| A US journalist believes that if the MEK were not delisted as a terrorist organization, they would have been likely to commit mass suicide, incite Iraqi security forces to fight, or even burn themselves alive in France, as they did before. |
In an article entitled The MEK Is Bad News, But Delisting Them Was A Good Decision published in Haffington Post on Monday, Christina Wilkie writes that the reason behind MEK delisting was “more importantly, because Clinton understands that they're a dangerous cult, and that all the other potential outcomes of the 30-year standoff between the MEK and the outside world would have likely been much, much worse.”
“Near the top of that list,” notes the author, “was mass suicide,” “After that, it was that the MEK's leaders would deliberately provoke a confrontation with Iraqi security forces,” and in France, there was a possibility of public self-immolations, “a tactic the MEK has used there before.”
At the outset of her article, Wilkie stated that members of the terrorist MEK group “really don't like me” and that she doesn't trust them, either.
“I've been reporting on the MEK for the Huffington Post since last summer, and members of the group have threatened my house and hacked my email,” she added.
She noted that she doesn't deem them “freedom fighters in exile as they claim to be.” “Nor do I believe their values are democratic, as they claim they are.”
“I believe the MEK is a militant cult of personality, whose leaders, Maryam and Massoud Rajavi, figured out in the 1980's that they could survive by doing mercenary work on behalf of governments that hate Iran,” she went on saying,” she added.
“Saddam Hussein was their first patron, and he granted them land in Iraq to build a walled, military compound, Camp Ashraf, where until a few months ago, more than 3,000 members lived,” She further explained.