Free Republic

Admit your lies: Former UN inspector tells Bush, Blair Agence France-PresseGeneva, June 6 The United States and Britain should admit they lied when claiming that the ousted Baghdad regime had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), Scott Ritter, a former UN senior weapons inspector in Iraq, said in an interview published in Geneva on Friday.Ritter, speaking to the Swiss daily Le Temps, called on US President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair to "have the courage to be held responsible" for telling lies to the public into backing the conflict.An outspoken critic of Bush's handling of the conflict,...

April 5 2003 The neat files of a library in Baghdad reveal just how the city will meet the army now at its gates, writes Scott Ritter. There is a complex of buildings in downtown Baghdad - if it still exists after coalition bombing - that contains a dark secret unknown to, or ignored by, the US military when it developed the "Operation Iraqi Freedom" battle plans. Called the Al Bakr Institute for Higher Military Studies, it is the Iraqi version of the American War College and Army General Staff College rolled into one. As a chief weapons inspector for...

Ritter calls Bush threat to U.S. Albany-- WAMC audience unconcerned about former arms inspector's 2001 arrest By ALAN WECHSLER, Staff writerFirst published: Friday, February 14, 2003 Speaking for the first time in the Capital Region since news of his arrest on sex charges broke last month, former arms inspector Scott Ritter continued his crusade against a war with Iraq at the WAMC Performing Arts Studio on Thursday. Speaking for a half-hour and answering written questions from the audience during a live broadcast, Ritter said the biggest enemy to democracy was not Iraq or al-Qaida. It was, he said, the administration...

A former U.S. navy officer and UN chief arms inspector in Iraq yesterday lashed out at the United States, accusing it of acting against international law by seeking to use military force to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussain and control the oil-rich country. Scott Ritter, who served as the top arms inspector in Iraq between 1991 and 1998, said more than 95 per cent of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction have been destroyed while 100 per cent of its factories producing such weapons have been neutralised and shut down. In a lecture entitled "The coming war in Iraq: how did...

http://events.publicbroadcasting.net/wamc/events.eventsmain?action=showEvent&eventID=50071   Scott Ritter General Event Information Event Category: On-Air Price: FREE ADMISSION / RESERVATIONS REQUIRED * contact the Venue listed below for ticketing information Dates and Times: Thursday, 2/13/2003 at 8:00 PM Artist/Group: Scott Ritter Description In 1998, Scott Ritter resigned his post as chief weapons inspector for the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) in Iraq, charging that the United States was purposefully obstructing the completion of the UNSCOM mission. He now says the U.S. is intent on manufacturing phony "evidence" of arms violations as a pretext for war. An outspoken critic of the Bush administration's stance on Iraq, Ritter...

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=104631&category=STATE&newsdate=2/12/2003   Bill would make Internet-luring a felony Albany-- Proposal would be added to last year's measure aimed at protecting minors By ELIZABETH BENJAMIN, Capitol bureauFirst published: Wednesday, February 12, 2003 Using the Internet to lure children for sexual encounters would be a felony punishable with up to seven years in prison under a proposal by Assembly Republicans. The Assembly minority introduced a similar law last year that would make it a felony for anyone to "lure or entice" a minor under age 17 into a car, building or other isolated place for the purpose of committing a sexual offense....

DUBAI, Feb 10 (IPS) - A U.S.-led attack on Iraq without the approval of the United Nations would spell doom for the world body and be another ominous sign of unilateralism in international affairs, say analysts in the region. Already, the United States has come under fire in many Middle Eastern countries for eyeing not really the weapons of mass destruction Iraq is suspected of having - but the ouster of Saddam Hussein. If and when it pushes through, such a war could become a case study to implement U.S. unilateralism not just in the Middle East, but in other...

Ritter dismisses Powell TOKYO — Former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter on Thursday dismissed U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's allegation before the U.N. Security Council that Iraq is hiding weapons of mass destruction as "unsubstantiated" and based only on "circumstantial evidence." "There's nothing here that's conclusive proof that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction," Ritter, a former U.S. Marine and outspoken critic of Washington's policy on Iraq who participated in U.N. weapons inspections there from 1991 to 1998, told Kyodo News in an interview. "Everything in here is circumstantial, everything in here mirrors the kind of allegations the U.S....

  Saturday, February 8, 2003 Ritter dismisses Powell report Thursday, February 6, 2003 at 17:30 JST TOKYO — Former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter on Thursday dismissed U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's allegation before the U.N. Security Council that Iraq is hiding weapons of mass destruction as "unsubstantiated" and based only on "circumstantial evidence.""There's nothing here that's conclusive proof that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction," Ritter, a former U.S. Marine and outspoken critic of Washington's policy on Iraq who participated in U.N. weapons inspections there from 1991 to 1998, told Kyodo News in an interview."Everything in here is...

Former UN weapons inspector rails against war in Iraq, warns of terrorism Wed Feb 5, 2:22 AM ET By HANS GREIMEL, Associated Press Writer TOKYO - A former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter blasted the U.S. case against Iraq on Wednesday as based on "circumstantial evidence" and warned that invading the country would be a "long and horrific" invitation to terrorism. The remarks came just hours before U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) was set to present the U.N. Security Council a detailed argument on the disarmament of Iraq. Ritter, a former Gulf War (news -...

Ex-weapons inspector, a war opponent, speaks locally tonight January 31, 2003 SAUGERTIES - Former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter - making news these days because of both his opposition to war with Iraq and recent reports that he was arrested in an Internet sex sting two years ago - will speak here tonight about the possibility of U.S. military action against Saddam Hussein. Ritter is scheduled to appear at 7 p.m. at the Frank D. Greco Senior Center at Market and Robinson streets. He'll speak for about 30 minutes, then take questions from the audience. A former U.S. Marine, Ritter...

WAR WITH IRAQ? FORMER UN INSPECTOR SCOTT RITTER TO SPEAK AT WASHINGTON COLLEGE JANUARY 30 Chestertown, MD, January 6, 2003 - Scott Ritter, former Chief Weapons Inspector for the United Nations Special Commission in Iraq (UNSCOM), will discuss "WAR WITH IRAQ: HOW DID WE GET HERE" on Thursday, January 30, 2003, at 7:30 p.m. in Washington College's Hynson Lounge. This timely talk is free and the public is encouraged to attend. As a chief weapons inspector for the UNSCOM, Ritter was labeled a hero by some, a maverick by others, and a spy by the Iraqi government. Ritter has...

Just announced on WGY, an Albany radio station. Details will be posted as soon as available.It's about time that the liberal college elites respected community standards and did the proper, moral thing.

Ritter questions federal action Ex-arms inspector is critical of the timing of ruling to unseal 2001 arrest records Former U.N. chief weapons inspector Scott Ritter on Saturday questioned the decision by federal investigators to reopen sealed files in a two-year old case involving charges he allegedly tried to use Internet to lure an underage girl to a sexual encounter. "I wish that everyone would understand how much the timing of this whole thing just stinks," Ritter said Saturday from his Delmar home. Ritter declined to comment further. Ritter, who resigned his position as chief weapons inspector in 1998, has...

Ritter Speaks Out Against Sex Charges (updated: January 23rd, 6:30pm) Former UN Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter says he will not let a two-year old internet sex arrest stop him from speaking out on Iraq. And that is what he plans to do when he speaks at Schenectady Community College next month. The story broke about the sex sting back in June of 2001. He was arrested, allegedly for having an online sexual conversation with what he thought was an underage girl. It was really an undercover cop. But the case was later sealed, and the Assistant DA in charge of...

Ex-U.N. Inspector Questions News Timing ALBANY, N.Y. - Former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter, a harsh critic of the Bush administration's push toward war with Iraq, suggested that recent news reports of his arrest in an Internet sex sting last year were part of an attempt to silence him. He said the publicity forced him to cancel a trip to Baghdad, where he said he would have offered an alternative to military action. "The timing does stink. I was supposed to be on an airplane yesterday to Baghdad," he said. "Let's not forget, we're on the verge of a major...

Scott Ritter said he doesn't want forgiveness. Speaking publicly for the first time about the sex charge he was arrested for in 2001, the former U.N. arms inspector and one of the leading critics of the Bush administration's plans to attack Iraq said he has been held accountable for breaking the law. And it would be a shame, he said Wednesday, that his arrest could derail his efforts to help prevent a war in the Middle East. "I think it's important to put a human face on this, to remind people that there are issues out there bigger than a...

<p>January 23, 2003 -- Former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter yesterday suggested that court-sealed details of his Internet sex-sting arrest were intentionally leaked to sabotage his planned peace mission to Iraq.</p> <p>Because of "the timing" of the leak - about "something that occurred nearly two years ago" - he had to cancel his trip to Baghdad, where he planned to advise Iraqi officials on ways to avoid a conflict with the United States.</p>

In the 1990s, there were reports that Iraqi intelligence recruited U.N. inspectors as informants, and that Iraqi scientists were fearful about being interviewed. Recent reports that Iraq continues these kinds of efforts are a clear sign that it is not serious about disarmament. Today, we also anticipate that Iraq is likely to target U.N. and IAEA computer systems through cyber intrusions to steal inspections, methods, criteria, and findings. We know that Iraq certainly has the capability to do so. According to Khidhir Hamza's book, Saddam's Bombmaker, Iraq's Babylon Software Company was developing cyber warfare capabilities on behalf of the Iraqi...