Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Ritter in Japan Drumming up Anti-US Sentiment
Daily Yomiuri ^ | 2/5/03 | Leo Fransella

Posted 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




TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: iraq; pedophile; ritter
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-68 next last
To: Fred Mertz
sedition or some similar charges?

In the real world he would be. Clinton changed all that.

21 posted on 02/05/2003 12:54:26 PM PST by EggsAckley (new public school motto: Aspire to Mediocrity)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: Defiant
I'm surprised the Japanese let child molesters into the country

So9

22 posted on 02/05/2003 12:56:02 PM PST by Servant of the Nine (Republican's for Sharpton)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Defiant
Wonder how many pictures and tapes Saddam has showing Ritter and his passion for little girls?

Ritter is acting like a man who is on a life-saving mission...his own.

sw

23 posted on 02/05/2003 12:56:26 PM PST by spectre (spectre's wife (Big man on Campus, huh Ritter?))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Defiant
Well, I think this qualifies as being a traitor - he is actively recruiting countries to go against the U.S. actions.

Just who does he think he is and why would they ever listen to this hasbeen or neverwas?

So, he expects them to discount the Secretary of State, the President of the U.S., the Defense Secretary, the Vice-President of the U.S. and listen to a former inspector that has been arrested for seeking young girls on the internet?

Yeah, sure.
24 posted on 02/05/2003 12:57:12 PM PST by ClancyJ
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Defiant
...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..."

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...

25 posted on 02/05/2003 12:57:26 PM PST by SunStar (Democrats Piss Me Off !!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cyncooper
Here's another story, with Ritter's "expert" analysis of the North Korea situation thrown in:

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.

26 posted on 02/05/2003 12:59:33 PM PST by Defiant
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: Defiant
Ritter must be forgetting that Japan allows extradition of felons out of there country. If he was a smart man, he'd be hiding out. Oh, but maybe thats why he's become saddams mouth piece, maybe Saddam found out about his love of little girls and was holding that tidbit over his head. Nah, Ritter is just a spineless weasel who likes to pick on little ones who can't defend themselves.
27 posted on 02/05/2003 1:00:32 PM PST by Cate
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cate
oooppss,,,, there= their
28 posted on 02/05/2003 1:01:09 PM PST by Cate
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: Eric in the Ozarks
Bingo. Tolling for 8 year olds.

Let's be fair to the pedophile. We are only certain that this pervert tries to sexually molest 14-16 year olds.

29 posted on 02/05/2003 1:01:14 PM PST by Always Right
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Defiant
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.

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.

30 posted on 02/05/2003 1:01:37 PM PST by Phantom Lord (No Remorse)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Always Right
lol you guys beat me to it,,,,he has a little asian school girl fetish.
31 posted on 02/05/2003 1:02:20 PM PST by rbmillerjr
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: Defiant
Here's another story

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030205/ap_wo_en_po/as_gen_japan_weapons_inspector_3
32 posted on 02/05/2003 1:03:47 PM PST by Shermy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Shermy
If we have info on why this guy is carrying Saddam's water, we need to release it, and get this guy in jail for treason. He's done far more harm than Johnny Taliban. Just look at the propaganda effect he's having in Japan.
33 posted on 02/05/2003 1:09:26 PM PST by Defiant
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: Fred Mertz
I wonder if Ritter's getting instructions to go to Japan has anything to do with the increasingly clear cooperation between North Korea and Iraq.
34 posted on 02/05/2003 1:09:41 PM PST by aristeides
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: Defiant
I hope Scott can stay focused.

Run, run, Ritter, Ritter!

35 posted on 02/05/2003 1:10:43 PM PST by TC Rider (The United States Constitution © 1791. All Rights Reserved.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: FreeFireBorderZone
His economic analysis is pretty astute and cogent. It means we should rise to make oursleves nearly invulnerable to his planned economic assault, where by all economic history and logic we are exactly as he says -- very vulnerable.

Time for a Jubilee Year!

36 posted on 02/05/2003 1:11:21 PM PST by bvw
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: AppyPappy
"Who pays for these trips?"

That was my EXACT reaction.

This guy has a wife, 2 children, and no visible means of support, except for a few thousand dollars from speaking engagements and the documentary he is supposed to do. I think the budget was $200,000, but I have a hard time seeing that it will be as successful as, say, My Big Fat Greek Wedding. So he won't get much from that.
Maybe there is some family money financing this. If so, then what a shameful waste.

I can't wait to see the source of his income, which I feel certain that we will see, sometime down the road.


37 posted on 02/05/2003 1:12:30 PM PST by VMI70
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: TC Rider

"Look, I get text message from Ritter-san"

38 posted on 02/05/2003 1:13:32 PM PST by TC Rider (The United States Constitution © 1791. All Rights Reserved.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: aristeides
I think North Korea is more of a threat to South Korea (ROK), than to Japan. Japan occupied the Koreas in the early 20th century.

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.

39 posted on 02/05/2003 1:15:52 PM PST by Fred Mertz
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: TC Rider
His Japanese name is "Litter". Fitting.
40 posted on 02/05/2003 1:16:24 PM PST by Defiant
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-68 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson