There has been a lot of controversy back-and-forth about whether the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) lobbies for the Islamic Republic of Iran. After an Iranian-American journalist referred to NIAC as a lobby group, NIAC sued him for defamation but ended up losing its case. While at the Washington Times, Eli Lake used documents revealed during that lawsuit’s discovery phase to suggest that NIAC was, indeed, illegally lobbying. Lake’s story apparently forced NIAC to amend its tax returns.
Jamal Abdi, NIAC’s policy director, now appears to push aside any pretense that NIAC is something other than Iran’s lobby. Speaking at the forthcoming “Expose AIPAC” conference, Abdi is featured on the “Training: Constituent Lobbying for Iran” panel. Oops.
Then again, in his university days, NIAC founder Trita Parsi made no secret of his goals. (Of course, another question might be asked of Chuck Hagel: Hagel sits on the board of the Ploughshares Fund, which channels money to NIAC. Now NIAC’s policy director is lobbying for Iran? I wonder whether Hagel feels that investment is worth it.)
wow but Rubin is full of shift. as usual. how does lobbying by Americans prove that the Americans are agents of a foreign government ???? n nI would suspect that Rubin is an idiot but it's not far more likely that he's simply a liar.
"how does lobbying by Americans prove that the Americans are agents of a foreign government ????" Neither in the course of these threads, nor elsewhere have you ever parroted Walt and Mearsheimer, referring to Americans who are supportive of Israel as the "Israel Lobby"? Or you can't avoid double standards where Israel and its enemies are concerned?
Hagel wants to see the abolition of nuclear weapons, NOT unilateral disarmament. In this, he echoes the hopes of Ronald Reagan.