Report: Former U.N. Inspector Scott Ritter Arrested in Internet Sex Sting (AP)

AP-Fox News ^ | 1/21/03 | AP

[alnick]

Attack Scott Ritter for his appeasement -- that's fair. Take a page out of Bill Clinton and Larry Flynt's playbook to attack him -- sorry.

You'd be correct if what Ritter was caught at was womanizing. He's a sexual predator of children.

[cyncooper]

AP and FOX national have picked it up.

Finally! I was beginning to wonder.

I note that I was correct and the only denial from Ritter was issued at the very beginning of the story coming to a reporter's attention.

This article seems pretty complete, from the firing of the ADA to the report of the earlier encounter with police:

Two months earlier, Ritter, a former Marine intelligence officer, tried to meet a 14-year-old girl he chatted with online and was instead met by police officers, the Times Union of Albany reported Tuesday. Ritter was released without being charged.

I wonder if Ritter is on his way to Baghdad yet?

Ritter was scheduled to leave for Iraq late Tuesday

[My2Cents]

Are you suggesting that the court files of this case contain facts and information that will prove that Scott Ritter has been blackmailed by a foreign power into turning on the US in regard to Iraq policy? I highly doubt it. It is a fact that the files were sealed. But this may not be for the purpose of covering up a blackmail scheme. It may be the rules of the court that cases be sealed for a certain period of time. I have no idea what the rules of the court are there. But there are reasonable explanations why a court case would be sealed besides a suspicion that someone is trying to hide international intrigue.

[Ann Archy]

What conclusion??? He was arrested....his attorney SAID he WAS....are we not to believe her?? And that it was a young girl he was to meet so she could watch him jerk-off??? Wow!! What a MANLY MAN!! Now he's someone I should TRUST!!!

[Bonaparte]

"What I'm saying is that finding sexual peccadellos to destroy people is a page out of the left's playbook."

Would you agree that these disclosures about Ritter are news?

Would you agree that the news should be reported and not suppressed, especially when it concerns a prominent public figure, one who has been entrusted with major responsibility?

[philo]

Word has it Scotty went to meet the 14 yr old and it turned out to be Bob Beckel. :^)

[cyncooper]

What I'm saying is that finding sexual peccadellos to destroy people is a page out of the left's playbook. Why sink to their level. I think Ritter's credibility was gone based on his hysteria about US pressure on Saddam.

This has been discussed for days here. The national news is finally reporting this.

First, this is not a "sexual peccadillo", since we're talking minors here.

Second, the talk for months has been speculation on just what could someone have on old Scott Ritter to make him pull a 180 and start trying to sell Iraq as no threat, etc., getting progressively hysterical in tone and demeanor.

This answers a lot of questions and deserves to be discussed.

There are several interesting aspects to the story, each with interesting implications. I am very happy to see the AP pick this up.

[cyncooper]

This is a story that needs to blasted out everyday to defuse the lies that this dangerous man has spewed for about 2 years.

Indeed.

[Brandybux]

Are you suggesting that the court files of this case contain facts and information that will prove that Scott Ritter has been blackmailed by a foreign power into turning on the US in regard to Iraq policy?

No. I'm suggesting: 1. The facts of the "sealed" case are virtually getting themselves unsealed by the leaks, for all the reasons I listed.

2. Given the facts being leaked, we now have the material for constructing a plausible hypothesis to explain what was formerly inexplicable -- "Why Scotty turned?"

It's the fact that he was caught twice by police that points to an obsessive quality in his actions. And, that further suggests he would have been a simple text-book case for turning by Iraqi counter-intelligence operatives. It's straight out of the spook text book.

But, we might not need to speculate very long. Once these things begin to unravel, it's not long before you have a very large pile of twisty thread on the floor, open to inspection by all.

[My2Cents]

Admittedly, Scott Ritter's behavior exceeds simple womanizing on the Creep-O Scale, but again, how does his behavior have anything to do with his radical change in his position on Iraq? As I posted earlier, Miss Marple wrote that the facts of his behavior suggest that Ritter is "blackmailable." That's a fair accusation, which sheds doubt on his highly publicized change of attitude on Saddam. But to offer a reasonable suggestion of his "blackmailableness" is a far cry from taking this story as proof-positive that he's being blackmailed, and THE explanation for his shift in opinion.

I think a better explanation is that this news shows that Scott Ritter is a moral reprobate, and as a moral reprobate, he's lost his ability to distinguish good from evil, and, hence, his inability to see the truth about Saddam and the necessity to go up against him. That, to me, is where any linkage exists, but no one has said that on this thread.

[Bonaparte]

It all comes down to this -- character counts and now we know that Ritter has none.

The public is entitled to know the character of those they pay to undertake major responsibility and now it does. When confronted about his wrongdoing, Ritter lied.

(Yes, most of the weapons inspection work Ritter did for UNSCOM was funded by the US taxpayer.)

[GirlShortstop]

      Stick with the facts

The problem with that is that these 'facts' are two years old. We should have known about this 2 years ago. Now either the blackmailers or the blackmailer were able to keep these 'facts' unknown to the public. So in this case, investigatory inquiry and speculation is not only recommended, it is required. What else is hidden in Scotties closet.... ?

Agree with both of you.   Facts!    I'm hoping that a repost of my questions from the thread  UN's Ritter faced sex rap  will perhaps get answers in here:

• Scott Ritter was secretly prosecuted in Albany County ...snared in an Internet sex sting operation
  
• arrested by Colonie Police in June 2001 ...law enforcement sources disclosed on condition of anonymity
  
• case was sealed, and Colonie officials declined to release the arrest records
  
• the matter was adjourned in local court in contemplation of dismissal.

Perhaps a FR legal mind can answer:

• why would the matter be adjourned?  Circumstances for such action?
• why seal the case and decline to release the arrest records?  again, circumstances?

And what's with the anonymity on the part of LE?   Why was this story a *non-story* for 19 months?

[alnick]

I think that almost everyone who responded to you on this thread has suggested that the significance of the story is that Ritter is blackmailable, though only one actually used that word. I think that that is what almost everyone has been trying to say about this situation.

[My2Cents]

I'm not sure I understand your post. The accusations against Bill Clinton were not about a sex scandal in private, but about criminal behavior -- perjury and obstruction of justice to save his sorry behind and his pathetic presidency. Conservatives were right to go after Clinton, because he broke the law, and his offense was an impeachable one.

Scott Ritter's behavior is more than unsavory -- it was illegal. But, while there was a link between Clinton's bahavior and the justification to impeach him, is there a link between Ritter's behavior and his sell-out of the nation on Iraq? Maybe. Who knows? And who has a right to make the accusation? What I have read here isn't just speculation -- the "suggestion of blackmailability" as one posted -- but the suggestion that this is THE explanation for his going south on confronting Saddam. Maybe there is a link. Great. It will forever discredit him and silence him. But it's a leap between speculation and proof. That's my only point.

[MonroeDNA]

Wow, AP finally picked it up! This story has LEGS!!! Now the major media can't ignore it. Well done, Freepers!

Hey, how did this guy manage to get a warning when everyone else would have gone to jail over the same thing? There are plenty of stories, right here on FR, where a guy "meets" a girl (Police) somewhere, and gets thrown in jail for years.

Soliciting sex with a minor, or something.

[My2Cents]

Perhaps. But what I saw in most people's post was akin to a feeding frenzy. I was responding to the feeding frenzy, not the suggestion that he is blackmailable.

[MonroeDNA]

I'm pretty sure some Freepers immediately thought of the blackmail angle when he went about-face.

Don't know how to search the archives for it, but you'll find it there.

[Miss Marple]

This is my theory. Feel free to shoot it down, but it explains to me a lot of what has happened.

Ritter came to the attention of the Clinton Administration when he testified before Biden's committee. Remember, Biden was condescending and contemptuous to Ritter. Ritter made a few appearances pushing the "Saddam is dangerous" line, and then retired into obscurity.

However, he had come under the scrutiny of Mt. Doom, the Clintons. No doubt checking with their sources (remember at this time they still were in power) they discovered that Ritter was interested in underage girls. No doubt the Iraqis had photos, which they were happy to supply for a big price.

Ritter, the very public anti-Iraq critique, suddenly changes his mind. He appears on a bazillion talk shows spouting how President Bush should be impeached, that Cheney wants nothing but a war, that it's all for oil, approval ratings, or revenge for the attempt on Dad Bush's life.

Meanwhile, any evidence on Ritter has been suppressed. He doesn't know this, of course, but that is what is useful...he never knows when something may comeout. So Ritter goes on his merry way, trashing all things Bush at the behest of whoever has the dirt on him.

Whoever had the story quashed did so to keep him a viable critic of the administration's policy. Only two places would have an interest in Ritter performing that function: Baghdad and Chappaqua.

[cyncooper]

Perhaps a FR legal mind can answer:

why would the matter be adjourned? Circumstances for such action?

why seal the case and decline to release the arrest records?

And why did assistant district attorney Cynthia Preiser risk her job--indeed, she just lost it over this!--to aid in the above actions being taken?

[Petronski]

But I have to make the distinction: Tell me why his weakness for 14 year old girls affects his credibility over what he's been saying about Iraq?

It demonstrates a vulnerability to blackmail (and blackmail is an excellent explanation for his abrupt volte face in 1999).