| Submit your comments on this article | ||
| Fifth Column | ||
| Bush, CIA Led Conspiracy to Oust Saddam, Book Alleges | ||
| 2005-10-13 | ||
| (CNSNews.com) - A new book by a former chief weapons inspector for the United Nations lashes the Bush administration and the Central Intelligence Agency for engaging in an "intelligence conspiracy to undermine the U.N. and overthrow Saddam Hussein." In authoring "Iraq Confidential," When Ritter resigned his position with the United Nations Special Commission in August 1998, he actually warned about a looming threat from Iraq. "The sad truth is that Iraq today is not as disarmed anywhere near the level required by Security Council resolutions," Ritter said at the time. "As you know, UNSCOM has good reason to believe that there are significant numbers of proscribed weapons and related components and the means to manufacture such weapons unaccounted for in Iraq today." But by the time the U.S. invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003, with the goal of ousting Saddam and eliminating his allegedly illegal weapons cache, Ritter had changed his mind and was aggressively criticizing the position of President Bush and American allies known as the "Coalition of the Willing." Ritter had directed, written and starred in a 2001 documentary called "Shifting Sands," in which he contradicted his own 1998 warnings about Iraq's potential supply of weapons of mass destruction. Instead of the Iraqi weapons continuing to pose a threat, Ritter claimed in the documentary and in a later news column that 90 to 95 percent of them had been disarmed by 1995. The funding for Ritter's documentary -- $400,000 - had been supplied by Iraqi-American businessman Shakir al Khafaji, who had used his connections with Saddam's regime and the United Nations Oil for Food Program to pocket $1.1 million, according to the Financial Times of London.
However, Ritter's claims are "intellectually dishonest," according to Laurie Mylroie, author of the book "Study of Revenge: Saddam Hussein's Unfinished War against America." "For Ritter to say that people knew there weren't weapons but claimed there were is just intellectually dishonest," Mylroie said. "I have never in my entire professional life ... seen a situation in which people had such a blatant disregard for known truth." Mylroie told Cybercast News Service that Americans should remember that the original information about Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction (WMD) came from Ritter while he served as an inspector for the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) after the first Persian Gulf War. Mylroie added that other world leaders, including Jordan's King Abdullah, had verified Saddam's possession of WMD and warned of his desire to use chemical and biological weapons. "There was a consensus internationally that Iraq had a significant amount of weapons," Mylroie said. "No one doubted it." As for why coalition forces have yet to find Saddam's WMD after searching for more than two years, Mylroie said there are a number of possibilities. "The Iraqis did something with them," she said, "moved them to Syria, they destroyed them in part, they hid them in part, some combination of that." She added, "It's not clear that we were fooled" by bad or manipulated intelligence. Last year, Mylroie analyzed 42 pages of Iraqi Intelligence Service documents that a senior government official provide to Cybercast News Service and which showed the Iraqi regime's purchase of mustard gas and anthrax as well as its extensive ties with the world's most dangerous terrorist organizations, including al Qaeda. The subsequent Cybercast News Service article, authored by Scott Wheeler and published on Oct. 4, 2004, quoted Mylroie as saying that the Iraqi papers represented "the most complete set of documents relating Iraq to terrorism, including Islamic terrorism" against the U.S. Representatives from Nation Books, publishers of "Iraq Confidential," did not return calls requesting comment from Scott Ritter for this report. Ritter did, however, attend a National Press Club discussion about his book earlier on Wednesday.
| ||
| Posted by:Steve |
| #22 Eloquent and persuasive. |
| Posted by: Throgum Elmoluse7582 2005-10-13 21:23 |
| #21 courts have NO jurisdiction over innocent men. So, .....STFU |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-10-13 21:21 |
| #20 OK, Frank. Then prove he's wrong. |
| Posted by: Throgum Elmoluse7582 2005-10-13 20:43 |
| #19 Frankly Depotguy - I don't really care WTF you think - you're ignoring the obvious - you're comments now get "Mike S" skepticism and skewing.... Spinal Tap: "It's such a fine line between clever and stupid" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-10-13 20:41 |
| #18 Aye, Captain? |
| Posted by: Lt. Scott 2005-10-13 20:27 |
| #17 Is that you, Scott? |
| Posted by: whitecollar redneck 2005-10-13 20:20 |
| #16 "Jesus, DepotGuy, what part of "court-ordered" is unclear?" Has Ritter been officially charged with a sex offense? Has Ritter been officially convicted of a sex offense? Did Ritter make a plea agreement without any formal charges? Are court proceedings private in Albany, NY? If the answer to the above questions are no, then how the hell can the court order Ritter to go to counseling? Really...I'm not being sarcastic. Show me something other then heresay and I will gladly STFU. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2005-10-13 20:03 |
| #15 Jesus, DepotGuy, what part of "court-ordered" is unclear? Why do you think Ritter changed his mind? |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-10-13 19:20 |
| #14 There is no doubt Shakir al Khafaji is a crook. Itâs also not a giant leap to think he had ulterior motives for funding Ritterâs film. Keep in mind Ritterâs 2000 documentary was about the ineffectiveness of the UN sanction Policy. I dare say by that time it was obvious Saddam was no longer âIn the Boxâ and the sanctions were having the opposite intentions. Whether you agree with that or not, to imply guilt by association is one of the oldest propoganda ploys in the book. Try it...it's easy. Tom Delay is charged with money laundering and is a good friend of Jack Abramoff Jack Abramoff is a crook guilty of financial fraud.. Tom Delay must be guilty of money laundering. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2005-10-13 16:46 |
| #13 The police seem to think differently: The Schenectady Daily Gazette- The powerhouse of investivagtive journalism article is filled with alot of: âRitter allegedlyâ⦠âcondition of anonymityâ⦠âreportedly droveâ âSources also tellâ âhe reportedly was met by officers, who released him without a charge.â â the source told the paperâ âallegations that he was chargedâ "court-ordered sex-offender counseling"? - For What charge?...What Conviction? Isn't that public information? Shouldn't he be on a sex offender list? Show me the police blotter. I'm sorry I don't see any shred of evidence that he is a sex offender. But I see plenty of innuendo from unidentified sources. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2005-10-13 16:01 |
| #12 and IMHO a traitor for $/blackmail |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-10-13 15:43 |
| #11 That's my point RC, correct me if I'm wrong (and I often am) but there seems to be alot of speculation and no facts to support the attributes assigned to Ritter. Typically disparaging remarks about the messenger without refuting the message amount to nothing more then a smear. My point, DepotGuy, is proven in the above two comments. Ritter's a diddler and a fiddler. ("fiddler, v. intr... 3. To alter or falsify (accounts, for example) for dishonest gain.") |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-10-13 15:38 |
| #10 The funding for Ritter's documentary -- $400,000-had been supplied by Iraqi-American businessman Shakir al Khafaji, who had used his connections with Saddam's regime and the United Nations Oil for Food Program to pocket $1.1 million, according to the Financial Times of London. Just me, but I'd say that covers the "man on the take" angle... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-10-13 15:33 |
| #9 But the insinuation that Scott Ritter is a Pedophile, a Left-Wing Operative, or a man on the take is nothing less the shameful. The police seem to think differently: "The Schenectady Daily Gazette and New York Daily News originally reported Ritter allegedly had an online sexual discussion with someone he thought was an underage girl. The "girl," however, turned out to be an undercover police investigator, according to the Daily News, whose sources spoke on condition of anonymity. WTEN-TV, the ABC affiliate in Albany, is reporting that Ritter contacted the "teen-age girl" twice in the spring of 2001, and that he has since undergone court-ordered sex-offender counseling from a psychologist in New York's capital. Sources also tell the Albany Times-Union that Ritter actually had two run-ins with police. The first occurred in April 2001, as the former Marine reportedly drove to a Colonie business to meet what he thought was a 14-year-old girl with whom he had chatted online. Instead, he reportedly was met by officers, who released him without a charge. Two months later, the source told the paper, Ritter was caught in the same kind of sex sting after he tried to lure a 16-year-old girl to an area Burger King restaurant. An attorney for Ritter confirmed that the ex-inspector, who says President Bush should be impeached for his Iraq policy, was arrested a year and a half ago. Norah Murphy said Ritter was arrested in the upstate New York town of Colonie in June 2001, but she would not respond to allegations that he was charged with soliciting an underage girl on the Internet. Ritter lives in the Albany suburb of Delmar." |
| Posted by: Steve 2005-10-13 15:26 |
| #8 "How can the truth be "shameful" of anyone but Ritter?" That's my point RC, correct me if I'm wrong (and I often am) but there seems to be alot of speculation and no facts to support the attributes assigned to Ritter. Typically disparaging remarks about the messenger without refuting the message amount to nothing more then a smear. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2005-10-13 15:03 |
| #7 But the insinuation that Scott Ritter is a Pedophile, a Left-Wing Operative, or a man on the take is nothing less the shameful. How can the truth be "shameful" of anyone but Ritter? |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-10-13 14:40 |
| #6 You may disagree with Scott Ritterâs fiery rhetoric regarding the neo-con agenda. If you believe he is an attention whore looking to sell booksâ¦thatâs fair. Hell, call him a crackpot and move on. But the insinuation that Scott Ritter is a Pedophile, a Left-Wing Operative, or a man on the take is nothing less the shameful. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2005-10-13 14:17 |
| #5 President Bush was involved in the overthrow of Saddam Hussein? Now tat's front page material! |
| Posted by: WhiteCollarRedneck 2005-10-13 13:25 |
| #4 Katie Couric will have to strap a sponge to her crotch to contain the gushing wetness when she does her orgasmic interview with Scottie-Pooh. |
| Posted by: Hupeasing Jatch2629 2005-10-13 12:53 |
| #3 no doubt Scott's offered to do book signings at elementary schools across the nation |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-10-13 12:32 |
| #2 SOROS is in on this!!! |
| Posted by: ARMYGUY 2005-10-13 11:42 |
| #1 Iraq Confidential? What's his next work going to be - Scott Does |
| Posted by: Xbalanke 2005-10-13 11:38 |