The Washington Times
www.washtimes.com
House Editorial
Published 3/29/2002
Mounting evidence that Tehran is shielding hundreds
of fleeing al Qaeda terrorists and is working to destroy what's left of the
Arab-Israeli peace process have made it increasingly difficult to push for
"closer" U.S.-Iranian ties with a straight face. Nevertheless, a
number of high-powered folks in Washington seem determined to try.
The designated vehicle for their campaign is an
organization calling itself the American Iranian Council (AIC). The AIC's board
of corporate "sponsors and collaborators" includes prominent oil and
gas companies that have been effectively shut out of exploration in Iran as a
result of U.S. economic sanctions. The board includes representatives of energy
firms such as ARCO; Ashland Oil Inc.; BP; Chase Manhattan Bank; Chevron; Conoco
Inc.; Exxon; Shell, as well as George Soros' Open Society Institute. Its
various boards of directors include such luminaries as former Assistant
Secretary of State Robert Pelletreau; former Health and Human Services
Secretary Donna Shalala; Democratic Party bigwig Sargent Shriver; Under secretary
of State for Political Affairs Thomas Pickering, now a vice president with
Boeing Corp.; Judith Kipper of the Center for Strategic and International
Studies; and Gary Sick, a former member of Jimmy Carter's National Security
Council staff and leading purveyor of the "October Surprise" fraud —
the scurrilous charge that Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign plotted
to drag out the Iranian hostage crisis to embarrass Mr. Carter. The head of the
AIC is a Rutgers University professor named Hooshang Amirahmadi, who suggests
that President Bush's characterization of the current Iranian government as
part of an "axis of evil" could result in "colossal death and
destruction."
On March 13, the AIC held a conference in
Washington, which was addressed by Zalmay Khalilzad, a member of President
George Bush's National Security Council staff, Sens. Joseph Biden, Robert
Torricelli and Chuck Hagel. In his remarks, Mr. Khalilzad delivered a forceful
critique of Tehran's support for terrorist groups like Hezbollah, Hamas and
Islamic Jihad, and its sheltering hundreds of al Qaeda terrorist operatives
fleeing from Afghanistan. The speeches by the three senators, however, verged
on the surreal at times. Mr. Torricelli (who has come under fire in the past
for receiving campaign donations from supporters the Mujahedin-e-Khalq, a
radical Iranian opposition group which has been listed by the State Department
as a sponsor of terrorism) criticized Mr. Bush's "axis" reference,
asserting that this is "not true" and that the president's statement
"did not serve American interests." Mr. Hagel, who received an award
from the AIC, delivered a rambling speech that, aside from calling for world
peace, was remarkably devoid of substance. On June 27, 2001, however, Mr. Hagel,
addressing another AIC gathering in Washington, denounced U.S. sanctions
against Iran and Libya, asserting that they "isolate us."
Mr. Biden, who in October suggested that the
United States might be viewed as a "high-tech bully" in attacking
terrorist targets in Afghanistan, this time urged that the Bush administration
"acquiesce" to Tehran's demands to join the World Trade Organization.
Insight magazine reported several weeks ago that Mr. Biden raised $30,000 at a
fund-raiser held Feb. 19 at the home of Dr. Sadegh Namazi -Khah, a Los Angeles
activist pushing for a softer U.S. line toward the ruling regime in Tehran; the
magazine added that Mr. Biden, in private discussions at that fund-raiser,
delivered a sweeping condemnation of Mr. Bush's "axis of evil" remarks.
The central problem with the
AIC-Biden-Hagel-Torricelli view of Iran is that it is completely out of touch
with reality. On March 18, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is by far the most
powerful man in Iran, responded derisively to Mr. Biden's call for closer
U.S.-Iranian ties and launched into a lengthy tirade about U.S.
"imperialism," slavery and other sins. Earlier this week, the New
York Times ran an article showing how last May, Iran and Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat formed a new terrorist alliance against Israel — the very one
that is carrying out suicide bombings today with such devastating success. So
much for Iranian "moderation." Mr. Bush would do well to listen
carefully to the advice of Mr. Biden et al. — and do precisely the opposite.
Copyright © 2002 News World Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.