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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

The Quislings – The Usual Suspects Lobbying For Iran

2020-04-11

[AND Magazine] For our resident quisling who is kneejerk Anti-American

Definition: quisling

n. A traitor who serves as the puppet of the enemy occupying his or her country.

n. A traitor who collaborates with the enemy.

n. someone who collaborates with an enemy occupying force
https://www.wordnik.com/words/quisling

Vidkun Quisling was a Norwegian army officer who founded Norway’s fascist party in 1933. In December 1939, he met with Adolf Hitler and urged him to occupy Norway. Following the German invasion of Norway in April 1940, Quisling served as a figurehead in the puppet government set up by German forces. He was executed for treason after the liberation of Norway in 1945.

Quisling is dead. There are, however, Quislings still among us.

Two dozen American and European former officials have signed onto a letter urging President Trump to relieve sanctions against Iran. The request is couched in terms of providing "humanitarian" relief and assisting Tehran in combatting the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement on April 6, the former government officials claimed that relieving the sanctions on Tehran could "potentially save hundreds of thousands of lives in Iran."

Who could possibly oppose such a "humanitarian" move at this time of crisis? It is a powerful, emotional message.

It is also a carefully crafted stroke of propaganda genius.

The reality is that current sanctions do not cover medical supplies and other humanitarian materials needed in Iran. Medical supplies and humanitarian aid can be given to Iran already.

The reality is also that the Iranian regime, which claims it is desperate for assistance in this hour of need, somehow continues to find more than enough money to arm the Houthi insurgency in Yemen, bankroll Hezbollah and send arms into Iraq with which its Iraqi Shia surrogates kill American servicemen and women. Meanwhile, on at least two occasions, Iran has specifically rejected offers of humanitarian assistance by the Trump administration.

In short, this has nothing to do with the coronavirus.

This has everything to do with exploiting a pandemic to benefit an evil, totalitarian regime, which has held its own people hostage for over forty years.
Let’s take a quick look at just some of the signatories to the letter in question:

Federica Mogherini:
High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy from 2014-2019. Mogherini attended Sapienza University in Rome where she wrote her final dissertation on Islam and politics. She was instrumental in crafting the nuclear deal with Iran and has bitterly opposed President Trump’s decision to walk away from it. She has made clear repeatedly that she fully supports the ability of European businesses to make money in Iran in defiance of U.S. sanctions.

Speaking in 2019, Mogherini said, "Part of this work requires us to guarantee that firms wanting to do legitimate business with Iran are allowed to do so. This is what we are working on right now: tools that will assist, protect, and reassure economic actors pursuing legitimate business with Iran." Mogherini added, "We Europeans cannot accept that a foreign power ‐ even our closest friend and ally ‐ makes decisions over our legitimate trade with another country. This is a basic element of sovereignty, and it is only natural that this reflection takes place, not only in Europe but in other parts of the world, too."

Leaving aside European signatories to this missive, however, the list of Americans who signed on reads like a "who’s who" of American apologists for Tehran and advocates of doing business with the devil.

Wiliam Cohen:
Cohen was Bill Clinton’s Secretary of Defense and was an ardent opponent of Donald Trump from the beginning of Trump’s candidacy. He has described the U.S. sanctions on Iran as being the equivalent of "economic war" and spoke out loudly against the American targeting of IRGC Qods Force commander Soleimani.

Chuck Hagel:
Hagel was Barack Obama’s Secretary of Defense. He is on record as opposing the killing of General Soleimani as well. He has a long history of opposing the use of sanctions against Tehran.

Madeleine Albright:
Albright was Bill Clinton’s Secretary of State. As Secretary of State, she was instrumental in ending many of the sanctions against Iran that were in place at that time. In discussing the ending of these sanctions in a speech to the American-Iranian Council (AIC) in 2000 Albright talked glowingly "of the winds of change" she saw blowing in Iran and the need to normalize relations with the tyrannical theocracy in Tehran. She also made what can only be characterized as a series of abject apologies to Iran for what she characterized as prior American transgressions against that nation.

The AIC is a pro-Tehran, anti-sanctions lobbying group.

Albright is a member of the board of directors at AIC as is Chuck Hagel.

The American-Iranian Council was established in the U.S. in 1997 by Houshang Amirahmadi, a lobbyist for the Iranian regime. It was founded with the support of American oil companies to promote investment in Iran. It has a long history of opposition to American sanctions against Tehran.

The first honorary Chair of the AIC was Cyrus Vance. Vance is perhaps best known as Jimmy Carter’s Secretary of State during the Iran Hostage Crisis. Vance bitterly opposed Carter’s decision to attempt to rescue the American hostages held in Iran and eventually resigned in public protest of the President’s decision to authorize the operation.

Iran is estimated to have roughly $90 billion in escrow accounts both at home and abroad.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei runs a corporate conglomerate worth approximately $200 billion that includes the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order, or EIKO; the Mostazafan Foundation; and Astan Quds Razavi.

Supreme Leader Khamenei has a sovereign wealth fund known as the National Development Fund (NDF) with an estimated $91 billion in assets, $20 billion of which is in cash.

In January 2019, Tehran authorized the expenditure of $1.5 billion on military activities.

In January 2020, following the death of Qods Force Commander Qassem Soleimani, Ayatollah Khamenei allocated $220 million to support the Qods Force.

Since 2012 Tehran has spent over $16 billion on terrorism abroad.
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Posted by:Frank G

#7 ^LOL

Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2020-04-11 16:10

#6 Feinstein...what a kurva.

Posted by: Clem 2020-04-11 16:08

#5 ...The list left off the Dishonorable Senator from California.

Mike

Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2020-04-11 16:02

#4 Looks like some of the usual suspects.

Posted by: Abu Uluque 2020-04-11 14:13

#3 Washington - Sen. Chris Murphy on Tuesday defended his meeting with Iran's foreign minister, while President Donald Trump accused the Connecticut Democrat of violating a law that bars U.S ...
[Search domain thefederalist.com/2020/02/17/.] Murphy is a frequent speaker at the National Iranian American Council, a lobbying group with alleged links to the Islamic Republic of Iran. ... It soon became apparent why Murphy was sooo upset with Soleimani's death. Senator Murphy has a history of supporting Iran's mullahs. Murphy is a routine speaker at the NIAC Council...

Posted by: b 2020-04-11 08:56

#2 I'd bet Pat just hates for free.

Posted by: Rob Crawford 2020-04-10 16:14

#1 What about Pat Buchanan?

Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2020-04-10 16:05

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