Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. -First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, December 15, 1791.
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| Maryam Rajavi |
Congress intended the First Amendment to permit a wide range of
opinions and views and produce a free exchange of ideas even if they are
at odds with tradition. According to political myth, Otto von Bismarck
said, “If you like laws and sausages, you should never watch either one
being made.” Sausage-making, however, is an authoritarian process.
Testimonies from multiple witnesses are an effective way to democratize
the legislative process.
All-Source Threat Assessment
For threat assessment to begin with the answer rather than to hear
multiple witnesses is to put the cart before the horse. To say that the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, aka ISIS) defines the threat
prejudges the outcome in favor of an orthodoxy that may actually play
into the hands of this terrorist group. Sensational videos of hostage
beheadings leaked to the media become the breaking news of the day and
may inadvertently aid recruitment for ISIS.
The House Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade is
to hold a hearing entitled, “ISIS: Defining the Enemy,” April 29, 2015.
The subtitle opens the door to all-source threat assessment. The
intelligence community uses information from discounted and unorthodox
sources as leads to compare with official estimates; likewise, Congress
welcomes information from a variety of sources, including dissident
testimony as leads in formulating legislation.
Why it is Important for Dissidents to Testify before Congress
Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee
Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade, invited Mrs.
Maryam Rajavi, President-Elect of the National Council of Resistance of
Iran (NCRI), to testify via teleconference from Paris at the Defining
the Enemy hearing. NCRI is a coalition of opposition groups that does
not accept the legitimacy of the Iranian regime. It is important to hear
from such dissidents because they hold different views of defining the
threat than traditional interpretations.
Is Maryam Rajavi the right person to testify? She is the right
person: As a prodemocracy woman with a moderate view of Islam, Rajavi
represents the opposite of the misogynous Iranian regime’s rulers; they
are authoritarian, suppress women, and hold an extreme view of Islam.
