Colonel McCloskey
Good Afternoon everyone, Ok, for those who don’t know me, I was the last commander of Ashraf. I was the one that turned over the responsibility to the Iraqi government. And I have difficulty today thinking about what we did and how we went about it. So from now on my only mission in life and my only talk this afternoon is to discuss Ashraf and the residents and what we need to do as friends of Ashraf as family members what we need to do.
I left Iraq in 2009, after spending 2 additional months to make sure that the transition went smoothly with the Iraqi government. And they were really nice to us as we train them to take over the mission and assured us how great they are going to be. But as soon as I left the command leadership changed and they brought in new leaders.
Today I want to brief you on my experience working in Ashraf. The dedication and sacrifice of the people of Ashraf and things they have done under terrible hardship and all of these endorses today. My heart is heavy with sadness for what has been done to these unarmed and defenseless people. This world is silent on their plight, but they did have hope for a new Iran and they stand as a beacon for that new hope.
Ladies and gentlemen
These people are heroes who have never faulted on the responsibility and duty, never.
Before we turned over the responsibility to the Iraqi government, the United States State department, the UNHCR and of course me, we convince the residents that this was a good thing, that this was a path way to a new future outside of Iraq. And we really believed that all of the commitments that we were given, would happen, and that they would get the same level of protection.
I stayed in Ashraf for 2 months to make sure that the transition went well. In the first 2 months, I saw nothing. But shortly after I left, within a couple of months the killing started. Maliki’s government came in and started to killing people with rockets. And they attacked camp in a vicious way with their police and army. People were shot, run over by trucks and beaten with clubs. Has anybody seen those videos? Because if you don’t have them, I have them! I saw the people that I worked with them on the daily basis being assaulted by the Iraqi government that gave me those assurances those people be protected. Those attacks have continued to this day.
Last September was the biggest mass murder of all, when agents of Iran in Iraq launched an early morning assault on Camp Ashraf with a systematically went through the camp and executed unarmed residents killing over 52 of them. Those that did not die outright were shot point blank in the head to finish them off. What kind of human beings can do that to a wounded person in a medical facility? The dead from that attack were recently buried in mass graves and no autopsies were done, no UN representatives were present. I have to believe that we can do something and maybe the lawsuit is going to help us, but ladies and gentlemen, I need you, I need to enlist you in my army
We now have all the residents out of Ashraf. Camp Ashraf no longer exists in its physical state, but Camp Ashraf exists in our mind. It is in the image that cannot be erased. It is the people who stood their life protecting and setting a beacon of freedom. I always considered myself and honorable soldier, who did its duty in good faith. Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t know how I can live my life until this situation is cleared up and my honor is restored to myself.
As I said, i am here today to plead to your help to right this great wrong. I know the Iranian government spread information that these people are hypocrites. But I do not believe for one minute that any of those people in Ashraf are hypocrites. The Iraqi government has turned Ashraf in to concentration camp and the people are being brutalized by people with power.
Use your social media to spread the word that we need help; we need to resolve this situation. Don’t wait for the humanitarian groups that call themselves humanitarians to come to the rescue, they are not the people on white horses, they are the enemy, because they stand by and let these things happen. When I was in Iraq, I never saw the UN come to Ashraf, because they were afraid. I never saw the Red Cross come until we absolutely had the absolute protection for them. But their only purpose when they came to Ashraf was to help send people back to Iran. They were agents of Iran. People that had defected from the organization who said they wanted to go back to Iran. People like Batool Soltani, who I am sure you have seen on some of the Iranian televisions. Batool live in a refugee camp in Luxury for 4 years after she defected.
She had a great life there. Her tent had a fireplace. She had kitchen. She had all the luxuries that very few members of the other organizations had, and she was in power. And when she goes back to Iran, within a month she is back in Iraq, with an Iranian passport, saying her husband is being held hostage by the MEK. I can tell you that it was a lie, because I talk to her husband many times, as I have talked to the residents and the families that used to risk their lives to come to Ashraf to give me their story. They told me about the cranes and the hangings. They told me and showed me pictures of stoning of women. These people risk their lives to give me that story. And I can tell you that they are the heroes also, that they gave their time and effort to help the people of Ashraf. They were very proud of their family members who were standing on the border with Iran’s sending the signal that Iran you cannot do this to your people, we are here.
No human rights group is currently in Liberty, and the blue helmet should be there. Before the world step up, United States has to step up. We gave them Protected Person’s Status. We have stood by, when they were killed. We cannot deny the protected person’s status we gave them. And if we cannot resolve the problems in Iraq, we have to take them to America and give them refugee status and political asylum. This is our job, every one of us here, not just me, not just the politicians and the other speakers, its all of us here have to work on this to get it solved. By the very fact that the rockets continue to come in, tells me they’ve never establish a safe zone. And I’ve been in a lot of rocket attacks and the only way you can stop them, is to set up a safe zone and we’ve done that before, we should be doing it now. As I’ve said before, I consider myself a resident of Ashraf; I consider them my friends and my family. I continue to wait to the day, as I’ve said many times before, where I can break bread in a safe and secure environment.
Specially, I want to sit down with my farmer friend, Noormorad, the old farmer who is probably now in his 80s and needs a rest. I also will not forget all those who died in September, including Hussein Madani, who I know very well. Commander Zohreh, as I know her, deputy secretary general of the MEK and Giti, her deputy. I had a lot of respect for them. We now need to have respect enough to do something and get this situation cleared up.
I thank you all for your attention today for coming here, and I thank my friends next to me for their devotion to this cause. It is a cause that is well worth it. Thank you very much.
