Right Wing Nut House

Scott Ritter, a former UN Weapons Inspector and harsh critic of the Iraq war has some explaining to do.

No, I’m not talking about his arrest in June, 2001 for attempting to get together with a 16 year old girl he met on the internet for some “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.” Nor am I talking about his being questioned over a similar incident in Albany, NY in April of 2001.

I’m talking about Mr. Ritter’s change of heart with regards to Saddam Hussein. Apparently, being an apologist for Saddam is much more fun and profitable than doing one’s job as a UN Weapons Inspector.

Back in 1997, Mr. Ritter was sent packing by Saddam after being accused of spying for western governments. Then, in 1998 Mr. Ritter gave an interview where he seemed to advocate military action against Iraq if Saddam failed to come clean about WMD:

“The Security Council is fractured and there is no unanimity for decisive action against Iraq. The resolution was created under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter. This means that Iraq has foregone aspects of its sovereignty, Iraq presents a clear and present danger to international peace and security. Iraq must disarm in order to stop presenting this capability and if they don’t disarm they can be compelled.

This means the Security Council has the authorisation to either act as a council and do military action or have a member nation on its own undertake military action.”

That sounds pretty straightforward. He even advocates unilateral action to disarm Saddam.

Then, in 2000, Mr. Ritter seems to have had a change of heart. He became an active apologist Saddam while trashing the effort to disarm him. What caused this transformation?

It seems that Mr. Ritter was the possible beneficiary of Saddam’s “Oil for Food” largesse. The report mentions an American weapons inspector on the take, presumably Mr. Ritter. It seems that Mr. Ritter not only likes little girls, he also has a fondness for gold jewelry. According to the London Telegraph, Mr. Ritter visited Iraq between July and September of 2000 where expensive gold jewelry was offered to him by an Iraqi-American businessman and close associate of Ritter one Shakir al-Khafaji. It turns out that documents recovered from Iraqi intel headquarters show Mr. al-Khafaji to be an Iraqi intelligence operative who was authorized to bribe Mr. Ritter. Why?

“According to the documents, which were found in the bombed headquarters of Iraq’s intelligence services, the cost of the presents was approved at the highest level in an attempt to develop “strong relations with them [Mr Ritter's family] that affect positively on our relations with him”.

So Mr. Ritter went from advocating military action against Saddam to…what?

“Does Iraq truly threaten the existence of our nation? If one takes at face value the rhetoric emanating from the Bush administration, it would seem so. According to President Bush and his advisers, Iraq is known to possess weapons of mass destruction and is actively seeking to reconstitute the weapons production capabilities that had been eliminated by UN weapons inspectors from 1991 to 1998, while at the same time barring the resumption of such inspections.

I bear personal witness through seven years as a chief weapons inspector in Iraq for the United Nations to both the scope of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction programs and the effectiveness of the UN weapons inspectors in ultimately eliminating them.”

This, from July 2000. The very same month Mr. Ritter was visitng Iraq.

In addition to the jewelry, Mr. Ritter was also able to secure funding for what was probably the most one sided portrayal of Saddam’s Iraq until Michael Moore’s fairy tale came out this past summer. It seems that quite suddenly, Mr. Ritter was able to find backing for his movie “Shifting Sands” which was highly critical of US policy towards Iraq (including sanctions): This from the Telegraph:

“The five pages of documents dated between July 18 and September 14, 2000, appear to record a trip to Baghdad made by Mr Ritter, Mr al-Khafaji and a film crew. Their visit took place shortly before Mr Ritter raised £250,000 to make a highly controversial documentary about Iraq that was critical of American policy towards Saddam’s regime.

Mr Ritter formed a partnership with Mr al-Khafaji to finance the film, Shifting Sands which, according to Mr Ritter, “proved” that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction.”

Given the Duelfer Report, Mr. Ritter’s conclusion may have, in fact, been correct about Saddam’s WMD. But read what Mr. Ritter had to say in 1998 about what should be done with Saddam:

“The US pushed it. We’re in this position because the US wanted Iraq
disarmed. Iraq is not being disarmed right now. It’s up to the United
States to compel Iraq. Sanctions aren’t working. They’re not going to
work. There’s only one person to blame for all of this and it’s Saddam
Hussein. He has to be held accountable. I think the answer is quite
obvious what has to happen. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure
it out. I don’t have to say it.”

Looks like Mr. Ritter can give Senator Flip Flop a run for his money any day.