Congressional Candidate Slater Says “Talk To Iran”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Slater for Congress
Greg Paulson, Campaign Manager
P.O. Box 3211
West Chester, PA 19381-3211
greg@slaterforcongress.com
(717) 419-4209 | (717) 207-9330

CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE SLATER SAYS “TALK TO IRAN”

“Rigid and arbitrary pre-conditions counter-productive”

READING, PA-Speaking to an audience Sunday of Berks County Democratic committee people and other local Democrats, including several veterans of World War II and Vietnam, 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 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 6-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, as well as by Lt. Governor Catherine Baker Knoll, former Senator Harris Wofford, and Reading Mayor Tom McMahon.

Authorized by Slater for Congress. Susan Quigley, Treasurer
contact@slaterforcongress.com