Senators Coats and Robb Warn Incoming Administration About the Threat of a Nuclear...

Senators Coats and Robb Warn Incoming Administration About the Threat of a
Nuclear Iran

Bipartisan Policy Center Task Force on Iran finds: 'Failure to act could carry
a 'catastrophic cost' to the national interest'

WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In an op-ed in today's
Washington Post entitled, "Stopping a Nuclear Tehran," former Senators Daniel
Coats (R-IN) and Charles Robb (D-VA) warn of the dangers of a nuclear
weapons-capable Iran. The two senators co-chaired the Bipartisan Policy
Center's National Security Initiative task force on U.S. policy toward Iranian
nuclear development. This task force developed bipartisan consensus
recommendations to guide a realistic, robust and comprehensive U.S. approach
toward Iran.

"An Islamic Republic of Iran with nuclear weapons capability would be
strategically untenable," wrote the senators. "While a nuclear attack is the
worst-case scenario, Iran would not need to employ a nuclear arsenal to
threaten U.S. interests."

In outlining these principles for the incoming White House administration, the
task force calls on the next president to seek a diplomatic resolution,
negotiating from a position of strength, but considers military action to be a
feasible option of last resort.

This high-level, bipartisan task force includes former senior Democratic and
Republican officials, retired four-star generals and admirals, and experts in
nuclear proliferation and energy markets.

Steering Committee Members: Daniel Coats, Co-Chair; Charles Robb, Co-Chair;
Dr. Ashton Carter; Admiral Gregory "Grog" Johnson, USN (ret.); General Ron
Keys, USAF (ret.); Dr.Ed Morse; Mr.Steve Rademaker; Ambassador Dennis Ross;
Mr.Henry Sokolski; General Chuck Wald, USAF (ret.); and Dr. Ken Weinstein.
Project Director is Dr. Michael Makovsky, Foreign Policy Director of the
Bipartisan Policy Center. For more information on "Meeting the Challenge:
U.S. Policy Toward Iranian Nuclear Development," or the BPC's National
Security Initiative, please visit: www.bipartisanpolicy.org

About the Bipartisan Policy Center:
Former U.S. Senate Majority Leaders Baker, Daschle, Dole, and Mitchell formed
the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) to develop and promote solutions that can
attract the public support and political momentum to achieve real progress.
The BPC acts as an incubator for policy efforts that engage top political
figures, advocates, academics, and business leaders in the art of principled
compromise. For more information please visit our website:
http://www.bipartisanpolicy.org/

Note: The findings and recommendations expressed within this report are
solely those of the Task Force and do not necessarily represent the views or
opinions of the Bipartisan Policy Center, its Advisory Board, or its Board of
Directors.

To view the full text of the article go to:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/22/AR2008102203005.html

SOURCE Bipartisan Policy Center

Eileen McMenamin, Director of Communications, Bipartisan Policy Center,
+1-202-379-1633, emcmenamin@bipartisanpolicy.org