Ritter in Japan Drumming up Anti-US Sentiment

Daily Yomiuri ^ | 2/5/03 | Leo Fransella

[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

[Howlin]

Yes, their man in Japan.......LOL.

[The Great Satan]

Yeah, babeee, yeaah!

[doug from upland]

Probably. And he will look for a young and naive Bangkok sucker who will believe him.

[HP8753]

While we are busy fighting Iraq and North Korea.....China will invade Taiwan.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Taiwan is one allie who will fight.

[Fred Mertz]

Where do you find those things?

[The Great Satan]

The Official Austin Powers Goldmember Web Site

[Marysecretary]

Thanks for telling me that, Defiant. I had a hard time with it last night. It COULD happen that way and who knows but what it will, but we need to be vigilant.