WilliamPitt (10132 posts) Sep-02-02, 11:34 AM (ET) Reply to post #23
27. Ritter's words on the Iraqi agent accusation from the rough copy of our interview:
- - - - - PITT: What would you say to people who accuse you of being an Iraqi agent?
RITTER: It depends on how they say it. If they say that they've heard other people say it and are just repeating it, I'd say shame on you for not checking your facts. If these are people who are coming out and saying it themselves, I'll call them liars and say shame on them, too. How dare they call me an Iraqi agent? I wore the uniform of a Marine for twelve years. I went to war for my country. I serve my community today. I am serving my country today in a number of ways. I have not taken a penny from Iraq. I am doing this, not out of sympathy for the people of Iraq, but because I love my country.
Basically, if they call me an Iraqi agent, they're accusing me of committing a crime against my country. I find that to be a horrible charge, the absolute worst charge you could make against someone, anyone, whether they're a former Marine or whether they were serving their country in another way, as a worker or an office manager or what have you. You can't make these charges lightly. The fact that I am sitting here talking to you right now, with so much attention being put on me by the FBI and other law enforcement organizations, speaks volumes as to just how clean I've been. Shame on them. These are baseless charges being brought by people who are unwilling to debate the message that I am trying to get out, so they take the cheap tactic of attacking the messenger.
PITT: Tell me about the issues you've had with the FBI.
RITTER: Well, I've been very frank with the FBI from day one. The first FBI investigation began back in 1991 after I married my wife. She's a former citizen of the Soviet Union, currently an American citizen, and they initiated something. It was dropped in 1992 after they found out that nothing was going on. It was of no concern to the national security of the United States, never came close to representing a violation of any law. Basically, a man meets a woman and falls in love, and that's it.
PITT: The collapse of the Heinz job must have been troubling, considering...
RITTER: Well, that just happened. Getting the UN job was great. The problem is, getting the UN job as an intelligence officer caused a lot of concern and consternation in the CIA because now they have an intelligence person they no longer control, engaged in a position of some influence. That's why the FBI was brought in, basically, as a vehicle of intimidation. It didn't work. I don't get intimidated. That went onto the back burner, not to emerge until 1996, when, because of the successful relationship I brokered between the United Nations and Israel, we at UNSCOM were starting to be able to gain a certain degree of independence from the CIA. We didn't need their intelligence as much as we had needed it in the past. This was of concern to people who followed the adage, "Information is Power." As long as the CIA was the sole provider of information, the CIA had the power and influence over the inspections. They could dictate where we went, when we went and how we went, just by controlling the intelligence.
By our going out to Israel and getting an extremely effective alternate source of information, the CIA lost its influence. The way they dealt with it was to fabricate charges that I was somehow spying for the state of Israel. They turned the FBI loose on me on that one. That's still an ongoing investigation to this date.
When I resigned and started speaking out against American policy in Iraq, a third investigation was initiated. I was made aware of it when I decided to make a documentary film in Iraq called 'On Shifting Sands.'. I was now being investigated as an agent of Iraq.
PITT: That is actually the crux of the Iraqi agent accusation, that you took money from Iraq, some $400,000, to make this film.
RITTER: To make the movie, I formed a film production company and sought investors. Because of the controversial nature of the film, i.e. actually telling the truth in a manner that would irritate the Clinton administration to a tremendous degree, not to many people wanted to back this. No traditional outlet for documentary films – PBS, Frontline, CNN, etc., wanted to come forward and put money up to back this idea. An American citizen – and I'll emphasize that point – an American citizen of Iraqi origin named Shakir Alkafajii, who runs businesses in Detriot, was willing to put up $400,000 of his own money.
If you go and check out Frontline, and ask them what their budget is for an hour-and-a-half feature documentary of the highest quality, you'll find that it exceeds $400,000. $400,000 is not an inordinate amount of money, and it didn't come to me. I wasn't paid $400,000.
PITT: It went to the production company.
RITTER: It went to the production company, and the production of the film actually wound up costing around $486,000. $56,000 came out of my pocket, $30,000 is still owed to another investor. The concept of me making money off this movie is about as lunatic as possible, but people don't want to delve into the facts of the matter. I made a great film – those who criticize the film have never seen it, and those who have seen it say it is the best documentary film on Iraq they've ever seen. It's also a pretty good piece of filmmaking. But people don't want to deal with the message, so they go after the messenger, and this whole issue of the money comes up.
I worked with the FBI on this. I said, if you've got concerns, let's talk about it. Their concerns were a quid pro quo arrangement between the Iraqi government and Shakir Alkafajii. By supporting my film, he would get some sort of favorable relationship. I said, if you ever find out that this is the case, let me know and I will terminate the film. If you ever find out that the Iraqi government funneled this money to the film through him, let me know. If they found any dirt on the money, the film would be over. Not only did they fail to find any dirt on the money, but after the film was over and I showed it to them, they said it was pretty darned good.
I'm proud of the movie, and I'm confident that there are no issues that attack the integrity of this film. Again, shame on those who say otherwise because they haven't taken the time to watch the film, and they just have not familiarized themselves with the facts of the matter. It is irresponsible conjecture on their part, conjecture that is so easily laid to rest, but that's not what they want. They've created this mythology that somehow I took $400,000 from the Iraqi government. Too bad. I didn't. I will stick with the integrity of the film and the message that the film portrays. Hopefully people who are interested in the truth will seek the film out.
May 3, 2000
U. S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright
The United States Department of State
Washington, DC 20520-0001
Dear Secretary Albright:
Throughout the hospital wards of Iraq today, mothers sit with their children in their arms and wait for them to die, As they wait, they cry out to the world, "Why, why does America want to kill the children of Iraq?"
We represent a growing coalition of concerned citizens and organizations from diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds in Michigan, who are appalled by the State Department continued defense of a policy that has led to the deaths of nearly a million innocent Iraqi children. Our coalition of religious, labor, human rights, environmental, peace and civil rights organizations has been moved by the unjust suffering of the Iraqi people. We stand united in declaring that it is wrong to deprive innocent children of food, medicine, and potable water. It is wrong to hold the Iraqi children responsible for the actions of a brutal and reckless dictator. The children of Iraq are paying too heavy a price for the disagreements between the U. S and Iraqi governments. Furthermore, the economic sanctions provide a powerful propaganda weapon to the Iraqi regime, which can blame the misery of the Iraqi people on the rest of the world. We ask you today, 'Why does the State Department cling so tightly to a policy that has failed to bring about any of our publicly declared goals while strangling the economy and starving the people of Iraq?"
Reports from UNICEF and other UN and international agencies operating in Iraq have repeatedly documented the devastation engendered by a decade of economic sanctions. A special UN Security Cancel panel reported that "the gravity of the humanitarian situation is indisputable and cannot be overstated . . . [Iraq] has experienced a shift from relative affluence to massive poverty." Furthermore a recent Red Cross report (February 2000) states, "Since the Gulf War, money and spare parts have not been available to repair sewage works and purification plants, which are often working at reduced capacity, or not at all. This has led to an overall deterioration in the quality and quantity of drinking water and the rapid spread of infectious diseases, such as cholera." Former UN Oil-for-Food Program Directors Dennis Halliday and Hans von Sponek, World Food Program Director Jutta Burghardt, and former UNSCOM weapons inspector Scott Ritter have all resigned in protest against current U.S./UN policy in Iraq, We find it irresponsible that the State Department has not acted on these reports to address the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Iraq and call for the State Department's assistance in repairing Iraq's health care and water purification systems.
The complete isolation of the Iraqi people from the rest of world is counterproductive to long term national security and world stability initiatives. The collapse of the educational system in Iraq is leaving the next generation of leaders unprepared for the demands of the 21st century, while sowing the seed of mistrust and anger that will take decades to heal. Furthermore, the current sanctions policy is isolating the United States from the rest of the world community. Increasing confrontations in the UN Security Council between the U.S. and other permanent members, such as France, China, and Russia, on issues such as the vote on Resolution 1284, are a sign of a lack of agreement on our policy towards Iraq. It is our responsibility to abide by international law and treaties, such as the Geneva Conventions, which are a fundamental part of the character of the people of the United States.
Finally, we are outraged by the increasing use of military force against Iraq since December of 1998. During the past seventeen moths, U.S. and British warplanes have struck schools, hospitals, orchards and farmland. "We have seen the damage to schools and hospitals with our own eyes, "reported the Reverend Ed Rowe, a Methodist minister from Detroit, after returning from a humanitarian delegation to Iraq in December of 1999, These "no-fly" zones do not operate under UN authority nor were they authorized by a Declaration of War by the Congress of the United States, As citizens in whose name you are bombing Iraq, we demand that the State Department put an immediate halt to this bombing campaign and that the $1 billion dollars estimated to have been spent in these raids be put into the schools and public health programs in our local comminutes,
The moral intentions of any policy that deliberately withholds access to food, medicine and potable water from innocent civilians must be questioned, and while narrowly defined military sanctions should remain In place, we insist that you act immediately to end economic sanctions in favor of monitored, normalized economic trade. The current sanctions policy in Iraq is bankrupt, both politically and ethically. The time has come to protect innocent Iraqis, call on the regime to respect human rights and end this failed policy.
Sincerely,
(Titles and Organizational Affiliations are for Identification Purposes Only)
*Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, Archdiocese of Detroit
Chaldean Bishop of United States of America, Ibrahim Ibrahim
*The Reverend Edwin Rowe, Pastor, Central United Methodist Church, Detroit
Dr. Yahia Basha, Chairman, American Muslim Council
Ms, Kathy Kelly, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee
Faisel Arabo, Metro Detroit Chaldean Community
Sam Yono, Chaldean Federation of America
Hasan Newash, Co-Chair, Michigan Committee on Jerusalem
Sister Joanette Nitz, OP Board Member, Michigan Coalition for Human Rights
Sister Therese Hoffman, OP Board Member, National Farm Workers
*Rudy Simons, Jewish Peace Fellowship
*Jeff Nelson, Human Rights Coordinator, Groundwork for a Just World
Steve Sprietzer, Social Ministry Team, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit
Bridget Nelson, MSW Chair, Metro Detroit Against Sanctions
Mary Ratkowski, 14th District Coordinator, Metro Detroit Bread for the World
*Mary and Bill Carry, Coordinators, Oakland County Peace and National Priority Center
Penny Ryder, Director, American Friends Service Committee, Ann Arbor
Prasad Venugopal, Assistant Professor, University of Detroit - Mercy
US Peace Council, Michigan Chapter
*Geraldine E. Sellman, SCMM
Sisters of Charity of Our Lady Mother of Mercy, US Province
Benjamin Mordecai Ben-Baruch, Member, Board of Directors of the Jewish
Reconstructionist Federation
Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee at the University of Michigan
*Brad van Guilder, Ph.D. State Organizer, Peace Action of Michigan
Shakir Alkhafaji, Chairman Iraqi Ex-Patriot
Martha Walsh, SC, Leadership Council, Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati
David Smokler, Executive Board Member, Detroit Chapter National Lawyers Guild
Nouri Sitto, Iraqi Democratic Union
American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee of Washington, D.C.
John Hopper, Director - Economic Justice Commission of the Episcopal Diocese of
Michigan
* Have Gone to Iraq to witness the effects of Sanctions