Weapons of mass destruction in Iraq a US "lie": ex-weapons inspector

Agence France Propaganda(Yahoo) ^ | 7/14/2003

[cc2k]

Politics - AFP

Weapons of mass destruction in Iraq a US "lie": ex-weapons inspector

2 hours, 45 minutes ago

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UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - UN former weapons inspector Scott Ritter said that US statements about Iraq (news - web sites) possessing weapons of mass destruction before launching war on Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) regime were a "lie."

AFP/File Photo

"The entire case the Bush administration made against Iraq is a lie," Ritter told reporters, also criticizing the media for being too willing to accept the weapons of mass destruction allegations as justification for war.

"What was the basis of the affirmation by (US Defense Secretary Donald) Rumsfeld? He said there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq -- nobody asked him to prove it. The press just printed it. We have now to demand the proof," Ritter said.

"Is it going to be as obvious as the uranium? I don't know," said Ritter, in reference to a US claim Iraq had tried to buy nuclear material from Africa.

US Central Intelligence Agency (news - web sites) director George Tenet has taken the blame over the claim, made publicly by President George W. Bush (news - web sites) in his January 28 State of the Union address.

Tenet said Friday the information should not have been included in the address because it had not been corroborated by US intelligence.

Ritter, a former intelligence officer in the US Marines once dubbed a "cowboy" by UN officials for what they called his intrusive inspection procedures, headed up the inspections team in Iraq from 1991 to 1998.

He resigned in August 1998, citing a lack of UN and US support for his tough disarmament methods, which rattled the Iraqis.

[cc2k]

I don't know which is worse, Ritter's statements, or the "background" that Agence France Propaganda has about him.

" He resigned in August 1998, citing a lack of UN and US support for his tough disarmament methods, which rattled the Iraqis."

It rattled Saddam Husein so much that the Ritter is a paid endorsement for Hussein now.

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[LiteKeeper]

You know how to tell when Scott Ritter is lying?

Check to see if his lips are moving.

What a sell-out!

[Paul Atreides]

Funny how he is always so certain and privy as to what Iraq "doesn't have."

[Numbers Guy]

Home of the Whopper.

[SubMareener]

Wait 'til you see the file the Iraqis kept on Scott! He! He! Ho! Ho! Little Scott has got to go!

[alloysteel]

Well, the WMD COULD have been there. Saddam Hussein passed up a perfectly good opportunity to show the world for once and all that there was nothing to see, all he had to do was let the inspectors move about at their discretion.

But NOOOO, he had to go acting like he had something to hide, which to a suspicious cop, is pretty good indication he WAS hiding something.

The Americans were already a little edgy, and they were not about to take any lip from some smart-@$$ two-bit Third World despot. And as it turns out his hands were not entirely clean.

Please note - there is no international "Miranda right" clause anywhere in the UN charter. Apparently this is a uniquely American institution.

[cavtrooper21]

Yawn, hasn't anyone stepped on that little roach yet?

[arasina]

Ritter Rat: I wanna be called a cowboy again but I'm just a whining clown!

I wish Secretary Rumsfeld would tell this guy to shove it in that inimitable way he has of doing that sort of thing.

[winker]

Hey TRAITOR; where are the three(3) missing ships out on the high seas, no body seems interested in finding? Shut up your lying sniveling lips and quit trashing America you Un-Patriotic slime ball!

[Russell Scott]

The Dims and American haters: "You can't believe President Bush, he isn't an adulterer (Clinton), pedophile (Ritter), homosexual (Jack Straw), or mass murderer (Saddam), or pathological liar (all of the above). He has no qualifications to be President!"

[Dark Knight]

>>I liked what you said but I would add just a little flavor to it!<<

Well, the WMD COULD have been there. Saddam Hussein passed up a perfectly good opportunity to show the world for once and all that there was nothing to see, all he had to do was let the inspectors move about at their discretion.

>>With the deadliest force ever seen by man on his border, ready to destroy his regime, and stop his genocidal program with just a word, but at a great cost for the nations of the willing, all he had to do was nothing (if he was telling the truth).<<

But NOOOO, he had to go acting like he had something to hide, which to a suspicious cop, is pretty good indication he WAS hiding something.

The Americans were already a little edgy, and they were not about to take any lip from some smart-@$$ two-bit Third World despot. And as it turns out his hands were not entirely clean.

Please note - there is no international "Miranda right" clause anywhere in the UN charter. Apparently this is a uniquely American institution.



>>DK<<

[finnman69]

Kiddie web surfer is back trying to raise buzz for his upcoming book.

[we_got_him]

CNN writes no weapons have been found up to now:
http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/redirect?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2004%2FWORLD%2Fmeast%2F01%2F18%2Fsprj.irq.chemicals%2Findex.html

The point is: We got him!