This morning, I came across an interesting website called Regime Change Iran, which led me to the more interesting story that follows.
The story was apparently published last summer in the Asia Times. It is entitled "The American Hand in Iran," by Trish Schuh.
Ms. Schuh writes that Bush recently declared in front of 25,000 soldiers at Fort Hood, "The establishment of a free Iraq is a watershed event in the global democratic revolution. That success is sending a message from Beirut to Tehran."
Who did the Bush Administration task to deliver the message? None other than Swiftboat Veteran, Jerome Corsi. I thought Bush didn't know these guys?
"On May 16, 2005, Corsi's NGO, the Iran Freedom Foundation (IFF), inaugurated a 12-day "Iran Freedom Walk" from Philadelphia's Liberty Bell to Washington, DC."
What is the Freedom Walk........
"[Corsi] dipped two fingers in red paint and waved a peace sign in solidarity "with the blood of oppressed Iranians." He called on "the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King". He declared, "I love the Iranian people. America does not hate the Persian people. We love the Persian people. We want peace and we love the Persian people. Corsi's voice then dropped to a whisper; "We stand here today and we pray in the name of the gods. I embrace Jesus Christ as my savior - and we also pray in the name of Allah, Zoroaster and the B'hai. But Corsi has expressed very different opinions on Islam in the past.
According to his own postings on FreeRepublic.com [in 2001], Corsi described Arabs as "Ragheads are [sodomizers] as clearly as they are women haters - it all goes together." Corsi also has declared "Islam is a peaceful religion as long as the women are beaten, the boys buggered and the infidels killed."
Check out Media Matters for more info about this guy: http://mediamatters.org/...
My question was where did the guy get the funding or even the inclination to run a group like the Iran Freedom Foundation.
Ms. Schuh tell us.....
"When asked if he was CIA-affiliated, Corsi replied: "No, I'm not. I've never held a government position, never had any government position at all. I've been in universities. I'm an author. I'm in business. I'm not related to the CIA. It's just not true."
But when later asked how he became so committed to Iranian liberation, he explained, "When I was a young man I was an expert in antiterrorism and political violence. I had a top secret clearance when I was in universities and I worked to assist the State Department and the government." Corsi's publisher, Cumberland House, states in his biography that Corsi's top secret clearance came from the government agency US Agency for International Development (USAID). USAID has often served as a conduit for American covert operations funding, under humanitarian auspices."
Well, is you or ain't you affiliated with the CIA? I had always been led to believe that USAID was CIA, and if you ain't CIA then it sure is a coincidence that you just keep happening across the "topics du jour"?
How about the $$$$ angle:
"[Ms. Schuh] asked Corsi about the Iran Freedom Foundation's funding. He said the money came from sales of his book "Atomic Iran" and from private donations, ADDING THAT THE IFF WOULD APPLY FOR GOVERNMENT FUNDING WHEN IT BECAME AVAILABLE. THAT FUNDING MAY BE ON THE WAY.
Ask, Duke Cunningham, Mitchell Wade and Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, the #3 guy at CIA when the funding is on the way. Heck, why not ask Ricky "I Hate Lobbyists" Santorum. Take it away, Ms. Schuh:
"On February 11, a promoter of the IFF, Worldnetdaily.com, announced that Corsi had helped Republican Senator Paul (Little Ricky) Santorum write the Iran Freedom and Support Act of 2005. The legislation was to authorize $10 million in assistance to pro-democracy NGOs that challenge the Iranian regime.
Corsi called that figure a "starting point." It was an accurate projection. In a May 5 Financial Times article, "US offers grants to help oppose clerics", Guy Dinmore reported that lawmakers demanded a bill aimed at overthrowing the Iranian government be increased to $50 million. This did not include the millions of dollars provided by the State Department's Middle East Partnership Initiative. "We have turned opposition into a profession," commented Ray Takeyh of the Council on Foreign Relations. "This money is going to go up."
....
As we all know, Bush recently upped the ante on "pro-democracy forces" in Iran to something like 80 million.
Looks like Corsi and his friends will be busier than ever, but what 'bout Halliburton and Rumsfeld??????
"The IFF is also filming a documentary and has begun running TV ads entitled; "An Atomic 9-11: When Evil is Appeased", accusing Iran of plans to detonate a 150 kiloton nuclear bomb in New York City. (When Corsi was reminded that it was the US that began Iran's nuclear program in the 1970s, and that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld sat on the board of ABB, which sold North Korea its nuclear reactors in the 1990s, he refused to address the issue.)
The IFF's efforts are supplemented by an array of related sister organizations, such as Regime Change Iran, Alliance for Democracy in Iran, Iran of Tomorrow Movement, the Iranian Opposition Council, and The 70 Million People of Iran, which are organizing an election for a secular interim government in exile "ready to assume Iran's governmental functions". The group has also issued an ultimatum letter to world leaders, demanding they void all contracts with Iran. (Halliburton contracts in Iran were not mentioned). This small US-backed group, presuming to speak for 70 million Iranians, even borrowed the State Department lingo by urging "the removal of the Islamic republic to win the war on terror.
Corsi announces "the goal" of their strategies "[T]o incite mass protests against Iran's June 17 presidential elections [in 2005] and thus try to destabilize the regime." As early as 2003, Reuters printed allegations that the US had infiltrated several million dollars into the country to bribe officials and pay protesters. The Economist of June 13, 2003 headlined; "More Unrest on the Streets of Tehran. Is America Pulling the Strings?"
Even "lobbyist" Michael Ledeen wrote for the Neo-conservative American Enterprise Institute, "Mr. Bush is correct that we should actively help the brave Iranians who are leading demonstrations against the regime ..."
And the cycle continues:
On May 28, [2005] the IFF's walk reached the White House.
The closing rally featured Richard Perle, former assistant secretary of defense and pro-Israel architect of Bush's Middle East policy. Corsi then phoned the White House, where Bush congratulated the marchers and offered support. Vice President Dick Cheney's office also thanked the IFF. Corsi vowed, "If we can find sufficient monetary resources, we plan to send funds inside Iran to support those oppressed."
Who isn't on the payroll???