General David Phillips: The patch on here is the 89th MP Brigade, and I commanded that unit when we issued over 3,400 ID cards showing the United States says you are a protected person

NCRI – In an international conference held in Paris on Friday, January 6th at the invitation of the CFID (French Committee for Democracy and Human Rights in Iran), dozens of distinguished American and European dignitaries warned of obstructions and non-cooperation by the Iranian regime and the Government of Iraq in guaranteeing a peaceful solution for Camp Ashraf in Iraq, where members of the Iranian opposition reside.
The conference speakers were Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance; Gov. Howard Dean, former Governor of Vermont, Chair of the Democratic National Committee (2005-2009) and US presidential candidate (2004);  Gov. Tom Ridge, former Governor of Pennsylvania and the first US Homeland Security Secretary (2003-2005); John Bolton, former US Ambassador to the United Nations and former Deputy Secretary of State; Louis Freeh, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (1993-2001); Gov. Ed Rendell, Chair of the Democratic National Committee (1999-2001) and Governor of Pennsylvania (2002-2011); Judge Michael Mukasey, US Attorney General in the Bush Administration (2007-2009); Ambassador Mitchell Reiss, former Director of Policy Planning at the US Department of State; General James Conway, Commandant of the US Marine Corps (2006-2010); Rep. Patrick Kennedy, Member of the US House of Representatives (1995-2011); Gen. Chuck Wald, former Deputy Commander of the US European Command; Gen. David Phillips, Commander of the U.S. Military Police (2008-2011); Prof. Alan Dershowitz, one of the most prominent advocates of individual rights and the most well-known lawyer in criminal cases in the world; Ambassador Dell Dailey, head of the State Department’s counterterrorism office (2007-09); Col. Wesley Martin, former Senior Anti-terrorism Force Protection Officer for all Coalition Forces in Iraq and Commander of Forward Operation Base in Ashraf; Prof. Ruth Wedgwood, Chair of International Law and Diplomacy at Johns Hopkins University; Philippe Douste-Blazy, UN Deputy Secretary General and former French Foreign Minister; Alain Vivien, former French Minister of State for European Affairs; Rita Süssmuth, former President of German Bundestag; Günter Verheugen, European Commissioner (1999-2010) and former Advisory Minister in German Foreign Ministry; and Sen. Lucio Malan, Member of the Italian Senate.
Below is the speech by General David Phillips:
You’ve got to love send a soldier to go after the congressman, that’s always good.  [laughter] Madame Rajavi, distinguished guests, and most importantly the 3,400 residents of Camp Ashraf who I suspect are watching right now via satellite link, possibly the last link they will have with the outside world if the Al-Maliki and extremist Iranian regime have their way, I’m honored to be here tonight.  And what do we all have in common?  A belief in freedom, democracy, a belief that when a promise is made that promise will be kept.  We promised to protect the over 3,400 residents of Camp Ashraf when they turned in their arms in 2003.  I was there, I witnessed it.  I also witnessed the extensive background investigations into each member of the MEK at Camp Ashraf.  I waited for the smoking gun, the piece of evidence that would rationalize to me why in my mind are we keeping them confined?  That evidence didn’t exist.  When we gave each and every person at Camp Ashraf a written promise of protection and security, just like the Judge Mukasey showed, and he raised the ID cards, that was my unit.  The patch on here is the 89th MP Brigade, and I commanded that unit when we issued over 3,400 ID cards showing the United States says you are a protected person, and by gosh we’re going to protect you.
Unfortunately the two people on these cards were not protected.  They fell at the hands of supposed Iraqi guards.  In 2009, we walked away form that commitment and have been living in bliss pretending the people of Camp Ashraf no longer exist.  We walked away and left them to suffer at the hands of undisciplined Iraqi troops operating under the encouragement, if not the outright command, of the Iranian regime.  Multiple rocket attacks in the past couple weeks.  Oh the Iraqi guards claim they didn’t know.  Anyone who has been to Camp Ashraf, like many of you, like myself, we know you can’t get close enough to that camp because of the flat limitless terrain which is devoid of all vegetation.  Oh the guards knew that the people of Camp Ashraf were going to be rocketed.  The only way they could have missed it is if they were asleep on duty.  That never happened under my watch with the American soldiers who served at Camp Ashraf.  Not one resident of Camp Ashraf was injured during that time.  But now since we turned our back in 2009, 47 protected people have been killed and over 1,000 wounded.  That’s not what I call protection.
I lived with the people of Camp Ashraf for well over a year.  I worked with them for many more years. Few people really know them better.  My information’s first hand, from personal observation and experience, and it’s untainted by politics, propaganda, lies.  No one writes my speeches.  I do.  I was a professional Army military policemen for decades and I dealt with facts.  The fact is, the people of Camp Ashraf are not terrorists. I’ve heard them referred to as a cult, brainwashed followers of a charismatic leader.  That couldn’t be further from the truth.  Do you know who the people of Camp Ashraf are?  They’re doctors, lawyers, artists, writers, musicians.  UCLA, Ohio State, Michigan State, Kent State, Florida State.  I’m not referring to college football, I’m referring to the alma mater of a significant number of the people at Camp Ashraf.  A third of them studied abroad.  Another third were imprisoned under the Shah and then Khomeini.  They do not come from the unemployed disgruntled groups of people who have no cause.  The people of Camp Ashraf have a cause, in fact the highest cause.  Freedom, democracy, tolerance, equality. If believing in those attributes makes you a cult, well I want to join.  [applause]  As for brainwashed blind followers, have you ever tried to get a lawyer, a doctor, an artist or a musician to blindly follow anything?  Good luck.  [laughter]  Now, as for the cult leader, Madame Rajavi.  Yes, she is charismatic, and caring and compassionate and hardworking and dedicated and firm in her belief for democracy, freedom and hope for the Iranian people.  She is one of the most determined and tireless leaders I know.
Now the Al-Maliki regime, in complicity with the Mullah regime wants to move the people of Camp Ashraf to Camp Liberty on the northeast side of the Baghdad International Airport Complex.  Camp Liberty, an interesting name for a soon to be prison.  Regardless, I was there in 2003 when Camp Liberty was nothing more than fields of open reeds and date palms.  I was there also when it was built into a small city for billeting soldiers.  This past fall when Camp Liberty was turned over to the Iraqi government it was a fully functional, well-maintained installation capable of handling thousands of people.  That is no longer the case.  The living trailers, the dining facilities, the kitchens, the showers, have all been looted.  Little remains of the camp Liberty that so many American soldiers remember.  Now it no longer even meets minimal standards for habitation, let alone close quarters confinement for 3,400 men and women.  The Iraqi government claims differently but steadfastly refuses to allow any of us to see for ourselves.  Well, my sources are also from inside the Iraqi government.  And they have told me Camp Liberty was in fact looted, vandalized, pilfered and destroyed.  Well, if that’s not so, Al-Maliki, let’s verify.  I will personally fly to Baghdad and take a look and report back. This will cost the U.S. taxpayers nothing because I will do it on my own.
President Obama, send me as a former general who is exceptionally familiar with Camp Liberty, and knows what it takes to house and billet thousands of people.  [applause]  Oh, I also want to take along my daughter.  Her experience formerly working in the office of secretary of defense would be instrumental in ensuring the safety and security of the over 1,000 women at Camp Ashraf.  I’m sure Madame Rajavi’s daughter [applause] I’m sure Madame Rajavi’s daughter, along with the daughters of so many others now under siege at Camp Ashraf would appreciate seeing another young woman who believes so strongly in equality and equal rights.  Yes, I would trust the safety of my own daughter with the supposed female MEK terrorists so much more so than I would trust them with the supposed guards outside the gates.  [applause] [chanting]  Thank you. Thank you, thank you.
You’ve heard me say this before.  I tried to find people being held against their will at Camp Ashraf, I could not.  I tried to find torture at Camp Ashraf.  I could not.  There was no one being held against their will, no torture unless you consider the sadistic treatment by the Iraqi guards who are supposedly providing the protection and security for the people that are there.  I wonder if it was torture when they ran over a baker named Farid Shafi with a Humvee, or used over 40 men and women for target practice?  I think the terrorists are outside of the gates of Ashraf, not inside. [applause]
Madame Parsai, Madame Zohreh, Hossein Madani and many of the others, my family and I will not let you down.  No fear.  Thank you.