{"id":11427,"date":"2011-11-10T14:45:58","date_gmt":"2011-11-10T14:45:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/multimedia\/ashraf-liberty\/11427-general-shelton-first-and-foremost-the-us-must-remove-the-mek-from-the-foreign-terrorist-organization-list-this-is-critical"},"modified":"2023-01-14T01:50:56","modified_gmt":"2023-01-14T00:50:56","slug":"general-shelton-first-and-foremost-the-us-must-remove-the-mek-from-the-foreign-terrorist-organization-list-this-is-critical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/ashraf-liberty\/general-shelton-first-and-foremost-the-us-must-remove-the-mek-from-the-foreign-terrorist-organization-list-this-is-critical\/","title":{"rendered":"General Shelton: First and foremost the U.S. must remove the MEK from the Foreign Terrorist Organization List. This is critical"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"GeneralNCRI – In an international session held in Paris on Saturday, November 5th at the initiative of the CFID Committee (French Committee for Democracy and Human Rights in Iran), European and American personalities called on the European Union, United States and United Nations to take immediate measures to cancel the Iraqi government\u2019s illegal and repressive deadline to close Camp Ashraf by the end of 2011. This call comes after the announcement of US forces\u2019 withdrawal from Iraq by President Obama and also Iraqi forces\u2019 preparations for an attack against the camp.<\/p>\n

The speakers at this conference were: Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance; General Hugh Shelton, former US Joint Chiefs of Staff (1997 \u2013 2001); Ed Rendell, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee (1999-2001) and Governor of Pennsylvania (2002 \u2013 2011); John Bruton, Prime Minister of Ireland (1994 \u2013 1997) and the Ambassador of European Union to the US (2004-2005); Lord Peter Mendelsohn, European Union Commissioner (2004 \u20132008) and UK Deputy Prime Minister (2009); Robert Torricelli, US Senator (1997 \u2013 2003); Romeo Florin Nikoara, Romanian Senator; Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Le Garrett, Mayor of Paris 1st district; Jean-Pierre B\u00e9quet, member of the Valdoise Provincial Council and mayor of Auvers-sur-Oise.<\/p>\n

Below is speech by General Hugh Shelton:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Senator Torriceli: Ladies and gentlemen, Winston Churchill once said that, \u201cWhen two nations shed blood together in a common cause, their relationship is never the same.\u201d\u00a0 Iraq is a sovereign country.\u00a0 Like American, British, Canadian, and other nations expect no special privileges.\u00a0 But, we certainly have earned the right to be heard for what is decent and right.\u00a0 There is no better person to speak to that in my country than General Hugh Shelton.\u00a0 There is no higher honour for an American soldier than to be chosen by his president for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.\u00a0 Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to present to you, General Hugh Shelton.<\/p>\n

Thank you very much Senator for your very kind comments and thanks to each of you for your very warm reception.\u00a0 To those of you in camp Ashraf, I say, \u201csalam aleikom\u201d, greetings.\u00a0 It\u2019s always tough to follow up president-elect, Rajavi, because when she finishes there\u2019s very little left to say.\u00a0 But it is great to be here with you, with president-elect Rajavi, and with my distinguished colleagues on the dais here today.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Today, time is of the essence.\u00a0 If we are to prevent a disaster in camp Ashraf, we have 56 days left, and that includes the holidays which are always periods in our government\u2019s time when things don\u2019t move very fast.\u00a0 It\u2019s really hard to believe that I stood here in Paris almost seven months ago and outlined the reasons why the United States should delist the MEK from the Foreign Terrorist Organization List.\u00a0 It was an easy decision then, it\u2019s an easy decision now, based on the facts.\u00a0 Yet today, I\u2019m sad to say that America\u2019s lethargic State Department still has not made the decision, even as camp Ashraf faces a very dangerous and potentially life threatening situation.\u00a0 A situation that is right now left to the hands of the Iranian-control, Maleki government in Iraq.
\u00a0
Allow me for just a few minutes today to review with you the facts.\u00a0 You\u2019ve heard many come from president-elect, Rajavi.\u00a0 Fact number one: even the current terrorist exporting Iranian regime has trouble articulating why the MEK should be on the Foreign Terrorist Organization List.\u00a0 Recently as you know they tried to blame the attack on the Saudi Ambassador in the United States on the MEK, only to have the State Department defend the MEK.\u00a0 That\u2019s how desperate that Iranian regime is.\u00a0 Fact number two: the D.C. Court of Appeals rule that the Department State had actually broken the law by placing the MEK on the FTO List, because they had failed to allow the organization de-process.\u00a0 We all know that Secretary Clinton has not complied with the court ruling.\u00a0 That court ruling was produced evidence and she hasn\u2019t replied because there is no evidence to be produced.\u00a0 Fact: over thirty very senior former U.S. officials, by partisan, actually by partisan correlation, non-parochial if you will, have publicly supported the MEK\u2019s removal from the FTO list.\u00a0 That should be noted, because whenever you get anything that\u2019s non-parochial in Washington D.C. you\u2019ve accomplished a major feet.\u00a0 Not only that, but these are individuals that are of great integrity, great ethics, who passionately believe and support the MEK because they believe in the cause.\u00a0 There are individuals like the former attorney general of the United States Moe Casey, the former director of all Federal Bureau Investigation, Louis Free.\u00a0 There are four governors, two of which are here with us today.\u00a0 There are whole hosts of general officers.\u00a0 All of whom have great integrity.\u00a0 I know them personally and would only support the MEK if they believed that the cause was just and that the MEK did not belong on the FTO list.\u00a0 You and I know that the MEK should not have been placed on the list and we all know it should be taken off immediately.\u00a0 A fact: We, United States, disarmed the residents in camp Ashraf in 2003.\u00a0 In doing that, we guaranteed them protection under the fourth Geneva protocol.\u00a0 It was a commitment.\u00a0 It was a promise that we made.\u00a0 And that commitment and promise has not changed although we have turned the territory over to the Iraqi government.\u00a0 A fact: in April of this past year, we stood by and watched the massacre that took place in camp Ashraf, although we had commanders and troops in near parks and into the camp.\u00a0 That was in spite of our promise.\u00a0 It was in spite of our commitment.\u00a0 It was in spite of those military forces being nearby.\u00a0 We did nothing to protect them and I\u2019m ashamed to say that.\u00a0 Fact: the U.S. government continues to provide the Iraqi government with billions of dollars in U.S. aid.\u00a0 And to say that we do not have the means to influence the Iraqi government just because we don\u2019t own the territory, is an outright fabrication of the truth.\u00a0 The truth is there are many tools in America\u2019s kick bag, tools that we can use. They\u2019re diplomatic, political, economic, military, informational, whole host, and the economic tool is a big one.\u00a0 If we cannot protect the innocent civilians of camp Ashraf with our military forces, then we need to turn to the economic tool.\u00a0 If we cannot influence the Iraqi government to start taking care of the people of camp Ashraf, then we ought to quit pouring billions of dollars of aid into a country although which we have no influence.\u00a0 The U.S. still has that powerful economic tool and president Obama should have the political courage to use it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Today, another fact, the Iranian government is the most dangerous terrorist exporting nation in the world today.\u00a0 We saw that secretary defence Peneta recently told the Iranians to \u2018quit meddling and quit interfering in U.S. operations worldwide\u2019.\u00a0 Most recently as I said, only they were responsible for the attack on the Saudi ambassador right under the State Department\u2019s news in Washington D.C.\u00a0 A fact: two different by-partisan U.S. congressional resolutions have been sent to Secretary Clinton asking her to remove the MEK from the list.\u00a0 Another fact:<\/p>\n

Mrs. Rajavi, your charismatic and fearless MEK president-elect has a 10 point program, which when implemented will provide the citizens of Iraq with the same basic freedoms enjoyed by all democratic societies worldwide.\u00a0 And they will free the Iranians from the tyranny of the current Iranian regime.\u00a0 The theocratic and autocratic regime that the Iranian people are forced to live under today.\u00a0 Fact: the MEK unlike many other organizations needs only an acknowledgment from the U.S. government that they are a legitimate organization and a key ally in fighting terrorist exporting regimes like that in Iran today; an acknowledgment that has already been made years ago by the E.U. and by the United Kingdom.\u00a0 These are clearly undeniable facts that surround the MEK organization and to me make it so obvious that they should not have been placed on the list to start with and should be taken off the list this very moment.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0As a reporter, Claire Beckingham, recently said, \u201cwe\u2019re only eve on another ….\u201d\u00a0 As the Iranian-control Maleki forces prepare to alienate the residents of camp Ashraf, either in the camp, or in their ill-advised plan to disperse the residents throughout Iraq, so that they can deal with them without the oversight of the international community.\u00a0 And where is the United Nations?\u00a0 Sure the United Nations High Commissioner for human rights has granulated the status of asylum seekers, but the Secretary General has not provided the full-time monitoring for station at the camp that is so urgently needed.\u00a0 U.N. observers on the ground are required to prevent and to at least report to the world what the Iraqis are doing to the innocent disarmed residents of Ashraf.\u00a0 And where is the United States in this endeavour? Where are we in using the considerable influence that we have available to us?\u00a0 Again, that very powerful tool called the \u2018economic tool\u2019.\u00a0 But in order for it to be effective, you have to have the political courage to use it.\u00a0 That starts with Secretary Clinton but ultimately it\u2019s a responsibility of President Obama.\u00a0 Today there is no doubt as I said earlier; we\u2019re on a critical juncture for the residents of camp Ashraf.\u00a0 The State Department\u2019s delay, its silence, and its inaction in every front is incredible.\u00a0 Unless immediate action is taken, another tragedy, much larger than that one in April is looming.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll leave you with actions that I think are required.\u00a0 First and foremost the U.S. must remove the MEK from the Foreign Terrorist Organization List.\u00a0 This is critical.\u00a0 Since as we all remember the Iraqis used the terrorist label as an excuse to justify their April attack.\u00a0 The U.S. must tell Maleki and the Iranian government to stop interfering.\u00a0 We must use that powerful economic tool again to demand that the U.N. place a full-time monitoring force at Ashraf to protect the citizens until a proper resolution of that disposition can be made.\u00a0 Third, the U.S. and the E.U. must push the U.N. Secretary General to notify Maleki that he cannot close the camp until he UNHCR has completed its work on behalf of its Ashraf residents.\u00a0 Fourth, President Obama must show the political courage to use the United States\u2019 economic tool to demand that the Maleki government, under the United States\u2019 commitment, to protect the citizens of Ashraf even in the face of Iranian pressure to the contrary.\u00a0 And unless Maleki agrees to honour his commitments, then his scheduled 12th December visit to the White House should be cancelled.\u00a0\u00a0 And everyone must remember that we have a very very narrow window within which to accomplish these actions, although there will be blood on our hands and the world will see that America and the E.U. did not undersea when we had the opportunity to do so.\u00a0 And we will all bear responsibility for the horrible outcome because we lack both the moral and political courage to stand for what is right.\u00a0 We must make sure for the sake of mankind that it does not happen. Thank you very much.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NCRI – In an international session held in Paris on Saturday, November 5th at the initiative of the CFID Committee (French Committee for Democracy and Human Rights in Iran), European […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[175],"class_list":{"0":"post-11427","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-ashraf-liberty","7":"tag-updated"},"yoast_head":"\nGeneral Shelton: First and foremost the U.S. must remove the MEK from the Foreign Terrorist Organization List. 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