London, 1 Sep – In a moving article by Col. Wesley Martin, former US military commander at Camp Ashraf, Iraq, published on ncr-iran.org, the 52 Iranian opposition members in Camp Ashraf who lost their lives in a brutal and horrific attack were remembered.
Col. Martin remembers back to 1st September 2013 when he lost fifty-two “special friends”. Having worked closely with the residents of Camp Ashraf and PMOI/MEK members, he gave thanks for having the good fortune to work with “some of the finest people I have ever known”, in particular Zohreh Ghaemi and Hossein Madani.
Zohreh, who despite having no authority over the American soldiers, was “admiringly” nicknamed Commander Zohreh and Hossein, a “brilliant man” with a “dignified presence” took the time to “treat everyone with respect”.
Col. Martin said he has this same respect for each and every resident of Camp Ashraf, members of the main Iranian opposition group People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI or MEK). He recounts how he used to get away from work by enjoying the company of others there. “Visits to the residents’ main camp were always special events whether it was a business meeting or a social event.”
He said that although “fifty-two wonderful lives were extinguished and seven others taken hostage by the brutality of a corrupt government”, their memories will live on “as long as we live and the spirit of democracy lives within each of us”.
“The time will come in the future when we are together again. We will appreciate the opportunity we had to know and work with each other in this life. We will also be proud of knowing we never gave up on each other and never gave up on striving to bring peace and stability to the world.”
