[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 52 (Thursday, May 4, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E726]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                APRIL 18, 2006 LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH

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                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 4, 2006

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, On April 18, 2006, I sent the following 
letter to President Bush regarding the United States' use of Iranian 
anti-government insurgent groups in fomenting opposition and supporting 
military operations in Iran:
       Dear Mr. President: Last week I wrote to you regarding 
     reports that U.S. troops are conducting military operations 
     in Iran.
       There are also reports, however, that the U.S. is fomenting 
     opposition and supporting military operations in Iran among 
     insurgent groups and Iranian ethnic minority groups, some of 
     whom are operating from Iraq.
       The Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PEJAK) is one such 
     group. PEJAK is based in the Kurdish region of Iraq, a few 
     miles from the Iranian border, and has staged attacks across 
     the border in Iran since 2004 on behalf of Iranian Kurdish 
     interests, according to an April 3, 2006 article in the 
     Washington Times. PEJAK claimed to kill twenty-four Iranian 
     soldiers in three raids against army bases in March. Iran's 
     official news agency also reported that three Republican 
     Guard soldiers were killed in a gun battle near the Iraqi 
     border in late March. Iran has denounced PEJAK as a terrorist 
     group and has accused the U.S. of funding PEJAK. According to 
     an April 15, 2006 article in the Economist, Iranians and 
     Turks both believe that the U.S. is supporting PEJAK. It is 
     hard to believe that PEJAK is operating successfully from 
     Iraq without U.S. knowledge, support and coordination.
       The Mujahedin e-Khalq (MEK), an Iranian anti-government 
     group which has been listed as a ``terrorist group'' by the 
     State Department since 1997, is another anti-government group 
     that has received U.S. support. An article by Jim Lobe 
     published on Antiwar.com on February 11, 2005 claims that 
     Pentagon civilians and Vice President Cheney's office are 
     among those in the U.S. government who support the MEK. His 
     article further describes how according to Philip Giraldi, a 
     former CIA official and a source in an article about this 
     subject in the American Conservative magazine, U.S. Special 
     Forces have been directing members of the MEK in carrying out 
     reconnaissance and intelligence collection in Iran from bases 
     in Afghanistan and Balochistan, Pakistan since the summer of 
     2004.
       Seymour Hersh's April 10, 2006 article in the New Yorker 
     also confirms that the U.S. troops are establishing contact 
     with anti-government ethnic-minority groups in Iran. 
     According to a government consultant with close ties to 
     civilians in the Pentagon, American combat troops now 
     operating in Iran are ``working with minority groups in Iran, 
     including the Azeris, in the north, the Baluchis, in the 
     southeast, and the Kurds, in the northeast.'' The consultant 
     further says, ``The troops are studying the terrain and 
     giving away walking-around money to ethnic tribes, and 
     recruiting scouts from local tribes and shepherds.''
       U.S. support for insurgent activity in Iran is not 
     tolerable. You have claimed numerous times that the object of 
     the so-called ``War on Terror'' is to target lawless 
     insurgent groups.
       Previously I asked you to immediately report to Congress on 
     the extent of U.S. military operations currently in Iran. 
     Now, in light of the evidence described above, I urge you to 
     report to Congress on U.S. support for military operations in 
     Iran by anti-Iranian insurgent groups.
       It is a great breach of public trust to set this country on 
     another path of war while keeping the Congress and the 
     American people in the dark. I am demanding that you respond.
           Sincerely,
                                               Dennis J. Kucinich,
     Ranking Democrat, Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging 
     Threats and International Relations.

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