Prominent Bipartisan Delegation Of Americans Back Iranian Opposition Movement At Paris Rally

PARIS – Although few in America probably are aware of it, taking place right now is a huge gathering of the Iranian diaspora calling for regime change by the Iranian people.

I’m writing from this gathering of tens of thousands of expats and their international supporters (including an impressive and bipartisan group of American attendees that includes former CIA director James Woolsey, former Sec. of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, former head of the UN Human Rights Commission Ken Blackwell, former Labor Sec. Elaine Chao, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Hugh Shelton, former commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps James Conway, Alan Dershowitz, and former DNC head Howard Dean).
Some background on the event organizers — and this rally. The good news is they’re no longer considered a terrorist organization. The bad news is…I’m attending their eight-hour rally. It’s not that I disagree with what I’ve heard and understood (it’s not all in English and translations are hurried), it’s just that I don’t know of anything (even, let’s say, eating pizza) that I would want to do for eight hours. But at least it’s full of passion and intensity.
The rally which, as far as I can tell, also includes many thousands of young people who were bused in from all across Europe, is sponsored by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a Paris-based group that serves as an umbrella organization for five Iranian opposition groups, the most controversial being the MEK. I came here partly out of curiosity. This is a group whose American boosters include (aside from the aforementioned names) people like former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Ambassador John Bolton, and former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell.