Question for Dr. Pipes

Submitted by Aymenn Jawad (United Kingdom), Jun 27, 2009 at 18:44

Dear Dr. Pipes:

As an Iraqi, how could I agree with you that the West should work with the MEK, when they did Saddam's bidding willingly by murdering my Kurdish compatriots and other fellow Iraqis who rose up against this evil dictator after the First Gulf War? Why should I have any sympathy for this cult (and it is a cult) that offered itself as bodyguards for Saddam at the start of the US liberation in 2003?

I totally applaud the Iraqi government's decision to kick them out of Camp Ashraf. Like Yusuf Al-Qaradawi and his ilk, these closet Islamists are versed in the language of taqiyya. In reality, they hold similar views to Ayatollah Khomeini: they are just angry that Khomeini didn't grant them a share of power after the Revolution! No, Dr. Pipes, the realpolitik principle of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" does not apply here: if we supported the MEK it is likely that they would seize control in a power vacuum.

Yours faithfully,

Aymenn Jawad.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".