National Post (f/k/a The Financial Post)
September 14, 2002 Saturday National Edition
Exclusive Interview; Pg. B1
Truth or treason?: Former UN arms inspector Scott Ritter maintains Bush is wrong about Iraq
David Wallis(snip)
D.W. Assuming that there is a war and a U.S. military victory, what steps will America need to take to govern post-war Iraq?
S.R. You assume victory. If Saddam Hussein fortifies his cities with Republican Guard troops, especially in the Sunni heartland, the fight will resemble Grozny. The Russians had no choice but to level the city. That's the kind of fight we are talking about. And if Saudi Arabia does not give us support, we are talking about invading through a single conduit of support: Kuwait.D.R. Will Iraqis dance on the streets of Baghdad when the U.S. topples Saddam? Do you think he enjoys more popular support than pundits estimate?
S.R. Absolutely, he's more popular than any time since the Gulf War. Saddam has cynically manipulated the economic sanctions against the Iraqi people for his own political gain, transferring blame away from himself to the United States... The Iraqis, who have suffered egregiously, don't like Saddam, but they have rallied around him and his regime because they hate us more. We may be able to generate support for an invasion among some of the Shiites and some of the Kurds, but to get to Baghdad you must penetrate the "Sunni Triangle." Sunnis will not rise up against Saddam -- ever. They will fight tooth and nail.(snip)
Ritter is just pathetic...not even fun to ridicule.