It is Iran’s support for training and equipping the Shia militia in Iraq U.S. Army General Violence was planned for Baghdad neighborhoods Retired General George Casey, former chief of staff of U.S. Army : In my early days in Iraq it didn’t take me long to figure out that the United States and Iran had diametrically opposed objectives. We were seeking to empower a democratically elected Iraqi government that respected the rights of all ethnic and sectarian members of Iraqi society.

Iran didn’t want a country like that on its borders. They bought political power by giving money to Iraqi politicians and political parties. They bought public support by giving economic aid, particularly in the south of the country, and they continuously fomented sectarian violence.

It is Iran’s support for training and equipping the Shia militia in Iraq that allowed the level of sectarian violence to be sustained through 2006 and 2007 and it continues into today.

Because of that equipping and training, Iran is also directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of coalition forces and thousands of Iraqis.

SPECIAL COVERAGE: Onwards to freedom in Iran: Bipartisan voices call for democratic change

When we captured six Quds force operatives in a command center, on the wall was a large map of Baghdad. The neighborhoods were color-coded by their sectarian population. And on the map were large arrows that showed how the Iranians planned to force Sunni populations out of these neighborhoods in Baghdad.

Any regime that uses terror to accomplish its political objectives is a threat not only to its own population, but also to the international community. Change needs to come to Iran.

Brig. General David Phillips : Madame Rajavi, members and friends of the Iranian Resistance, and most importantly, those of you who are still at Camp Liberty, I have the distinct honor to get to know you at Camp Ashraf. In 2004 the Human Rights Watch published a report that was filled with lies and mullahs’ propaganda. I wrote a letter to the president of Human Rights Watch and said I was so confident that the people of resistance at Camp Ashraf were dedicated to freedom, that I offered that my own daughter should go there. I feel so strong that the heroes who are now at Camp Liberty are freedom fighters and will be remembered when Iranbecomes free that they were the vanguard, that I would be honored if my own wife went to Camp Libertytoday.

Retired Air Force General Chuck Wald : I always like to say three things. Number one, it’s time for Iran, the mullahs in Iran, to become accountable to the rest of the world.

Number two, the mullahs who run the IRGC need to stop sponsoring and paying for terrorism, both in Syria and Lebanon, and in Yemen and the rest of the world. It’s time for them to become accountable to the rest of the world. And three, it’s time for our people inCamp Liberty, all of them, to go to Albania or other places where they can have their freedom.

So I will tell you now that we stand with all of you and what our world needs more today than ever is leadership, and I have to commend Madame Rajavi for that leadership.

Retired Gen. James Conway, former commandant of U.S. Marine Corps : There are ominous developments coming out of the Iran military that I think the world has largely missed in the last six or seven years. Prior to 2010, Iran exported its agenda through proxies, through covert and clandestine activity, through threats in the region.

Since 2010 they have become much more active in terms of the exportation of this ideology. Their Navy is more active in the Gulf than it has been really for decades.

Just this week, they are threatening the use of missiles throughout the Middle East, particularly targeting Israel. There are more than 70,000 Iranians in Syria.

This marks a dramatic change from what it’s been.Iran has done what it has done on an annual basis for the last 10 years with about $16 billion a year dedicated towards those activities. Since the nuclear agreement, that $16 billion can be multiplied by a factor of 10.

We can anticipate much more disruptive activity, not less on the part of the Iranian military. So what’s the answer? What is likely and what must happen for there to be change is revolution.

And you people represent that effort. What I would say to the representatives of the Western nations who are here today is that, unlike 2009, when the revolution starts, we have to get behind your effort for it to succeed fully.

Retired U.S. Army Col. Wes Martin : You are the true defenders of liberty … To the residents of Camp Liberty, you are the true heroes — despite all the ground and rocket attacks, despite the logistics blockade, despite the Iraqi Governmentimposing hardships, you remain firm.

You are the beacon of light in a graphic region that has been overcome by the darkness imposed by fundamentalists. Whether Al Qaeda, Islamic State, or the Iranian regime, their goals are the same — to destroy progressive civilization and individual freedom.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt identified four freedoms: of speech, of worship, from want, and from fear. Extremists wish to destroy those freedoms, yet together, all of us, we stand firm with the residents of Liberty and they are our inspiration. I assure the residents we are working hard to relieve the pressure and bring you out and bring you to safety.

We are firm in our commitment to Liberty — both Camp Liberty and the liberty of all humanity.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jul/13/violence-was-planned-for-baghdad-neighborhoods/

Retired General George Casey, former chief of staff of U.S. Army : In my early days in Iraq it didn’t…