ZGram - September 15, 2002 - "Did a Saulus turn into a Paulus?"
irimland@zundelsite.org
irimland@zundelsite.org
Sun, 15 Sep 2002 14:51:48 -0700
ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny
September 15, 2002
Good Morning from the Zundelsite:
Here comes your Sunday treat:
[START]
Exclusive: Scott Ritter in His Own Words
The former weapons inspector explains his switch from getting up
Saddam's nose to picking fights with Bush
BY MASSIMO CALABRESI
ALI HAIDER/AP
Former UN inspector Scott Ritter at an antiterrorist training camp in Iraq
Person of the Week: Scott Ritter
TIME.com: Bush Draws a Line
Weblog: How Nuclear Is Iraq?
Saturday, Sep. 14, 2002
Scott Ritter was the UN's top weapons inspector in Iraq until 1998,
when he resigned claiming President Clinton was too easy on Saddam.
Now he says the dictator doesn't seem to have weapons of mass
destruction (WMD) and that trying to oust Saddam is "extremely
dangerous." TIME's Massimo Calabresi asked the voluble former marine
about his recent private trip to Baghdad, Jane Fonda, and accusations
he's a spy for Israel, Iraq or Russia.
Time: What were you doing in Baghdad?
Ritter: Waging peace. My goal in Baghdad was to facilitate a debate
here in the United States on America's policy toward Iraq, a debate
that's been sadly lacking. We're facing a critical moment in American
history and I believe this is something that has to be more
thoroughly looked at. Why go to Iraq? You're talking to me now
because I went to Iraq. I've been saying the exact same thing for
years and I didn't get the call from Time magazine.
Time: Who paid for the trip? Were any of your expenses paid for by
the Iraqis?
Scott Ritter: No. The only thing that could be construed as an
Iraqi expense is that they provided a vehicle that drove me from the
hotel to the meetings with the government officials. I did not
reimburse them for the gas used or the time of the driver.
Time: Some on the right call you the new Jane Fonda, and joke about
what you'll call your exercise video.
Scott Ritter: (Long pause?) Those on the right who say that
disgrace the 12 years of service I gave to my country as a Marine. I
love my country. I'll put my record of service up against anyone, bar
none. If they want to have an exercise video then why don't they come
here and say it to my face and I'll give'm an exercise video, which
will be called, "Scott Ritter Kicking Their Ass."
Time: In 1998, you said Saddam had "not nearly disarmed." Now you
say he doesn't have weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Why did you
change your mind?
Scott Ritter: I have never given Iraq a clean bill of health!
Never! Never! I've said that no one has backed up any allegations
that Iraq has reconstituted WMD capability with anything that
remotely resembles substantive fact. To say that Saddam's doing it is
in total disregard to the fact that if he gets caught he's a dead man
and he knows it. Deterrence has been adequate in the absence of
inspectors but this is not a situation that can succeed in the long
term. In the long term you have to get inspectors back in.
Time: Iraq's borders are porous. Why couldn't Saddam have obtained
the capacity to produce WMD since 1998 when the weapons inspectors
left?
Scott Ritter: I am more aware than any UN official that Iraq has
set up covert procurement funds to violate sanctions. This was true
in 1997-1998, and I'm sure its true today. Of course Iraq can do
this. The question is, has someone found that what Iraq has done goes
beyond simple sanctions violations? We have tremendous capabilities
to detect any effort by Iraq to obtain prohibited capability. The
fact that no one has shown that he has acquired that capability
doesn't necessarily translate into incompetence on the part of the
intelligence community. It may mean that he hasn't done anything.
Time: Are you being investigated for espionage?
Scott Ritter: I've been called a spy of Israel since 1996, and
since I made my documentary film in 2000 the FBI has investigated me
as an agent of Iraq. The FBI has also opened up an investigation into
my wife calling her a KGB spy. So there is this form of harassment
taking place.
Time: Did you write a report, at the time you were doing inspections
in Votkinsk in the Soviet Union in 1988 that said the group your wife
worked for was full of spies?
Scott Ritter: No. I indicated that given past models of Soviet
penetration techniques that these young girls, of which my wife was
one, who were brought in by the Soviets to carry out translation
services had been used in the past to attempt sexual compromise. I
subsequently wrote a series of reports that said this did not appear
to be the case in Votkinsk. In fact, because of the human
intelligence work I did in the Soviet Union I was able to ascertain
that the girls were actually dissatisfied with the Soviets. They
showed a tendency to speak out against the KGB to the U.S. inspectors.
Time: You've spoke about having seen the children's prisons in Iraq.
Can you describe what you saw there?
Scott Ritter: The prison in question is at the General Security
Services headquarters, which was inspected by my team in Jan. 1998.
It appeared to be a prison for children - toddlers up to
pre-adolescents - whose only crime was to be the offspring of those
who have spoken out politically against the regime of Saddam Hussein.
It was a horrific scene. Actually I'm not going to describe what I
saw there because what I saw was so horrible that it can be used by
those who would want to promote war with Iraq, and right now I'm
waging peace.
Time: You told the Iraqi parliament that Saddam had legitimate
complaints about the prior inspection regime. What did you mean?
Scott Ritter: The U.S. had a track record of putting pressure on
the weapons inspectors program during my entire seven years there.
It's ironic that everyone has focused on the struggle of the
inspectors vs. Iraq. Not too many people speak of the struggle
between the weapons inspectors and the U.S. to beat back the forces
of U.S. intelligence which were seeking to infiltrate the weapons
inspectors program and use the unique access the inspectors enjoyed
in Iraq for purposes other than disarmament. Iraq has a clear case
that under this past inspection regime unfortunately it was misused
for purposes other than set out by the Security Council resolution.
Time: Did you get any spying done on your trip?
Scott Ritter: Haha. Did I spy on Iraq my most recent trip? I wasn't
there to collect intelligence on Iraq. To be frank, I didn't see
barricades in the streets or earthen berms being erected or
fortifications underway. I did see a lot of troops in the streets and
I saw that Iraq had beefed up their air defense in the capital. I saw
that they were moving these air defense units frequently to avoid a
strike. But I wasn't there to carry out a full canvas of Iraq's
military capabilities.
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