UN's Ritter faced sex rap

New York Daily News ^ | 1/19/03 | Joe Mahoney

[kattracks]

ALBANY - Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter was secretly prosecuted in Albany County in 2001 after he was snared in an Internet sex sting operation, law enforcement sources told the Daily News.

Ritter, who lives in the Albany suburb of Delmar, is now a high-profile critic of President Bush's war preparations.

He was arrested by Colonie Police in June 2001 on a misdemeanor charge after he allegedly had a sexual discussion on the Internet with an undercover investigator he thought was an underage girl, law enforcement sources disclosed on condition of anonymity.

The case was sealed, and Colonie officials declined to release the arrest records, explaining the matter was adjourned in local court in contemplation of dismissal.

The Schenectady Daily Gazette reported yesterday that Albany District Attorney Paul Clyne fired veteran Assistant District Attorney Cynthia Preiser last week for failing to inform him of the case against Ritter.

Clyne said that as a "sensitive" case, it should have been brought to his attention.

Ritter, who has made frequent appearances on network television after speaking to the Iraq National Assembly last year, could not be reached for comment.

Joe Mahoney

[Zviadist]

secretly prosecuted

So, "secret" trials are the norm? I think this story is bull. Don't believe a word of it.

[The Great Satan]

No, it is not a blind alley. Someone did not want Ritter's name in the papers with this charge. The likeliest suspects for that are the ones whom he is serving. It is quite possible that those who blackmailed him are also the ones who had this evidence covered up, because once the info is public, they have a reduced hold upon him.

I don't find anything particularly surprising about the fact this wasn't smeared across the papers, given that he wasn't convicted of anything. Who heard of Dubya's DUI until years later, when his political opponents went digging? If there is anything worthy of note in this it is that the administration, which must have had the goods on Ritter for some time, has taken so long to leak them to the public. Although, I think that is only puzzling if you start out with the vulgar misconception that Bush is in a hurry to go to war with Iraq.

[ladyinred]

WOW!!!

[Slings and Arrows]

I get the following type of e-mail every few weeks or so:

[Snip garbage]

Spamcop: Free service that traces spam (including spam with munged reply addresses) back to its sender, and generates a complaint to the appropriate sysadmins. Since I started using it, my spam level is way down.

FReegards,
Slings and Arrows

[Slings and Arrows]

Drat, autodetector munged the URL: It's www.spamcop.net

[DAnconia55]

If Ritter had a court appearance--and that's a big IF because his lawyer may have appeared in the case without his presence--the courtroom itself may have either been sealed or the case wasn't put on the court calendar or put on the court calendar with the name obscured or the court hearing set at a weird time, like 6 a.m. It means not one cop in that department said a word about busting Ritter.

Absolutely no possibility of conducting such a large scale coverup of such a prominent and observed figure without the Feds knowing about it. Which means they supported it.

Why?

[DAnconia55]

Ignoring the people who see everyone in the conspiracy, I shall return to my initial thesis

Good thing you don't work in a lab environment. Ignoring facts that you don't like could have drastic consequences.

How could a local police department, local courts cover up something like this - when the Feds are watching Ritter (who took $400,000 from Iraq).

And since it couldn't have occured without their knowledge, then this is approval of the coverup.

[DAnconia55]

Scott: "Listen up, buddy boy, are all out to get me, every single one of you..Back off now, just back off and let the weapons team do their job..This isn't about ME, it's never been about ME! It's about our boys going to war, getting killed. I love our country..I served in the military!!! I AM a true Patriot!! Let's stay focused on the REAL issue here!".

You know, the really odd thing about this is - if they don't have the weapons of mass destruction, then what is Ritter worried about? We lost what? 200? men during Gulf War I at the height of Iraqi power?

I rather doubt the Iraqi troops are eager to play a repeat....

[Zviadist]

I don't find anything particularly surprising about the fact this wasn't smeared across the papers, given that he wasn't convicted of anything.

Indeed. Hundreds of posts damning him for political reasons, yet no one noticed the main point of the article:

"in contemplation of dismissal."

What does this mean? NOT GUILTY! Before the politburo here sentences him to death, shouldn't they pause for a moment to contemplate that he was found NOT GUILTY of this crime? What a bunch of little dictators here...

[Zviadist]

Absolutely no possibility of conducting such a large scale coverup of such a prominent and observed figure without the Feds knowing about it. Which means they supported it.

He was found not guilty. Are you retarded?

[DAnconia55]

As much as you might like to blame everything on the Bush administration, this stuff has been going on for a while

Nice try. But I'm not the partisan here. I'd be asking the same questions if it was Klintoon.

It's POWER I do not trust. Not a matter of who sits in the chair.

[DAnconia55]

In January 1999, Ritter was to speak at Calvin College "about Iraq's capability to deliver deadly chemical and biological weapons within the next six months and nuclear weapons within the next three years. http://www.calvin.edu/january/1999/ritter.htm In a Tuesday March 30, 1999 article in The Guardian, Ritter denounced the international embargo on Iraq as immoral and argued for a return to dialogue with the rogue regime,"

Nice work.
So we have a two month window.

[angkor]

Okey dokey.

In the course of poking around, it looks like Ritter always held the view that the sanctions weren't useful.

But that's a different issue than his complete, 180 degree flipflop on whether or not Iraq continued to misreport its WMD.

On that point, he went from saying they were lying, to saying they were not "accounting" properly, to saying flat out that they have nothing.

That last step happened between December 1998 and March 1999.

[DAnconia55]

It appeared to be a prison for children — toddlers up to pre-adolescents — whose only crime was to be the offspring of those who have spoken out politically against the regime of Saddam Hussein

A US sniper needs to put a bullet in that b*stard just for this.

[The Great Satan]

Oh, I think we can guess from this development what was used to turn Mr. Ritter: S-E-X. Generally, in these situations, there are only two major possibilities: M-O-N-E-Y and S-E-X. I always thought that $400K was kind of measly to buy off someone on Ritter's level. But at least the mystery is now resolved. I don't like mysteries.

[DAnconia55]

They were WEAPONS inspectors, not searching for human rights abuses! WHY?

Reading too much into it.

1. Ritter wasn't there alone, therefore didn't get to partake - which is your theory.

2. It makes sense to search any area that isn't labelled "Weapons Storage" because Saddam doesn't hide stuff there.

Pure coincidence.
And we've yet to know HOW OLD the "minor" was. There's a big difference between 17 year old college girl and a 7yr old.

Here's a bet - they won't tell us.

[DAnconia55]

ended, he married a Russian woman he met while posted in the former U.S.S.R. Despite initial suspicions that the translating service she worked for was being used by the Soviets to gather intelligence through "attempted sexual compromise," he satisfied himself that "this did not appear to be the case." He dismisses as "a form of harassment" what he says is an ongoing FBI probe of his wife based on allegations that she was a KGB spy.

Perhaps his wife turned him.

[The Great Satan]

Very interesting. Actual factual data relevant to the case. It has always struck me as quite odd that Ritter's critics -- Butler, for example -- have refrained from publicly speculating on what turned Ritter. They know the man personally, they must have some notion what makes him tick. The post above which referenced Butler's "lovely wife" remark is an interesting tidbit, too. Looks like we might have another Lee Harvey Oswald on our hands.

[Zviadist]

You make some good points. Sorry for calling you retarded...

[Victoria Delsoul]

He was arrested by Colonie Police in June 2001 on a misdemeanor charge after he allegedly had a sexual discussion on the Internet with an undercover investigator he thought was an underage girl, law enforcement sources disclosed on condition of anonymity.

Wow! Beware of the internet.