visit dissidents and Maryam Rajavi could perhaps be a step in the direction of cooperation between the US government and the main Iranian opposition. It is true that the NCRI is receiving more and more support from lawmakers in the West, and from all over the world, and it is making the Iranian regime nervous. Cooperation between the US and the Iranian opposition, which has large networks of people all over Iran, will be a positive move for the people of Iran. No one knows more about the Iranian regime and its activities than the main opposition group and it will help the US get foreign policy to counter the regime’s threat right.

Where was McCain when Obama attacked the free press?

February 19, 2017

Where was McCain when Obama attacked the free press? American ThinkerMonica Showalter, February 19, 2017

Senator John McCain poured it on for the press at a Munich defense conference Saturday, warning in a veiled attack on President Trump that attacks on the press are a leading danger for democracy. “That’s how dictators are made!” he shrieked. It was rich stuff, given that most of his European listeners do not have the same wide press freedoms found in the states. But more to the point, it was McCain up to his old tricks: Ingratiating himself to the anti-Trump press by playing its champion, in a bid to be the media’s darling.

What stands out here is the hypocrisy of his claims. He’s suddenly concerned about press freedoms and dictators?

Where was McCain when President Obama was systematically violating press freedoms every which way to Tuesday?

Seven examples of Obama’s attacks on a free press spring to mind and not one of them drew any significant criticism from McCain.

Where was McCain when Fox News correspondent James Rosen was illegally followed around by Obama’s Department of Justice in 2013 over a story he published on North Korean activities? It was a clear-cut example of reporters just doing their jobs, even as someone in government was leaking the story, but Team Obama went after Rosen with the Espionage Act.

Where was McCain when CBS investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson’s computer was being taken over and hacked in late 2012 by what were almost certainly Obama agents over her Benghazi scandal reporting? She described the still-unresolved incident in her book Stonewalled (which ought to give another clue about the Obama record on press freedoms) but her story about the computer hacking, which included planting classified documents and keystroke changings, certainly was disturbing. We didn’t hear much from McCain.

Where was McCain when New York Times reporter James Risen was threatened with prosecution if he did not reveal his sources? Risen certainly thought Obama was acting like a dictator in a recent interview. McCain, not so much.

Where was McCain when Obama illegally wiretapped the communications systems of the Associated Press in 2013 bid to find out its sources? Nowhere to be found.

Where was McCain when radio show host Rush Limbaugh was attacked by Obama – in 2009 and 2012 for unfavorable commentary?

Where was McCain when Fox News was singled out for criticism by President Obama? This event was not only a blast at the outfit but highly inappropriate collaboration with Media Matters, which made Fox News its bugbear.

And where was McCain when Obama’s spokesman John Kirby attacked a RT News correspondent at a 2016 White House press conference who asked an uncomfortable question on Syria, questioning its legitimacy as a press outfit? If the Russian state-funded press agency was that illegitimate, explain to us why it had a press pass issued by the White House at all? We heard nothing about it from McCain.

The Obama list is quite long, and that is not surprising. Obama was a socialist and socialists of all stripes have a long record of suppressing freedom of the press, subordinating its expression to the interests of an all-powerful state and its dictator. McCain found nothing wrong with that when Obama was playing that game and undercutting the press in what seemed to be pretty oppressive and downright illegal behavior. Breitbart News has another list of problems here. But when Trump, three or four weeks into his presidency, calls out some fake news on Twitter, suddenly we have a dictator descending.