Riki Ellison, president and founder of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (MDAA) informed a national MDAA audience that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's denouncement of the United Nations Security Council is a threat to the world. The Nuclear Issue of Iran is now closed. President Ahmadinejad's threatening remarks were made during speeches to the United Nations General Assembly and Columbia University over the past few days. Ellison's incisive and hard-hitting remarks included many observations of the purpose of Ahmadinejad's visit, and what his rhetoric means to the United States our allies and Europe. They include the following:

"During the past three days, the United Nations General Assembly in New York has been the focal point of the future and has stood as an international media forum where unilateral perspectives have come forth. Most notably, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran, has taken the opportunity, as well as his invitation to Columbia University, to galvanize his support in the Middle East and increase unequivocal opposition here in the United States. It is important, as our public and media have noted, that Mr. Ahmadinejad's remarks be viewed for what they are -- threats to our way of life.

"His [President Ahmadinejad's] statements cannot be dismissed, cast aside or ignored. Iran is a highly sophisticated, educated society with great resources and political will coupled with religious fundamentalism. Led by President Ahmadinejad, Iran is exponentially more threatening to our Nation, Europe, and the world than North Korea or any other country represented at the United Nations."

Ellison continued his remarks, keying on the failed attempts of the UN Security Council to police Iran's nuclear program: "The United States, as a member of the international body of the United Nations that resolves conflicts has collectively put forward three security resolutions and two economic sanctions to stop Iran from going forward with its nuclear program. They have all failed.

"The solution is to take away the nuclear capability of Iran. This can be done in two ways: peacefully or through military action. We opt, as the world does, for a peaceful resolution that would see Iran withdraw its nuclear capability and its drive for such capability.

"A robust, layered International Missile Defense System will negate Iran's capability to threaten with nuclear weapons the United States, Europe, Israel, and other countries. Just as importantly, deploying Missile Defense systems, using both sensors and interceptors, in Europe and surrounding areas will stabilize and give international entities such as the United Nations more time and collective strength to impose sanctions, resolutions and other means to resolve this international crisis.

"We as a world need to put aside politics and move forward expediently to deploy missile defense systems in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Turkey, as well as on Aegis ships in the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf."

Ellison reminded the MDAA membership of the joint remarks of Chairman Ellen Tauscher and Representatives Jim Cooper and Mike Turner during their recent Congressional Delegation trip that included Prague, Warsaw and Brussels earlier this month:

"The Iranian short-and medium- range missile threat to NATO is here and now ... . NATO must accelerate its effort to protect Europe against the threat. We strongly support working, on a bi-partisan basis, with our NATO allies to defend against the mutual threats we face over the coming months, and we look forward to working with the administration and our NATO allies to develop a system that is defensive, indivisible and deters future threats."

Ellison concluded his strong remarks by stating, "We cannot trust President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to lead Iran to withdraw its nuclear ambitions nor can we afford to go to war against Iran. We must deploy missile defense systems in Europe as soon as possible."

The End

Riki Ellison just returned from a trip to Poland and the Czech Republic where support for missile defense is on the rise. He is prepared to discuss the threat posed by Iran, and the need for deployment of our missile defense system in Europe. Call Mike Terrill at 602 885-1955 or Nathan Singletary at 703 299-0061 for follow-on interviews on the record.