Congressman Dana Rohrabacher is calling for an investigation into the deaths of refugees and believes the US State Department is helping cover-up the killing of women and children.
Press Release from the Congressman:
Washington, May 26 – Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, plans to hold a hearing to investigate the April 8th massacre of Iranian civilians at Camp Ashraf in Eastern Iraq and what role the U.S. State Department may have played in a cover up of the crime.
“The shooting of unarmed women and children by Iraqi troops at Camp Ashraf is not a diplomatic incident to be explained away by our State Department,” said Rohrabacher. “It is a crime against humanity. My oversight subcommittee will hold a hearing to investigate this massacre to hold accountable those responsible, including those in our own government, who may have tried to cover up what happened.”
On the morning of April 8, 2011, an Iraqi Army unit invaded Camp Ashraf in Eastern Iraq, killing 34 and injuring over 300 of the unarmed camp residents. The incident curiously took place 12 hours after a U.S. military unit left the camp. The Iraqi Government has been blocking access to the refugee camp and the U.S. State Department is also prohibiting Members of Congress from visiting the location for fear it might upset the Iraqi Government. These actions have given rise to Mr. Rohrabacher’s concerns that the US State Department may be helping Iraq cover up what appears to be an atrocity committed against unarmed, innocent people.
As of today, the State Department continues to refuse a bipartisan request by Members of Congress to travel to Camp Ashraf in June.
Camp Ashraf is home to about 3,400 Iranian exiles who have lived in Iraq since after the Iranian Revolution.
How many of you even knew this occurred last month?
Update: I thought about this later and realized that I had written about this Camp being in jeopardy in 2009 and wondered then if Obama would be blamed if our pull-out would cause harm to the refugees, here, and sure enough Obama is not being blamed yet. Obama-worshiping media is silent as reader Gary points out.