Copyright 2003 The Yomiuri ShimbunPosted on 02/05/2003 12:40:26 PM PST by Defiant
Ex-weapons inspector warns against Iraq war
Leo Fransella Special to The Daily Yomiuri
As U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell prepared to present evidence to the U.N. Security Council on allegations Iraq has weapons of mass destruction Wednesday, a former chief U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq slammed U.S. moves to attack Iraq and warned of serious repercussions for Japan if an attack goes ahead.
Scott Ritter, 42, speaking at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo, said that there was no evidence that Iraq had acquired weapons of mass destruction since 1998, when the earlier team of U.N. inspectors he led left Iraq, and that the best way to guarantee that Iraq disarms is to give the latest team of inspectors time to do their work.
Ritter, a former U.S. marine who took part in 52 weapons inspections in Iraq between 1991 and 1998--leading 14 of them--accused the United States of breaking international law by seeking a regime change in Iraq.
"I didn't take an oath to obey the (U.S.) president blindly. That's what a good German did in the 1940s," he said, denying that his campaign to "wage peace" is unpatriotic.
Ritter also argued that North Korea will not sit back while the United States removes Saddam Hussein's regime and then turns its attention to North Korea, which along with Iran, makes up U.S. President George W. Bush's "axis of evil."
The ramification of U.S. policy toward Iraq is that North Korea may launch preemptive strikes on Japan, he added.
Ritter called on Japanese to "get engaged. What's happening in the Middle East does have an impact on Japan.
"The Japanese should never underestimate the impact they can have on the United States, by standing up and saying no. The American public will pay heed to that, and the one way to stop this war is for Bush to wake up one morning and find that by going to war he's a one-term president."
| Copyright 2003 The Yomiuri Shimbun |
In the real world he would be. Clinton changed all that.
So9
Ritter is acting like a man who is on a life-saving mission...his own.
sw
"I didn't take an oath to obey the (U.S.) president blindly..."
No, Ritter took an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution, NOT "international law", which has no hold over the United States or our interests and security.
But, Ritter already knows he is a traitor. He has been providing aid and comfort to Iraq for a couple of years now. In another time, he'd be shot on the White House lawn...
Feb. 5
— TOKYO (Reuters) - A former U.N. weapons inspector and outspoken critic of U.S. policy on Iraq said Wednesday he expected war to break out by the end of February and that Pyongyang would likely seize the opportunity to attack Japan and South Korea.
Scott Ritter, a former U.S. Marine who spent seven years as a weapons inspector in Iraq in the 1990s, told journalists in Tokyo that a narrow, U.S.-led coalition would likely launch an attack on Iraq after failing to persuade the United Nations of the need for military action.
"I see a massive aerial bombardment beginning by the end of February," he said. "I see ground troops crossing into Iraq in significant numbers in early March, and I don't see this war finishing any time soon."
Secretary of State Colin Powell is due to speak before the U.N. Security Council at 10:30 a.m. EST in an attempt to persuade the world that Iraq is concealing weapons of mass destruction.
Russia, China and France -- which have powers of veto -- are uncertain about a war that might spark more instability in the Middle East.
An attack on Iraq might also alarm the isolated state of North Korea into a pre-emptive strike on U.S. troops and their allies in Asia, Ritter said.
"North Korea, having seen the United States eliminate Iraq in violation of international law, is not going to simply sit back and wait for the Americans to come," he said.
"They won't be satisfied till Tokyo is reduced to a slab of radioactive waste."
The United States reported last autumn that Pyongyang had admitted to possessing weapons of mass destruction. North Korea withdrew from a nuclear non-proliferation treaty last month and ordered U.N. atomic energy inspectors out of the country.
U.S. bombers, fighter jets and warships have been put on alert for possible deployment to the western Pacific to deter any aggression by North Korea in the event of a war in Iraq.
Let's be fair to the pedophile. We are only certain that this pervert tries to sexually molest 14-16 year olds.
This assumes a couple of things.
1) said that there was no evidence that Iraq had acquired weapons of mass destruction since 1998 This assumes that in 1998 Iraq had no WMD. Thus, having not obtained any since then there is no need to disarm.
2) and that the best way to guarantee that Iraq disarms is to give the latest team of inspectors time to do their work. This assumes that Iraq has WMD and that allowing the inspectors more time will cause Iraq to disarm.
So which is it Ritter? Do they, or do they not have WMD? And if the answer is that they have them and thus the inspectors are needed to assure they disarm then they are in violation of Resolution 1441 and their weapons declaration was a total fabrication. Which, under Resolution 1441 authorizes the United States and alley nations to attack.
Run, run, Ritter, Ritter!
Time for a Jubilee Year!
"Look, I get text message from Ritter-san"
I think China might be pulling the strings in some nefarious manner with how North Korea blusters and acts.
I think Taiwan is at risk if the Gulf War II is launched.
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