We know who the evil culprits are in this instance, and when we talked, when the panel talked previously about the misconceptions about the MEK, the mullahs are behind it obviously. But who informs them. And I know from personal experience, it’s the MOIS, the Iranian intelligence service, and I’ve had personal experience dealing with them adversarily over the years and these are people who somewhat grudgingly we wish in the American intelligence community we had, but we are a country of laws and regulations. They have no such restrictions. They are a true terrorist organization and what fears them the most, and I’ve had discussions with the MOIS officers in the field, and as an intelligence officer and a spy for almost 30 years, you can tell when someone is being disingenuous and when someone is being somewhat truthful and fearful. And they were fearful. They feared the MEK. Why? Because the MEK represents not only a beacon of hope for the people of Iran, but the possibility of change because it demonstrates not just to the people of Iran, but to the people of the world what could be.
So the theme of this conference is opportunities and challenges, opportunities not taken, as we have seen very clearly, soon become challenges. Now we have some achievable opportunities within our grasp, the longer we wait to realize these, to make these changes, the more difficult these challenges will be in the months and years ahead. So it’s not just the persecution of the brave residents of Camp Liberty, it’s not just their sacrifices, it’s the persecution of all Iranian people and by extension all the people of the world.
We have to stop pursuing a failed policy of appeasement. How do you change the mind of tyrants? Its not through appeasement. It’s through a genuine position of strength. How do you change the mind of a tyrant and a tyrannical regime? Its through organizations like the MEK and the NCRI that serve as a beacon, perhaps the only beacon for change. So the sacrifices that the brave heroes of Camp Liberty have demonstrated to us through their sacrifices will not go unnoticed. Your voice will continue to be heard, your continue voice, and your continued sacrificed of the martyrs that we are here today to honor, have made a difference and will continue to make a difference. The difficulty is it will continue to infuriate the mullahs, it will continue to fuel the MOIS and other organizations, Quds Force, Hezbollah and others that serve at the behest of the mullahs and create even more dangerous situations for freedom loving people in Iran. That’s why the administration needs to act. It can’t just simply ignore what is happening in Tehran. It can’t ignore what’s happening in Iraq. The new prime minister now in Iraq has publicly stated that he is committed to fighting corruption and terrorism. There is no better place to start than resolving the issue that faces us today, that continues to face us in Camp Liberty, and the status of the MEK.
Again, your sacrifices, your voice will not go diminished. Those sacrifices of these brave individuals and your continued efforts will eventually make a change and we will see a free and democratic Iran.
