Scott Ritter - What turned the hawkish Iraq weapons inspector into a dove?

Slate ^ | 9/25/02 | Michael Crowley

[Jeff Head]

The man is being heard. He's getting an unbelievable chance to be heard. I listened to him in the 90's. I have listened to him now.

A complete 180 degree turn. No good reason given for the turn except to pretty much deny that he did turn ... but I remember hearing him and what he talked about back then.

Sorry, he has no credibility with me.

The reasons could be varied ... but he is the one holding that card and he has not given a credible one to date as far as I am concerned. The 400K is plenty disturbing as for me.

The plight of the Iraqi children rests on Saddam's head and the people there, not ours. If the Iraqi people feel so terrible (and they could well), then they need to risk the consequences and through the bastard out ... civilly if they can, violently if they must. If our vital interests are threatened, then we will do it ourselves ... should have done so over ten years ago IMHO, the UN be damned.

[Vidalia]

Maybe the drugs, sex and rock and roll...

[Thoudothprotest]

Yeah Poobah, I'm a registered voter.

And your willingness to put a rope around someone's neck who is perhaps the only person with guts to say that:

A: Saddam is not a threat to us or his neighbors. He can't maintain his military, much less produce a WMD in any significant time period.

and

B: This war is complete CRAP

yeah, your willingness to put a rope around someone's neck who dissents from the party line is a little unsettling.

I see it a lot around here, but it really never fails to shock me when it's directed at American citizens.

[Poohbah]

Yeah Poobah, I'm a registered voter.

Straight Democratic ticket, I see.

Saddam is not a threat to us or his neighbors. He can't maintain his military, much less produce a WMD in any significant time period.

And when al-Qaeda proves you wrong, can we use your neck for load-testing a rope?

[finnman69]

Scott Ritter's Boyfriend

[ErnBatavia]

You're probably right, what with him being "a hulking 6 foot 4 inches".....

[Stingray51]

Ritter had already been denied a security clearance a few years earlier because U.S. officials suspected his wife, a former Soviet translator, of having been a spy herself for the Soviets.

I had never read this before. Has anyone else?

[jwalsh07]

Only two things make a man act this stupid, money or a woman.

[workerbee]

He quit the inspections team because it became more about espionage and less concerned with discovering what exactly Saddam had and where it was.

Are you really this naive? Do you think Ritter was?

[finnman69]

Are you Al Gore?

[finnman69]

or a male lover.....

[Admin Moderator]

knock off the profanity.

[quark]

Three possible reasons:

1. He wanted to be a member of the CIA, but flunked his polygraph examination. Subsequently was put under FBI investigation.

2. He has a Middle Eastern girlfriend.

3. He took at least $500,000 from an Iraqi front-man for Saddam to produce a documentary film (read: B.S. propaganda piece) titled "Shifting Sands."

[Jeff Head]

My take is this is plain and simple.

Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lybia have all abetted, trained and funded terrorists who have killed innocents over the last 20 years ... quite a few of them Americans. It's way past time for them to pay that piper, or roll over and lift their leg all the way into the air.

I believe Saddam has a much greater capability for WMD than you suspect or indicate. Certainly nuclear is something he is working hard on and trying to produce. How close is he? Can't say. But chemical and biological he already has and there are many ways to deliver those ... from missiles, to human carriers. He is capable of hurting us, our interests and our allies terribly. He is a belligerent, he is an enemy.

My own reasons for going in after him are really focused on the former. If we say that the latter is the principle reason, then by we'd best take care of Red China, N. Korea and quite a few others. Not saying that is not what it will ultimately come to, because I believe it may ... just saying that we stage right now for the former and include anyone in that list who has abetted, supported, funded or harbored terrorists who have killed American citizens.

[ExpandNATO]

Ritter is right about one point. The sanctions are immoral. The sanctions were imposed because the US Presidents in the 1990s would not remove Hussein due to the sacred cow of non-interference. The only people they hurt are the Iraqis.

The proper course of action would have been to remove Hussein. A less proper course (but still morally better than sanctions) would have been to remove all the restrictions and simply let Hussein prove his full malignancy once more.

[jwalsh07]

or a male lover.....

Never would have crossed my mind, I'm a relic of the past. :-}

[texasbluebell]

I hope anyone who doesn't think Saddam is a threat will take a look at this article that was posted this morning.

Consider This:Clinton’s chief Iraq expert announces his reluctant belief that an invasion is needed

< snip >

"But what Pollack stresses is the terrible danger that, once in possession of nuclear weapons, Saddam will take this as a license to invade Kuwait, and otherwise terrorize the Middle East. The real danger from Saddam's possession of nuclear weapons is the conviction they will create in Saddam that he can act with impunity in the region, safe in the knowledge that the U.S. or Israel will not dare attack him (for fear of risking nuclear annihilation of their troops).

"The frightening scenario described by Pollack, in which Saddam could seize Kuwait and threaten to nuke the Saudi oil fields if we attack, is something I've never seen publicly discussed. But as Pollack lays it out, the scenario is all too realistic. A nuclear-armed Saddam taking over Kuwait and threatening Saudi Arabia leaves us with a choice between ceding him control of the world's oil supply, or of seeing that supply destroyed and contaminated for decades by a nuclear strike, sending the world's economy into radical shock, perhaps for years."

< snip >

[ExpandNATO]

Only two things make a man act this stupid, money or a woman.

I can add two more: ideology or a moral crisis.

Ritter, AFAIK, is a tremendous UN supporter. It may be that he sees that if this comes to a confrontation the UN will be shown to be useless. He is desperately trying to avoid this.

During his trips to Iraq, he sees the tremendous suffering occasioned by sanctions. Since Hussein will not relent and US politicians need the fig leaf of sanctions to prove they are "tough" (but will not go through a regime change), there is no way out of this mess. Eventually, Ritter(v.2002) figures Ritter(v.1998) is obviously part of the cause of the problem, since he(v.1998) refused to lie about Hussein's lack of cooperation. So Ritter(v.2002) reverses course.

[rambo316]

Maybe Bill Clinton turned Ritter's FBI file over to Saddam.