November 08-2013
The Mojahedin-e Khalq as sembled more than 1,000 people for a rain-spattered rally in front of the White House Friday, with speeches from four former US officials—two Republicans and two Democrats—to condemn President Obama’s meeting that day with visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
The focus of the rally was the killings September 1 of 52 members of the group at Camp Ashraf in Iraq by attackers generally believed to be the Iraqi military. Seven members of the group also disappeared that day and are widely assumed to be in Iraqi government hands. though the Iraqis deny holding them.
The area in front of the White House sees protests almost constantly. In fact, there are often three or four taking place simultaneously. But most involve only a handful of people—even just a solitary person.
With more than 1,000 attendees, Friday’s rally was bigger than most, though certainly no record breaker. But it was large enough to win news coverage in both The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, which normally ignore the constant parade of protest placards and the din of chants in front of the White House.
Friday’s rally heard from two Democrats—former Senator Robert G. Torricelli of New Jersey and former Representative Patrick J. Kennedy of Rhode Island—and two Republicans—Tom Ridge, who was governor of Pennsylvania and the first homeland security secretary under President George W. Bush, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia.
The crowd was led in chants of a rather mind-numbing phrase: “President Obama: take action, ensure liberty protection.”
The ex-officials all said Obama should get a lot tougher on Maliki, who was in Washington to ask for more help in beating back al-Qaeda-linked groups that are pummeling Iraq once again.
The protesters waved flags and toted signs reading, “Maliki = Dictator” and “Stop Violating Human Rights.” The protesters urged Obama to keep what they said were US promises to ensure the safety of Mojahedin members in Iraq.
“This is a matter of American honor at stake,” Gingrich said. “If Maliki is not prepared to be an honest partner, then there’s no reason for the United States to prop him up—if in fact he’s going to be an Iranian agent.”
Gingrich urged Obama to instruct the State Department to “cut the red tape” and issue US visas to the more than 3,000 Mojahedin members who remain in Iraq.
Maryam Rajavi, the co-leader of the Mojahedin-e Khalq, said over a telephone link with the rally that Obama “bear[s] a greater amount of responsibility” for the fate of the refugees following his meeting with Maliki.
White House spokesman Jay Carney, asked about the demonstration and the September attack, said it was one subject of the meeting Friday between Obama and Maliki.
“We remain deeply concerned about the fate of the individuals abducted from Camp Ashraf as well as the security of the residents remaining in Iraq at Camp Hurriya,” Carney said. “We are pursuing these matters actively and daily.”
All four of the men who spoke on behalf of the Mojahedin-e Khalq have in the past been criticized for taking cash from the group for speeches.
Ridge banged on the lectern as he argued that the United States had given its word that it would see to it that those in the camp would be protected, and had not kept that promise: “As someone who wore the uniform a long, long time ago,’’ said Ridge, a decorated Vietnam vet, “we gave our word!”
“I implore the president,’’ he said, to make any aid to Iraq dependent on the safe passage of these Mojahedin members stuck in Iraq, including the seven missing. “If you think about how much they trusted us,” he said, “your stomach should be in knots.”
“Prime Minister Maliki has blood on his hands,’’ he yelled in front of the White House, “and Barack Obama should say it to his face!’’
A few yards away, The Washington Post saw Gingrich chatting with Patrick Kennedy, who spent 16 years in Congress, starting when Gingrich was speaker. “We’re trying to ruin each other’s reputations,’’ joked Kennedy, the son of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy.
The former speaker said he wouldn’t advise that Obama come right out and accuse his visitor of murder, but “what he could say is, ‘You have to find and release the hostages or we’re not going to sell you any new equipment’.”