Thursday, March 28, 2024
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You can imprison a man, but not an idea. You can exile a man but not an idea. You can kill man but not an idea

Tom Ridge
Abraham Lincoln once said revolutions don’t go backwards. Sometimes some revolutions take a little longer to materialize and get to their goal. Over the past 8 or 9 years since I have been associated with this incredible movement, with men and women such as yourselves, I have drawn inspiration from literally hundreds if not thousands of sources. I love the comment you made earlier about that you don’t appreciate the value of a moment until it’s a memory.  Those are powerful words.  And I remember standing next to some mothers and wives and sisters and brothers as they showed me the pictures of the loved ones who had been killed by the mullahs before Ashraf and Liberty, and since that time. I think all of us are moved by the powerful words the young people both here, and the extraordinary young people who represent the future of Iran around the notion called Team Liberty.
And one of the most remarkable things in Washington, DC, today is the overwhelming, and I mean ladies and gentlemen, overwhelming support that the Iranian opposition has among political leaders on both sides of the aisle. Military leaders, you’ll hear from one that worked with them, but there is scores of others. Academic leaders, religious leaders, I dare say there is not a cause in Washington, DC, that has attracted as powerful a group and has committed a group of individuals than the cause of the freedom fighters in Liberty. We raise our voices with each and every one of you.
And from time to time I guess this revolution in your eyes has perhaps seems to have been installed or slowed down a little bit, but when you listen carefully to the words of the men and women we just heard on that video, you feel the passion and the commitment, the steadfast resistance to the notion that anything other than a free, secular, non-nuclear Iran, anything but that is unacceptable. And you understand that they have stood their ground in Ashraf, they are standing their ground in Liberty, and we must stand with them every step of the way. Their voices are joined by you and us.
This is pretty personal to some of us up here, not quite the way it is personal to you that have loved ones who have sacrificed and been killed during the repressive regimes of a series of mullahs. But some of us were very, very involved for well over a year in discussions with our Department of State. And one could say we were recruited by our own government, military leaders, political leaders, academic leaders were recruited to convince Madame Rajavi and the leadership of Ashraf to move from Ashraf to Liberty. And it took multiple phone calls of which ironically there is some interesting transcripts that one of these days may see the light of day. Words were transcribed because promises were made, assurances were given and after months of negotiations and hope and prayer, all but 100 moved to Liberty. And the assurances were many, ladies and gentlemen, many, many assurances. We will improve the living conditions, and they were just awful, but don’t worry we’ll fix it. We’ll to continue to provide for the safety and security of the residents; we’ll have a robust American presence; we will visit frequently; we will expedite their resettlement. Empty words, unfulfilled promises.
As a soldier, a former soldier I can imagine how comforted the residents were when they had unilaterally turned over their weapons of self-defense to our United States military in exchange for a promise of security and protection, because when an American soldier gives his word, when the commanding general gives his word, you believe in your heart of heart and your head that America has given its word. And since that time we have given our world over and over again and I take personally, as a former soldier, former public servant, now as a citizen that my country has not kept its word. But revolutions don’t go backwards.
We draw inspiration from people like and such as yourselves, gatherings around the world, whose voice in unison along with those, the residents of Liberty, and I must say we wonder, actually beyond wonder, it’s almost disbelief. We have suspended belief and the notion that somehow concessions to the Iranian regime can make them moderate. The centerpiece of terrorism around the world and the primary reason for instability, and think of what’s going on in that region of the world right now. They are supporting Assad with men and arms and money; they are supporting Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and Maliki is merely a puppet and the mullahs pull the strings. Damascus, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. You see their future, their vision is almost annexing these countries. They have gone from funding terrorism to fighting wars to destabilize that region, therefore destabilizing the country so they can continue to fund the repression internally, and terrorist activity around the world and particularly the Middle East. And in spite of that we know revolutions don’t go backwards. We know that the men and women at Ashraf stand and stood their ground in spite of the murderous assault, we know that those fresh young voices in Liberty are prepared to stand their ground, they are prepared to die for what they believe in, patriots all. We join with them.
So let me conclude. Binazir Buto once said you can imprison a man, but not an idea. You can exile a man but not an idea. You can kill man but not an idea. This revolution will never go backwards. I assure and I speak for nearly hundreds of my colleagues who joined us in press conferences, meetings, television appearances, co-authoring articles for newspaper publication in our own way and it seem so insignificant. It really does seem insignificant our contribution to the cause, because the freedom fighters live in fear of their death every single day, perilous time, a perilous place,  but their conduct and their lives are great inspiration for all of us, and its from their conduct and from their lives and from their courage and from their sacrifice, not only will this revolution will never go backwards, it will prevail.
Thank you ladies and gentlemen,

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