Protect Iran's Freedom Fighters in Camp Ashraf
Time / LOUIS J. FREEH AND MICHAEL B. MUKASEY
19-Apr-2011 (5 comments)


In the early hours of Friday, April 8, while Washington and the media focused on a possible government shutdown, the Iraqi army assaulted a camp of Iranian civilians, called Camp Ashraf, murdering at least 28 residents and wounding hundreds more. Though the Iraqi government has claimed that only three people were killed and describes the events as an attempt to reclaim farmland, a U.N. inspection team found 28 bodies, including those of women, and determined that most were shot to death. Iraqi officials have not allowed journalists to visit the camp.

Located in northwestern Iraq, 120 km (75 miles) from the Iranian border, Camp Ashraf has for more than 20 years been the home of 3,400 members of the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK, also known as the PMOI), a key opposition group working against the Iranian regime. Camp Ashraf residents were promised legally protected status under the Fourth Geneva Convention in 2003 by senior U.S. commanders in Iraq. General David Petraeus, who served as deputy commander of allied coalition forces, has stated that the turnover of responsibility for Camp Ashraf to the Iraqi government was conditioned on a direct Iraqi assurance that the protected status of its residents would continue. Yet the brazen assault mounted by 2,500 heavily armed Iraqi soldiers on April 8 was not the first unprovoked assault against Camp Ashraf civilians. In July 2009, during a visit by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates to th... >>>

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Simorgh5555

Mehrdad jan and others

by Simorgh5555 on Thu Apr 21, 2011 04:44 AM PDT

I would jus like to clarify that the attribution of the term 'freedom fighter' was made b the author I have condemned e ideology and leadership of the MKO although amongst their members there are sincere patriotic persons who will fight to defend their county but are misguided by their association with the organisation. The young people who were killed in Camp Ashtaf have nothing to with the older generation of the likes of Rajavi and they seemed sincere about fighng for Iran. I do not want to judge them harshly. I share your condemnation of the MKO generally.


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Mash Ghasem

They might be sleeping with Cool Aid

by Mash Ghasem on Wed Apr 20, 2011 09:55 PM PDT

Jones Town @ Camp Ashraf?

Masoud and Maryam still runing the show and the level of 'obdience' by the membership, to put it mildley, doesn't inspire much confidence, cheers

P.S. IR has already started to use this incident as a push to drive out Kurdish groups from Iraqi-Kurdestan. But that is not going to work, it's a very different story.


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MM

Mehrdad is right on

by MM on Wed Apr 20, 2011 06:39 PM PDT

But, c'mon!!!!! Freedom fighters?  After sleeping with IRI and then with Saddam, is MKO sleeping with freedom now?


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Bavafa

Simorgh jaan: calling these MKO members freedom fighter

by Bavafa on Wed Apr 20, 2011 05:27 PM PDT

is an insult to every freedom fighter in the history of the world. Of course we are all entitled to our opinion.

I don't Condon the brutal killing of these people recently by Iraqi forces and have condemn their action in other thread on the subject, but as far as I am concern they are any thing but freedom fighters.

I see hardly any different then those brain washed Pakistani that wear suicide belt and below civilian without really knowing the consequence of their action.

Mehrdad


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Siavash300

I feel for these people

by Siavash300 on Wed Apr 20, 2011 04:20 PM PDT

Although I see MEK as a traitor and personally I don't like their ideology, but I feel for them. They were trapped in that foreign land and being killed by bunch of the lizard eater Arabs. I wish they could manage to leave that country by going somewhere else. This massacre took sleep away from me and I hope those Arab bastards get punished for what they did to my country men and women.


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