Ex-U.N. Inspector Questions News Timing (Scott Ritter "It's All a Conspiracy" Alert! )

Associated Press ^ | January 23, 2003

[Timesink]

Ex-U.N. Inspector Questions News Timing

ALBANY, N.Y. - Former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter, a harsh critic of the Bush administration's push toward war with Iraq, suggested that recent news reports of his arrest in an Internet sex sting last year were part of an attempt to silence him.

He said the publicity forced him to cancel a trip to Baghdad, where he said he would have offered an alternative to military action.

"The timing does stink. I was supposed to be on an airplane yesterday to Baghdad," he said. "Let's not forget, we're on the verge of a major conflict in which thousands of American lives may be lost, and I was a leading voice of opposition to this."

"It's a shame that somebody would bring up this old matter, this dismissed matter, and seek to silence me at this time," he said.

Ritter acknowledged his June 2001 arrest in appearances on CNN and Court TV on Wednesday night but said he was prohibited from discussing details because the charges were dismissed and the records sealed.

Broadcast reports at the time and recent newspaper reports have indicated he was caught in an Internet sex sting, something Ritter did not admit.

At the time of the arrest, NBC station WNYT-TV of Albany reported that William Scott Ritter Jr. — Ritter's full name — was charged with trying to lure a 16-year-old girl to a restaurant. The girl turned out to be an undercover police officer.

WNYT broadcast Ritter's mug shot provided by the police but did not make the connection to his role as the chief U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq during most of the 1990s.

He was charged with attempted endangerment of a child, a misdemeanor that carries up to 90 days in jail, according to The Times Union of Albany. The case was adjourned in contemplation of dismissal, meaning if he stayed out of trouble for six months, the charges would disappear and the file be sealed.

"When you dismiss the case and you seal the files, ... it maintains the presumption of innocence," Ritter, 41, said in a Court TV interview Wednesday. "So I'm sticking to my ethical and legal obligations not to discuss this case. I wish other people had done that."

When the story initially surfaced Saturday in The Daily Gazette of Schenectady, Ritter told a reporter, "Sorry, you must have the wrong person."

Calls to Ritter's home from The Associated Press went unanswered this week.

[Timesink]

Insert joke here.

[Inspectorette]

"The timing does stink. I was supposed to be on an airplane yesterday to Baghdad,"

Nobody was stopping you, Scotty.

[finnman69]

Scott is still lying. He is able to discuss his pedophilia but instead of facing up to it now, he is hiding behind false legal claims.

COWARD!

[prisoner6]

Oohhhh...you are on to us Scott. We're ALL out to get YOU!

Paranoia strikes deep.
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away

prisoner6

[mewzilla]

I notice that AP doesn't mention the second time Ritter did this.

[per loin]

I suspect that Ritter fears that Saddam will see him as no longer of use. Saddam seems to enjoy that Arab architectural style of vast spaces uncluttered by useless items.

[lainie]

Thank God for the VRWC.

[RobbyS]

If the girl is 16 he is no pedofile: he's just a dirty old man.

[Steven W.]

not only that but since Sadaam enjoyed mocking the former masturbator-in-chief, William Jefferson Clinton, he must be outraged to learn Iraq's carefully orchestrated blackmail stooge has now been exposed as the sick pedophile he is.

[finnman69]

How about the 14 year old? That ok with you too?

[areafiftyone]

"The timing does stink. I was supposed to be on an airplane yesterday to Baghdad,"

Drat! Was he on his way to become a Human Shield? Shucks we should have let him go! Target practice for our boys!!!

[mdittmar]

"It's a shame that somebody would bring up this old matter, this dismissed matter, and seek to silence me at this time," he said.

[demnomo]

The AP forgot to point out that Scotty-boy got caught a few months before this incident for the exact same thing--only that time it involved a fourteen-year-old girl! He was warned by the cops not to do it again, but he couldn't control his perverted urges. Scuzball. Ritter had to attend counseling, so that alone meant that the charges were not unfounded or dismissed entirely. Under seal, yeah, but not dropped because he was innocent and a victim of the VRWC. What a Big, Fat Liar!

At least AP pointed out Ritter's intial lie about "having the wrong person" when he was first confronted with the story. What a lying, predatory, traitorous, sleazy creep. He and Clintoon have a few things in common--sexual stupidity and the psychopathic ability to blame others (especially conservatives) for their own lack of character and degrading behavior towards females.

[mewzilla]

No offense, but I hope you don't have daughters.

[what's up]

This is the Clinton defense.

Remember how many times Clinton said legally he was not allowed to comment when Starr said he was?

[mewzilla]

I also noticed that AP couldn't be bothered to mention the firing of the ADA who handled Ritter's case. Ooops.

[DWSUWF]

"...If the girl is 16 he is no pedofile: he's just a dirty old man..."

I'm guessing (and hoping) that you don't have a daughter about this age...

I do.

And if a 40 something year old pedophile like Ritter asked her to sit in a car and watch him wacky-doodle his pecker, and I got to him before the donut patrol could, I'd lop it off and feed it to him.

[Wil H]

..The SECOND one (That AP omits to mention) was 14...

[TLBSHOW]

When the story initially surfaced Saturday in The Daily Gazette of Schenectady, Ritter told a reporter,

"Sorry, you must have the wrong person."

Calls to Ritter's home from The Associated Press went unanswered this week.

,,,,,,,

"I was arrested on June 15 (2001) and charged with a class B misdemeanor," he said.

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=96337&category=REGION&newsdate=1/23/2003

and for the heck of it from left and right wing sources, Ritter was paid 400,000 thousand by Iraq

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0923-04.htm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A56950-2002Oct20?language=printer

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=3191

http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20020918-239312.htm

http://www.newsmax.com/showinside.shtml?a=2002/9/1/121758

http://truthout.com/docs_02/11.25D.bearak.ritter.htm

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,62916,00.html

http://www.aim.org/publications/media_monitor/2002/09/12.html