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Press Release
July 13, 2008
CONGRESSIONAL
CANDIDATE SLATER SAYS “TALK TO IRAN”
“Rigid and
arbitrary pre-conditions counter-productive”
Speaking to an audience of Berks
County Democratic committee people and other local Democrats, including several
veterans of World War II and Vietnam, Sunday, Bruce Slater, the Democratic
Congressional candidate for Pennsylvania’s 16th District, brought up the
“elephant in the room”—Iran. The occasion was the annual picnic hosted by the
Berks County Democratic Committee at the 18th Ward Democratic Club.
The week had seen two missile tests
and a threat from Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to “target ‘32 US
bases and the heart of Israel’ ” if it is attacked (as reported by AFP).
Slater didn’t hesitate to lay out the facts. He began with an excoriation of the
current foreign policy conducted by the current Republican-led administration of
George W. Bush:
“Since 9/11, the Bush
administration's policy, blindly supported by my opponent, Joe Pitts, has been
to demand regime change in Iran, repeatedly threaten military action, and
refuse to seriously talk to anyone there until Iran unilaterally meets a set of
US-dictated pre-conditions…the results speak for themselves.”
The evidence, Slater said, strongly
supports the conclusion that Iran is at least several years away from developing
an effective nuclear weapon. “Even the Bush administration's experts now agree
that Iran currently poses no serious, immediate threat to the security of the US
or its allies.”
With the Middle East a tinderbox,
Slater advised a cautious course, one that relies on an aggressive diplomacy
that would hold Iran to their pledge to allow monitoring and inspections by the
widely-respected International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). He went on to
explain, however, that talks, while necessary to redirect US policy onto a more
productive course, must only take place if there is good reason to expect
success.
“There are more moderate political
factions in Iran who would welcome the chance to ratchet down the rhetoric, end
the sanctions, and reach some broader accommodation with the US and the
international community….but, I believe that diplomacy works best when you are
operating from a position of strength. We won't accomplish this by continuing to
rattle our sabers at Iran.”
Bruce Slater, an independent
building contractor from Narvon and Navy veteran, has pointed out many times
during his energetic campaign that 5-term Congressman Pitts has voted in support
of Bush Administration policies about 95% of the time. He contends that a vote
for Pitts in November is a vote to continue denying the strategic realities
after years of squandered opportunities and misguided bravado that have sapped
the US military and cost the American people economically and morally.
“Our troops deserve better and our
country deserves better.”
As he told the Berks County
Democrats, “Let's face it - our current quagmire in Iraq does far more to
undermine our strategic position in that region, and to threaten our overall
national security, than any specific threat currently coming from Iran. And, as
long as we are bogged down in Iraq, the worst elements in Iran know that we
don't have either the resources or international credibility to
effectively oppose them. That's exactly what is emboldening them right now.”
In a follow-up statement, Slater
added, “What military commander worth his rank would lose sight of his primary
enemy—Bin Laden, get bogged down in Iraqi quicksand in search of oil with no
contingency plan for alternative energy sources, and then, with his troops
stretched thin, pursue another, more dangerous target?
“None! That’s why some of the
stiffest opposition to the Bush Administration’s threats against Iran comes from
the Pentagon.
“But reckless chest-beating is
exactly what the Bush/Cheney/Pitts ‘leadership’ would have us continue to engage
in. We must elect new leadership that is willing to look the facts in the eye,
and make the hard, but wise, calls in the best interests of the United States
and the world.”
The candidate’s position on Iran and
other pressing issues facing the country can be read at the Slater campaign
website,
www.SlaterforCongress.com.
Slater ran unopposed in the
Democratic primary and out-polled Pitts in each of the three counties that
comprise the Pennsylvania 16th Congressional District: portions of Berks and
Chester counties and all of Lancaster County. He has been endorsed by the
Democratic Committees in all 3 counties.
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