| Author | Message | ||
     Paul Surovell Supporter Username: Paulsurovell Post Number: 235 Registered: 2-2003 |
South Mountain Peace Action will sponsor a talk by Scott Ritter at Maplewood Memorial Library on Tuesday March 1st from 7:30 to 9:00 pm. This will be a rare opportunity for Maplewood-South Orange residents to hear and question one of the world's leading experts and critics of US involvement in Iraq. Ritter will focus on the post-Iraqi-election situation in Iraq and the implications for US policy. Ritter was a Major in the Marines who served as a UN weapons inspector in Iraq for seven years in the 1990s, after serving on Gen. Schwarzkopf's staff in the Gulf War. Prior to that, Ritter had been stationed as an arms control attache in the USSR. Upon quitting his UN post in 1998 Ritter appeared before a nationally-televised joint session of the Senate armed services and foreign relations committees. In September of 2002 Ritter appeared before the Iraqi parliament, warning Iraq to comply with UN inspections demands or face attack. Unfortunately, although Iraq followed Ritter's advice, the US launched a unilateral attack on Iraq in March 2003. Ritter was one of the few experts to declare before the US invasion that there was no evidence of WMDs in Iraq, and after the initial successes of the invasion, Ritter declared that military victory for the US was impossible. He has subsequently provided unique insights into the nature of the Iraqi insurgency. Ritter has appeared as an expert in virtually all media sources. A Google search yields more than 155,000 results. Plenty of time will be set aside for questions from the audience. For further information call or email Paul Surovell at 973-763-9493 / paul4sure@aol.com. | ||
| notehead Supporter Username: Notehead Post Number: 2021 Registered: 5-2001  |
Wow. I'll be there. Thanks for telling us about it. | ||
| malone Citizen Username: Malone Post Number: 266 Registered: 5-2001 |
Oops. You forgot to mention that he got $400,000 from an Iraqi businessman and fried of Saddam to film a documentary frindly to Saddam. Also, he was arrested for pedophilia. don't bring you daughters to see him. | ||
| Michael Janay Citizen Username: Childprotect Post Number: 1543 Registered: 1-2003  |
Technically it wasn't pedophilia. He thought he was meeting a 16 year old. So he's a pervert, not a pedophile. | ||
| notehead Supporter Username: Notehead Post Number: 2022 Registered: 5-2001 |
He was fried of Saddam? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? | ||
| malone Citizen Username: Malone Post Number: 267 Registered: 5-2001 |
Sorry, doing this with one hand while eating a late lunch. I guess some of you couldn't figure out that I meant friend. | ||
| Dave Moderator Username: Dave Post Number: 5214 Registered: 4-1998  |
A brief Googling indicates: a) He filmed a documentary that turned out to be factually correct; b) Iraqis attempted to bribe him * c) There is a record of an arrest. There are also indications he was being blackmailed to shut up about Iraq. Again, this is just a quick search, but the big picture answer is he was right about WMD in Iraq. | ||
| Paul Surovell Supporter Username: Paulsurovell Post Number: 236 Registered: 2-2003 |
Malone and Janay, Let's put aside for a moment whether there is any evidence to support the sleazy disinformation that you've been led to believe. Would you please indicate what Scott Ritter has said about US policy in Iraq that you find objectionable? And while your at it, why don't you plan to challenge Scott at the Library on March 1st? Scott relishes the opportunity to confront his detractors. I'll be chairing the meeting and I'll make sure to give critics of Scott Ritter equal time in the question-and-answer period. | ||
| Michael Janay Citizen Username: Childprotect Post Number: 1548 Registered: 1-2003 |
Everything here: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/ADCA48CC-9307-466B-BA18-82724CAA7484.htm Most noteably this lovely statement from 5 days before the Iraqi elections: By any standard, the ongoing American occupation of Iraq is a disaster. The highly vaunted US military machine, laurelled and praised for its historic march on Baghdad in March and April of 2003, today finds itself a broken force, on the defensive in a land that it may occupy in part, but does not control. Oh and I'll be there, and bring friends. | ||
| Dave Moderator Username: Dave Post Number: 5216 Registered: 4-1998 |
More from the opinion piece:
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| Chronic Pain Citizen Username: Chronic_pain Post Number: 15 Registered: 5-2004 |
http://www.nydailynews.com/01-19-2003/news/story/52750p-49424c.html | ||
| Paul Surovell Supporter Username: Paulsurovell Post Number: 237 Registered: 2-2003 |
Chronic -- Thanks for this link reporting that as a result of a sting operation,
Michael -- Excellent. I'm sure that you and your friends will enjoy the dialogue with Scott Ritter. | ||
| Dave Moderator Username: Dave Post Number: 5224 Registered: 4-1998 |
Paul, If Scott would like an MOL login, I'd be honored to supply one. I'd also like to know if he can get me Hans Blix' autograph. | ||
| sbenois Citizen Username: Sbenois Post Number: 13153 Registered: 10-2001  |
I've always found Ritter to be a very intriguing guy. He's an engaging speaker who knows a ton of stuff about the history of the situation - including his very blunt criticisms of Clinton, and especially Madeleine Albright's policies. His motivations ought to be fair game (Israeli spy? Angry at being investigated by the US govt?)... but it's silly to dismiss him because of the "truths" or "untruths" about his personal life. I'll show up. | ||
| Mustt_mustt Citizen Username: Mustt_mustt Post Number: 270 Registered: 8-2003 |
Thanks a lot, Paul, for bringing him to M'wood. I've always admired the courage of the man. He speaks his mind. I'll be there to listen to him. | ||
| Mark Fuhrman Citizen Username: Mfpark Post Number: 1268 Registered: 9-2001  |
Musty--We can say the same of Paul, who has always had the courage of his convictions. He speaks his mind, and our community is the better for it. | ||
| notehead Supporter Username: Notehead Post Number: 2026 Registered: 5-2001 |
I just hope Mr. Ritter will not be subjected to arbitrary denial of situations and facts that he has first-hand knowledge of. We on MOL are just about 100% dependent on the media to provide us with information about events in the Middle East, and it is easy to dismiss a given news item as being biased or planted, if we don't like the information. Let's give Mr. Ritter the respect and open-mindedness that someone of his experience deserves. | ||
| Michael Janay Citizen Username: Childprotect Post Number: 1551 Registered: 1-2003 |
Hey... All I said was that he WASN'T a pedophile. Of course I'm sure that if a pro-war speaker were talking, and had been arrested twice in an internet sting for attempting sex with underage girls, no one here would hold it against them, right? (OK, OK, he was only arrested once, he was caught twice, but only warned the first time) Dave, Thanks for posting that quote... he said that 5 DAYS before the elections. I'll be interested to see what he says now. Is he still calling the US terrorists? Oh, and its also interesting, is it not, that he is arguing against "salvadoran" intervention- but now, El Salvador is a democracy, stable, attracting loads of foreign investment, tourisn, and now has a better quality of life than many, if not most central American countries. Salvadoran intervention worked then as it is working in Iraq. | ||
| lumpynose Citizen Username: Lumpyhead Post Number: 1101 Registered: 3-2002  |
Wonder what his wife thinks of the accusations. I would think if they were false, she would stand behind him but sometimes women stand behind their men even if they are true. | ||
| Montagnard Citizen Username: Montagnard Post Number: 1404 Registered: 6-2003  |
Wow! Not even the pretense of a factual argument. Pretty sad. |
