Al-Hayat daily, 24 December 2010 – Former US officials in the Bush administrations including Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, former Attorney General Michael Mukasey and former NY mayor Rudolph Giuliani expressed their support for the PMOI, the most prominent Iranian opposition in exile. Giuliani announced before hundreds of PMOI supporters in Paris that “the policy of appeasement vis-à-vis a dictatorship will only lead to war and destruction. When facing an autocracy, there is no other solution than a firm and decisive resistance.”
“For your organization to be described as a terrorist organization is just simply a disgrace,” Giuliani added. “And it came about for the worst of reasons. It came about for a reason that is at the cause of the problem we are having and perpetuating. You were described as a terrorist organization to placate the Iranian regime. The United States should not just be on your side, the United States should be enthusiastically on your side. You support what we support.”
Later on, former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge said in his speech, “Let’s be loud and clear and consistent, the MEK is not a terrorist organization, it is a voice and a call for freedom.”