In National Convention of Iranian-Americans in the Nation's Capital, former top U.S. officials condemn terrorist attack on Iranian dissidents in Iraq, underscore U.S. and U.N. responsibility, urge return of Liberty residents to Camp Ashraf

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being released by Organization of Iranian American Communities:

Senior U.S. government officials in the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations condemned in strongest terms terrorist attack by the agents of the Iranian regime on Camp Liberty, to which 3,100 members of the main Iranian opposition movement, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) were relocated from their home of 26 years, Camp Ashraf.

A barrage of three dozen 107mm mini-Katyusha rockets at 5:45 am, Saturday, February 9, left six residents, including one woman, dead and more than 100 wounded, some seriously.

The former officials addressing the National Convention for a Democratic, Secular and Non-nuclear Republic in Iran at the Washington Convention Center, included President Obama's National Security Advisor Gen. James Jones, New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, 9/11 Commission Vice-Chair Lee Hamilton, Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, Attorney General Michael Mukasey, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, and Homeland Security Advisor to the President Frances Townsend. Congressman Patrick Kennedy moderated the Convention, also attended by more than 1,500 Iranian-American delegates from 37 states across America. 

Speakers and delegates focused on the need for urgent humanitarian action, demanding that the residents of Liberty be returned to Ashraf immediately because their safety and security at Liberty was by no means achievable.

"When I met on July 1^st of 2012 with Martin Kobler in Paris with Judge Mukasey present, he was insulted that I called it [Camp Liberty] a concentration camp. Well, Martin Kobler, it is not only a concentration camp, it's a killing field.  And you, Martin Kobler, watched it become a concentration camp. You allowed it to become a concentration camp and you permitted it to become a killing field.  You shouldn't resign.  Ban Ki-moon should fire you today. Martin Kobler, I am personally outraged because you lied to me, you lied to Judge Mukasey, you lied right to our face.  You lied to Madam Rajavi. You're a liar and the blood of these people is on your hands," said Mayor Giuliani, adding, "Responsibility is not just on the United Nations… Responsibility, unfortunately, is on the United States."

In condemning the attack, Gen. James Jones emphasized "Camp Liberty has a name that is not worthy of a prison, which it has become."  He said, "Since the United States turned over its responsibility to the Maliki government in 2009, the treatment of the Ashraf refugees has been a travesty. As a result, to the United States' honor and dignity, the murder and harassment and mistreatment to which the people of Ashraf have suffered, is a sad chapter in our history, a stain on the international community and an indictment on the Iraqi government that has allowed itself to be used as a tool of Tehran."

Patrick Kennedy echoed the same sentiment. "Let's not make any mistake about it.  This cannot be laid off on the United Nations.  We are in Washington, D.C.  The United States has a responsibility to those six people who were killed. They had our word that we are going to protect them," he emphasized.

Referring to Mrs. Maryam Rajavi's Ten-Point Plan, Lee Hamilton, former Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said, "I commend you for it and I applaud it. The ballot box, freedom of speech, freedom for the media, separation of church and state, gender equality, support for the rule of law, human rights, a free market system, peaceful co-existence and, of course, a free Iran without nuclear weapons.  That is a platform that I can endorse with great enthusiasm."

A 2011 Republican Presidential Candidate, Senator Rick Santorum concurred, "We stand here today to the government of the United States.  We need to speak clearly.  We need to speak with a voice that says that we will stand by you, that we will stand for the principles that your movement has laid out." Describing Mrs. Rajavi's Ten-Point plan as "the ten principles that will form the basis of a great civilization in Iran," Santorum added, "Today at Camp Liberty we see the consequence of a failure on the part of this administration to keep its promise, not just to the people of Camp Liberty but to the people of this country and the people of the region and the people of the world to stand up for the values that this country says that we are willing to fight for and sacrifice. We made a promise to the people at Camp Ashraf and we broke that promise and people died."

AG Mukasey said, "Martin Kobler gave his assurance, his two-faced duplicitous lying assurance that the residents of Ashraf as they then were would be protected if they moved to Camp Liberty."

Former Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and President George W. Bush's Homeland Security Advisor, Frances Townsend also condemned the terrorist attack and voice support for Mrs. Rajavi's Ten-Point Plan. "If last night's attack on Liberty was meant to silence and to intimidate us, our message to Iran and the Iraqi government is you lose.  We are here and we will remain here and we will not be silenced until there is a democratic and free Iran," emphasized Ms. Townsend.

Secretary Card said, "The Secretary of State should say to the people of Camp Ashraf and Liberty that what happened cannot happen again, and open the doors of Camp Liberty."

SOURCE Organization of Iranian American Communities