By Manda Zand Ervin
Source: Gatestone Institute
The unelected regime that is currently controlling Iran has a reputation for spending Iranian national assets around the world to buy friends and good will — a necessary part of its plan to remain in power and continue its unappealing behavior, such as financing terrorism around the world and abrogating its commitment under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty by developing nuclear weapons.
An American Thinker expose recently stated that the Khomeinist regime has been assisted in perpetuating these activities thanks to the support of a Washington lobbyist, Grover Norquist, and his involvement with the American Conservative Defense Alliance (ACDA). ACDA has actively supported the Campaign for a New American Policy for Iran (CNAPI), which in turn is linked both to the Council for American-Islamic Relations [CAIR] and the National Iranian American Council (NIAC).
A recent CBS “60 Minutes” program states that Grover Norquist is “the most powerful conservative man in Washington.” If that is true, his support for these groups is troubling. The Iranian American community widely believes NIAC – ACDA’s partner in many of its efforts — to be a Washington lobby group for the Khomeinist regime leadership. NIAC has long advocated unconditional negotiations with Tehran, and the total abandonment of all economic sanctions and military options against the Iranian regime.
NIAC’s advocacy appears as a deftly veiled refusal to support the Iranian democracy activists and the Iranian freedom movement. This is not only un-American but contradicts all conservative ideals.
The founder of NIAC, Trita Parsi is an unpopular figure within the Iranian-American community, as can be seen from his high disapproval ratings in a July 2011 poll of over 1800 Iranian Americans taken by the Pro-Democracy Movement of Iran. Senator Jon Kyl has called for an investigation into Trita Parsi and his work. Last month, on November 5, Parsi stated that criticism of Iran should be “punishable.”
What these lobbyists recount to Americans such as Norquist and the members of the US government are distortions and lies. The lobbyists claim that the majority of the people of Iran are religious; that they are happy with this blight of a regime, and that economic sanctions only hurt the people. They say that military intervention will only strengthen the resolve of the Iranian people to fight on the side of the regime, and that support for the freedom movement will discourage the Islamic regime from coming to the negotiating table. These statements are simply not true.
In the 32 years that have passed since Iran was hijacked by this regime, every elected U.S. president — from Jimmy Carter, to President Reagan on down to President Obama — has tried to negotiate with the Islamic regime. Not only have these negotiations been for naught, they have allowed Iran to buy time to continue building its illegal nuclear weapons program. The latest IAEA report now puts the Iranian Revolutionary Guards nearer completing their nuclear bomb than ever before.
Since the end of the Cold War, the Islamists have historically been a friend to the far left; they are now looking to American conservatives on the right to join them to obtain the further legitimacy they think they require when approaching the government.
Here is what Trita Parsi wrote in emails to CNAPI participants, as quoted in the recent American Thinker expose: “… Grover Norquist offered his support but did not sign‐on. He exemplifies not just a powerful voice in the Republican Party, but also an important figure that can provide transpartisan legitimacy to our efforts. I think it is critical that we do whatever can be done to get him to sign on, especially since his full involvement would give our efforts a tremendous credibility boost.”
If Mr. Norquist is supporting these apparently unabashed lobbyists out of a humanitarian concern for the people of Iran, he should know that a large majority of Iranian people have no problem with economic sanctions if they result in the removal of this illegitimate, dictatorial regime, and help the empowerment of the people to establish a government by the people of Iran, for the people of Iran.
As President Obama said: “The people who are on the side of the dictators, are on the wrong side of history.”
As a new American and a conservative, I am fighting for the rights of all the deprived men, women and children of Iran.
I wonder if Mr. Norquist would be interested in hearing the true side of the story, or does “The Most Powerful Conservative Man in Washington” know it already — but not care?
