Freedom Watch
I appeal to you, generals of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, the Pásdárán: Do what I did! Defend the people, not the tyrant. I am a two-star general who was once at the top of communist Romania’s version of the Pásdárán, the Securitate, and I learned the hard way that no tyrant can keep a country’s people enchained for ever.
I have been in your shoes. In December 1988, the Romanians took to the streets to overthrow their two-bit Dracula dictator, Ceausescu, just re-enthroned at the end of a rigged election, just as the people of Iran are trying now to get rid of their Hitler-style dictator, just re-enthroned at the end of another rigged election. Like Ahmadinejad, Ceausescu also ordered his security forces to open fire against the population.
I sided with the people. Helped by the publisher of this very magazine, who had just published my book Red Horizons: The True Story of Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu’s Crimes, Lifestyle and Corruption, I used the microphones of Radio Free Europe to expose the true face of Romania’s tyrant. My fellow generals in the Securitate got the message, and ignored his order to stifle the people’s rebellion in a bath of blood. On Christmas Day 1989, Ceausescu was executed for genocide by his own people. Now the former Kingdom of Romania, transformed by the communists into an epitome of tyranny, is a prosperous member of the European Union.
Iran is home to one of the world’s oldest civilizations, going back to 7,000 BC. Its literature, philosophy, medicine, astronomy, mathematics and art have been major contributors to the whole Muslim civilization. Now Ahmadinejad, who dreams of being a new Hitler, wants to unleash a new Holocaust that will turn the whole civilized world against Iran, just as it was turned against Nazi Germany.
My fellow Pásdárán generals: Ahmadinejad is history. He’ll share Ceausescu’s fate. If not today, tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow. In the geopolitical Age of Twitter — when seven in ten Iranians own a cellular — there is no longer any place to hide. If you order your subordinates to fire on the people, your crime will be well documented with thousands of pictures at a new Nuremberg Trial.
If you break with the past and join the future, the liberated energy of Iran’s people, enchained for much too long, will transform your country into an explosive democracy. Your children will be proud of your courage. Just as my daughter is now proud that her father eventually sided with freedom, not with tyranny.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (61) | Leave a comment
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KyMouse| 6.26.09 @ 7:46AM
Thank you, Mr. Pacepa, for this excellent article, for your book, and for your witness to the value of freedom. I'm glad you survived, and I'm sure you are inspiring many people today.
Tim| 6.26.09 @ 8:36AM
"The men that tear the furrows,
The men that fell the trees,
When all their lords be lost and dead
The bondsmen of the earth shall tread
The tyrants of the seas."
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Ballad_of_the_White_Horse
Howard| 6.26.09 @ 9:51AM
As always the General is an inspiration to freedom loving people. I've read his books, including one where he has strong evidence that Lee Harvey Oswald was a KGB tool run wild. Liberals of course wanted to blame oil companies and conservatives for JFK's death.
Old Texican| 6.26.09 @ 10:56AM
Well, General
Thank you for the article. I have not read your work before today,.....but I shall.
Americans now are about to get our own noses rubbed in tyrany. Each of us are going to have to make a stand, just as you did.
Thank you for reminding us that there is a future...beyond tyrany.
ionescu cosmin| 6.26.09 @ 11:45AM
tradatorule !! ii pupi in cur pe americani!
FemmePatriot| 1.17.10 @ 4:39PM
Please excuse the little commie baby Cosmin, he's just an imbecile like the rest of his cohorts back in the old country.
Mr. Pacepa, continue your fight...
Pingback| 6.26.09 @ 11:55AM
Scrisoare deschisa adresata de Pacepa Gardienilor Revolutiei din Iran: Aparati popor links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 6.26.09 @ 11:55AM
Scrisoare deschisa adresata de Pacepa Gardienilor Revolutiei din Iran: Aparati popor links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
florin| 6.26.09 @ 12:05PM
@cosmin ionescu: easy, boy. Think hard before accusing of traison, and if you're 100% sure, think some more.
After all, what did he betray? An analphabet, paranoid tyrant? If Ceausescu would ask *you* to shoot unarmed fellow romanians in the street, would you obey, or betray?
So, please, don't jump to conclusions. Yelling "traitor!!" is the first step toward fanaticism.
gabbone| 6.26.09 @ 12:19PM
pacepa is dead long time ago people. stop buying this propagandistic BS.
Pingback| 6.26.09 @ 12:35PM
Ioan Mihai Pacepa: Ahmadinejad este istorie si va avea aceeasi soarta cu cea a lui Ce links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Ray| 6.26.09 @ 1:01PM
gabbone, Mr. Pacepa writes rather well, for a dead man. Perhaps it is you who is trying to promote a little propaganda here?
gabbone| 6.26.09 @ 2:12PM
didn't read the article so...don't know how well he writes! am just tellin you that the man is dead. there is no reason for him not to show his face in the past 20 years or so. since he was the highes level defector from the soviet region is cool to keep him alive.
not to mention that he should be arround 80 years of age. if he were alive he would be more concearned with changing his dipers then writting about Twitter (fine, I did throw an eye over the content of the article)
Tim| 6.26.09 @ 2:24PM
Strange how wild and resentful things creep out of the night to blink in the light of civilized men.
Marc Jeric| 6.26.09 @ 4:15PM
The general is a true hero - he risked a certain death by defecting. Communism is a cult of death.
db| 6.26.09 @ 5:15PM
Congratulations, Mr. Pacepa.
As a political refugee from Romania, I know exactly what you are talking about.
Cosmin,
Esti un idiot sau un securist. Nu e alta alternativa.
Pingback| 6.26.09 @ 5:19PM
Freedom For Iran: HEY! WE’RE STILL HERE! – Infidels Paradise links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
cd| 6.26.09 @ 6:26PM
mr. Pacepa is not a hero and he was far away from Romania when the 1989 revolution took place. His "fellow generals" didn't got any message. They were arrested after killing close to 1000 people. Some time ago he asked(via a lawyer)that his 3 mil $ property should be returned. How would he get that much money with a general salary? Maybe selling state secrets to the highest bidder? Why don't you come back and see if any of the people you sold out are still alive?
femmepatriot| 1.17.10 @ 4:40PM
That property was not gained while employed by Ceausescu, that was property which belonged to his family PRIOR to the communists taking over Romania.
Same as my family's.
db| 6.26.09 @ 7:21PM
I am tired of apologists for the commie who destroyed my old country, like that jerk cd, or the other jerk, Cosmin whatever.
The fact is that the army also shot the population, and who knows who.
Many criminals were on the payroll of the communists, and there are clear indications that the KGB was also involved.
Mr. Pacepa is correct: the Securitate generals did know that shooting will make the situation much worse (for them), especially in the light of the KGB involvement.
George Biria| 6.26.09 @ 11:01PM
" Do what I did" ??? WTF???
The general was nothing more than a traitor and a coward. He did a great damage to Romanian Secret Service. He did absolutely nothing for the people (who knows how many ended up in prison because of him).
vlad andrei| 6.27.09 @ 12:46AM
"In December 1988, the Romanians took to the streets to overthrow their two-bit Dracula dictator, Ceausescu..." Was that a freudian slip, and Pacepa is mistakenly telling us he knew one year in advance about the soviet plot to bring Ceausescu down? The "revolution" actually took place in December 1989.
cd| 6.27.09 @ 4:13AM
The book that was published in the 1987 and "predicted" the downfall, was actually published in 1990 months after the revolution ended. As the say goes: there are many heroes after the war.
What goes in Iran does not compare to what it was in Romania in89. You could not find enough food, heating in the winter or basic goods. Hundreds of thousands of romanians took to the streets all over the country not just in the capital. Something like that does not happen in Iran. There was nothing about thousands of protesters in the 20 major cities in Iran. I would like to see a democratic regime in Tehran but a revolution is not going to happen.
Gheorghe Lazar| 6.27.09 @ 6:26AM
Tot respectul meu domnule Pacepa. Sunt convins ca sunteti un om inteligent si ca nu luati in serios asemenea idioti ca "ionescu cosmin". In ce priveste opiniile Dvs. despre Iran sunt de aceeasi parere. Dictaturile unor tirani nu dispar asa usor. Nu inseamna insa ca nu trebuie sa luptam pentru a inlatura asemenea lucruri. Va doresc multa sanatate si tot binele din lume.
ion vasile | 6.27.09 @ 9:41AM
Pacepa este un tradator de neam si de tara. Nu merge gogoasa ca l-a tradat pe Ceausescu si nu a tradat tara. Cind a plecat a sifonat tot ce tinea de serviciul de siguranta al statului roman. Al statului roman si nu serviciul personal al lui Ceausescu. Asta este ca in definitia tradarii. Si ca sa se vada ca a ramas dator americanilor, se trezeste ca acuza o democratie, cea iraniana, ca e plina de tirani. Alegerile au fost cit se poate de corecte dar nimeni nu ia in calcul ca majoritatea iranienilor nu sint zevzecii care defileaza cu pancarde in engleza (oare pe cine prosteste CIA ?) ci oamenii care isi vad de traditii si de viata lor si care fara discutii au votat cu Ahmadinejad.
Iar Ahmadinejad este singura speranta a iranienilor de a nu sfirsi ca irakienii. Dovada ca europenii tac si nu se arunca ca in hazna cu ochii inchisi. Tovarase Pacepa, tradator de neam si de tara, cum se face ca nu v-ati aratat fata romanilor de 20 de ani? Va e frica ca nu o sa inteleaga poporul roman cit bine i-ati facut? cit de bine l-ati vindut? scirba ordinara. te-ai vindut pe 30 de arginti. Culmea e ca Ceausescu e perceput ca un mare patriot in final. Nu neaga nimeni asta. Iar Pacepa ca un tradator ordinar.
ion vasile| 6.27.09 @ 10:09AM
Pacepa is a traitor of nation and country. Do not swallow the donut the he betrayed Ceausescu only and not his country. When he left he spited everything about the safety of the Romanian state. The Romanian state's security not Ceausescu's personal security. That is by definition betrayal. And to see that he remained indebted to the Americans, he is accusing a democracy, the Iranian one, that is full of tyrants. Elections were as fair as possible but no one takes into account that most Iranians are not the ones from the streets with signs in English but the ordinary people, traditional ones that voted with Ahmadinejad.
And Ahmadinejad is the only hope of the Iranians not to end like the Iraqis. Proof that Europeans do not crack and throw in the sink with eyes closed. Tovarishch Pacepa, traitor of nation and country, how is it that you never showed your face to the romanians for 20 years? Are you afraid that people will not understand this great gift that you've made? how well you have sold it? you sold your country for 30 coins of silver. In the end, Ceausescu is recognized as a great patriot. No one denies that. And Pacepa as an ordinary traitor.
Pingback| 6.27.09 @ 5:23PM
Ioan Mihai Pacepa: Ahmadinejad este istorie si va avea aceeasi soarta cu cea a lui Ce links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 6.27.09 @ 6:43PM
Steynian 368 « Free Canuckistan! links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
vasile| 6.27.09 @ 11:07PM
Ma tot mir sa vad atita romani idioTI si comunisti ,si ca le pare rau dupa un sistem indracit pe care la condus Ceasescu . Domnule Pacepa tot respectul si eu credca acesti "romani " ar fi bine sa-si bage un cacat in gura
Pingback| 6.28.09 @ 1:11AM
The American Spectator : An Open Letter to the Pásdárán Generals | Iran Today links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 6.28.09 @ 1:11AM
The American Spectator : An Open Letter to the Pásdárán Generals | Iran Today links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
The Gipper| 6.29.09 @ 10:21PM
General,
Thank you. I am an Iranian, and I thank you. you are a great man.
Pingback| 7.9.09 @ 4:58AM
The American Spectator : An Open Letter to the Pásdárán Generals | Micheal Jackson links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 12.5.09 @ 1:06PM
The American Spectator : An Open Letter to the Pásdárán Generals | World News links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
help starting a business | 2.15.10 @ 3:43AM
"Ahmadinejad, who dreams of being a new Hitler, wants to unleash a new Holocaust that will turn the whole civilized world against Iran, just as it was turned against Nazi Germany." I dont' agree with this totally...I do believe he wants to stay in the past,OR is afraid of the future (freedom/democracy) Saying he wants to be Hitler is a little over board IMO. excellent post!
serghey mizilic| 12.9.10 @ 3:54AM
People like ionescu cosmin aka vasile ion had continuously been suffering since general Pacepa defected. They had to hastily leave their comfy positions in the western world knowing that their cover was blown and return to the bleak commie Romania just to see the entire espionage structures that they were working in for so many years crumble like pyramids of playing cards. Imagine their feelings of nonaccomplishment - an entire life spent preparing for a goal that could no longer be achieved.
And that was not all. The situation further deteriorated and eventually the whole regime fell down. From then on there was no authority to offer them the good life they had been living. They had to fight for the bits and pieces they could grab in the void that was created and that was no easy task; they were not taught to play fair, so they still have a hard time trying to avoid the consequences of their deeds.
Such people are still longing for the regime that awarded them medals for the crimes they committed against their own people and the civilized western world. Sorry guys, you lost. You will certainly die inglorious. Do yourself a favour and seek for redemption and not for revenge. The latter is beyond your poor means anyway. You still have a tiny chance to achieve the former. Vae victis!
Lelani J | 6.5.11 @ 9:29AM
Thanks for the interesting post!UTI Treatment
Skeletoes | 6.8.11 @ 2:12PM
I feel for our childrem
electric cars | 7.9.11 @ 3:46PM
this i a moving piece. a must read