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After American forces came in to liberate Iraq from one of Iraq’s most brutal dictators, Iran came in and caused havoc for the Iraqi people and US-led coalition forces alike. Iraq is a very important battleground for the Iranian regime and its Khomeini-style Fundamentalist ideology.

Ashraf city, Iraq, is where a large MEK [Mujahideen-e-Khalq] headquarter in Iraq sits. The MEK was founded as an opposition group to the Shah. It found itself opposed to Ayatollah Khomeini and seeks to overthrow the Iranian regime and to establish a democracy in Iran. It is the main organization in the National Council of Resistance in Iran [NCRI], which is the parliament in exile to Iran’s regime and which is united in its goal to ending the Khomeinist regime’s rule and in establishing a democracy in Iran.

In 1997, the MEK was put in the US State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations [FTO] to appease the Mullahs and especially as a goodwill gesture to then-President of Iran Mohammad Khatami.

As the US set out to liberate Iraq from Saddam Hussein, the MEK decided to be neutral in the Iraq war. But with the problems with Iran, in launching rockets, in fanning the flames of violence and in their meddling to establish an extensive Islamist network to disrupt and corrupt the political process in Iraq and to turn Iraq into a radical Islamic client state of Iran, the MEK is especially useful in fighting Iran’s influence. The MEK’s opponents accuse it of crimes in Iraq without having any evidence. Many of these accusations come from Iran’s disinformation campaign. One claim in Iran’s disinformation campaign was that the MEK took part in Saddam’s brutal oppression against the Kurdish and Shia revolts in Iraq right after the 1990-1991 Gulf war. There is no evidence to support that claim. It debunked by many people including Iraqi Kurds.

An argument can be made that the MEK is a useful asset to Iraq including for US interests there because the MEK seeks to save Iraq from Iranian influence. It can be said that by fighting Iran’s influence, the MEK is helping to protect the democratic process there that’s set up by America.

An Iranian takeover of Iraq is very bad for America, Israel, an even the Arab states in the region including Egypt, Jordan and even Saudi Arabia. An Iranian takeover of Iraq would boost Iran’s morale and would extend Iran’s influence in the Arab and Muslim world. It would also mean a failure for freedom and democracy in Iraq.

The MEK understands this and seeks to protect Iraq from Iran’s meddling. As a result, the MEK has the support of 5.2 million Iraqis. The 5.2 million Iraqis include Shias, Kurds and Sunnis. They signed a petition that was very clear in its opposition to Iran’s influence. It even called for the MEK to be used to clear Iraq of Iran’s influence.

The Iraqi government, which includes pro-Iranian elements, called for the MEK to be expelled and started a terror war on Camp Ashraf in order to appease the Iranian regime.

The future of the MEK does not look bright. Camp Ashraf is constantly attacked. Though the appeasement crowd were very vocal in the State Department, a proponent of appeasement with America’s totalitarian enemies became president on January 20, 2009. President Obama pledged to talk to and negotiate with Iran’s regime without preconditions. Despite him calling for “tough” diplomacy, Obama recently said on an interview in BBC that Iran has “legitimate energy concerns” and “legitimate aspirations” regarding Iran’s nuclear program, despite the fact that the evidence, as exposed by the MEK, shows that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. Iran’s leaders have threatened to wipe Israel off the map and even called for a nuclear Holocaust on Israel. And Iran’s military journals call for a nuclear EMP attack on America.

Camp Ashraf fell under American protection until the US withdrew from Iraq on January 1, 2009.

As America found themselves locked in a battle for democratization in Iraq and founded Iranian meddling, it made US-MEK cooperation even more ripe. The MEK, an pro-democracy Iranian organization, which denounced violence in 2001, was clearly a useful asset for America in Iraq. The MEK did not fight America, not even when its bases were bombed by America in the beginning of the war in a bid to appease Iran and as part of a deal with Iran in which Iran wouldn’t meddle in Iraq. Iran ended up meddling in Iraq anyway. It’s quite clear that the MEK was an asset in defending Iraq from Iran. The MEK wasn’t going to fight for Saddam Hussein and was willing to cooperate with the US. After America reached a cease fire agreement with the MEK, [in which, as said, the MEK was not fighting the Americans], America then launched an investigation on the MEK in whether they committed terrorism. The investigation found no evidence that linked the MEK to terrorist activity. Even many US soldiers, as they saw Iranian meddling, saw the MEK as a useful asset in resisting Iranian influence. The war on Iraq made the ground even more ripe for US-MEK cooperation.