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Ritter Says He Won't Be Silenced
Albany Times Union ^ | January 23, 2003 | Alan Wechsler

Posted on 01/23/2003 11:21:11 AM PST by Shermy

Scott Ritter said he doesn't want forgiveness.

Speaking publicly for the first time about the sex charge he was arrested for in 2001, the former U.N. arms inspector and one of the leading critics of the Bush administration's plans to attack Iraq said he has been held accountable for breaking the law. And it would be a shame, he said Wednesday, that his arrest could derail his efforts to help prevent a war in the Middle East.

"I think it's important to put a human face on this, to remind people that there are issues out there bigger than a two-year-old dismissed case," he said. "I'm not asking people for forgiveness.

In June 2001, he was charged in a police sting operation with trying to lure a 16-year-old girl he met on the Internet to a Burger King. Later in Colonie Town Court, the case was adjourned in contemplation of dismissal after six months. Half a year later, the case was sealed.

"I was arrested on June 15 (2001) and charged with a class B misdemeanor," he said. "I think it's important for people to know that I stood before a judge in a public court, with my wife by my side ... and the case was dismissed."

Ritter, 41, a Delmar resident, spent Wednesday afternoon in a frenzy of television and newspaper interviews. He had been at the center of a national controversy that exploded this week when the arrest came to light.

A former Marine, Ritter served as a U.N. weapons inspector for seven years. He resigned in 1998, saying that Iraq remained a threat. He also accused the United States of damaging the inspection process by using intelligence from the U.N. to determine subsequent bombing sites.

In September, Ritter visited Iraq to urge Saddam Hussein to allow inspectors back into the country. Hussein agreed to do that a few days after Ritter left.

On Wednesday, Ritter said he's trying to put his life back together after the attention of the last few days. He declined to speculate on who may have released information from the sealed file.

"The timing is definitely suspicious," he said. "I have no insights as to who or why. I know what the impact is, which was to prevent me from getting on an airplane as I planned to do so ... to fly to Baghdad."

Ritter was to fly to Iraq on Tuesday to meet with the country's government, along with many other figures in the peace movement, to help avoid a war. Ritter bowed out of the trip because of the recent attention.

Colonie police Chief John Grebert said he did not blame any of his staff for the controversy. Though the case was sealed, he said, his detectives were not barred from talking about it, according to two lawyers he consulted. Furthermore, the case had been reported on Channel 13 in 2001 and many people were already familiar with it.

"This case is going on two years old," he said. "This case has been discussed fairly openly over the past year. A person who becomes more and more of a public figure increases the chance that anyone's going to talk."

WNYT Ch. 13 had the story on the arrest in 2001, but did not identify the man charged as the former weapons inspector. The station has said Ritter was charged under his given name -- William S. Ritter -- and the station did not make the connection at the time.

Ritter said this would be the last time he plans to discuss the situation with the media. He said he has been encouraged by hundreds of positive e-mails from around the country. His family is also with him.

"I'm very supportive of Scott, 100 percent or more," said his wife, Marina. "I'm very proud of him and everything that he has achieved."

Ritter and Marina, who married 12 years ago after they met in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, are parents of two young children. Ritter said it was difficult explaining to his kids about what happened, but expects to soon put this behind him.

"I will continue to speak where I'm invited and permitted to speak," he said. "This will not silence me."

Staff writer Mike Goodwin contributed to this report.


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: New York
KEYWORDS: agesexlocation; armsinspectors; buhbye; burgerking; conspiracy; hesdone; heybaby; heyheygoodbye; holdthepickle; inspectmyhd; inspectthis; internet; iraq; irrelevantvoice; itsjustsex; jailbait; kiddydiddler; legsinspectors; letschatnow; nananana; oncebittentwiceshy; pervymclickspittle; ritter; scottfree; scottritter; sex; sexchats; sexfriesvideotape; stickaforkinhim; traitor; un; unarmsinspectors; underage; uninspector; vrwc; wantsomecandy; whatruwearing; wmd; yobabyyobabyyo
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To: The Great Satan
Great catch in your post 50, GS! Oh, man, what the intelligence community must know about Ritter and his wife!

One thing's for certain -- if a man can be turned once, he can be turned again. This could get very interesting.

81 posted on 01/23/2003 12:08:19 PM PST by Bonaparte
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To: Bonaparte
Who else went to Russia and came back with a wife named Marina? Lee Harvey Oswald.

Yikes!

82 posted on 01/23/2003 12:08:36 PM PST by Shermy
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To: Shermy
Click here to read the last honest words of Scott Ritter.
83 posted on 01/23/2003 12:09:36 PM PST by Petronski (I'm not always cranky.)
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To: mewzilla
So that speaking engagement is still on, hm?

84 posted on 01/23/2003 12:11:13 PM PST by cyncooper
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To: Shermy
Ritter Says He Won't Be Silenced

No doubt. We'll look for you in teen chatrooms everywhere Scotty.

85 posted on 01/23/2003 12:11:26 PM PST by PBRSTREETGANG
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To: Republicus2001
"remember Clinton's bj while on the phone with Arafat?"

Actually, IIRC, Arafat was sitting outside waiting to see Clinton. I think Clinton was talking to some Congressman on the phone (about war in Kosovo) during the incident you've refer to.

86 posted on 01/23/2003 12:13:12 PM PST by Bonaparte
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To: cyncooper
Oh, yeah. And some idiot/s will be paying Scottie 4 grand for his appearance. Wonder who's footing that bill?
87 posted on 01/23/2003 12:13:30 PM PST by mewzilla
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To: Shermy
Ritter, Jimmy Carter, Kofi Annan, the Krauts, the Frogs, and the Democrats are all just masturbating (figuratively speaking). We're going in, and we're going in soon. Bank on it.
88 posted on 01/23/2003 12:14:51 PM PST by Mr. Mojo (The Godfather will be sporting some new jewelry this Sunday)
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To: Peach
Hussein silenced him when he threatened to release information this was going on while Ritter was in Iraq pre '98. See Lucianne's site today for more on this little tidbit.

I had missed my morning stop at Lucianne's, so went straight there when I read your comment.

Well, it is the obvious implication, is it not? If Lucianne is saying that's the speculation, she would not say it idly.

89 posted on 01/23/2003 12:14:54 PM PST by cyncooper
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To: Bedford Forrest
Bruno - Scotty, Scotty - Bruno... go to your corners and come out swinging, among other things.
90 posted on 01/23/2003 12:14:57 PM PST by DoughtyOne
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To: Bonaparte
Scott Ritter served with the UNSCOM mission in Iraq for seven years, from 1991 to 1998. Here's an excerpt from Paul Wolfowitz's remarks to the CFR today:
Intimidation and Coercion: In the past, Iraq did not hesitate to use pressure tactics to obtain information about the inspectors. Often the pressure was quite crude. During the UNSCOM period, one inspector was reportedly filmed in a compromising situation and blackmailed.

Sometimes the pressure was subtler. Richard Spertzel, a former UNSCOM specialist in biological warfare, recalled the case of an Iraqi official coyly asking a new member of his team: "How far is it from Salt Lake City to Minneapolis?" Having moved from Salt Lake City to Minneapolis just days prior to her arrival in Iraq, she was unnerved by the comment, according to Spertzel.


91 posted on 01/23/2003 12:18:07 PM PST by The Great Satan
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To: The Great Satan
Yikes!

So, is there any subversive, enemy of America that hasn't had a shot at compromising this jughead?

Looks like anyone with a 13 year-old on the payroll can own this guy.

92 posted on 01/23/2003 12:22:54 PM PST by Deb
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To: The Great Satan
During the UNSCOM period, one inspector was reportedly filmed in a compromising situation and blackmailed.

I heard that! I immediately yelled, "Is it Ritter!"

93 posted on 01/23/2003 12:25:14 PM PST by Catspaw
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To: Deb
When you see a guy acting as strangely and erratically as Scott Ritter, it's a pretty safe assumption that the little head has taken over from the big head. Money won't do that to a person. Fear will, maybe, but Scottie's family is all here in the US, unless he sired any by the under-age nymphets Saddam used to ply him with in Baghdad. That leaves the old standby, S-E-X.
94 posted on 01/23/2003 12:30:28 PM PST by The Great Satan
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To: TXnMA
All true except for the fact that somehow Scotty got his US case dismissed and the records sealed which would lead some folks to think there must be an Iraqi-Albany connection somewhere. With all the Democrat party buddies Saddam has, nothing would surprise me.

How many past high-ranking Democrat administration people besides Ramsey Clark get their mail in Baghdad...not to mention past and present US Congressmen?

95 posted on 01/23/2003 12:31:33 PM PST by Deb
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To: Grampa Dave
That was found here.
96 posted on 01/23/2003 12:32:38 PM PST by copycat (Arbeit macht frei.)
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To: copycat
Wow, thanks, I missed this!

Sounds like the administration is onto Ritter and other inspector problems from reading this speech.
97 posted on 01/23/2003 12:38:02 PM PST by Grampa Dave (Free Republic, the site supported by those who don't believe in free lunches! Are you a donor?)
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To: Catspaw
This is the first mention I have ever seen of the attempt to blackmail an UNSCOM inspector using sexual compromise -- and I've followed this story pretty closely. Butler doesn't mention it in his book, The Greatest Threat, for example. I doubt the timing of Wolfowitz's remark is accidental. It's always been a puzzle to me that no one on the anti-Saddam side could identify a plausible motive for Ritter's switch -- including Richard Butler, who surely knows Ritter better than most. It looks to me like they gave this guy enough rope to hang himself and lead the "peace movement" lemmings off a cliff. And now the time has come to settle all family business...
98 posted on 01/23/2003 12:41:02 PM PST by The Great Satan
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To: The Great Satan
Here's an excerpt from Paul Wolfowitz's remarks to the CFR today:

Today?!

"During the UNSCOM period, one inspector was reportedly filmed in a compromising situation and blackmailed."

I now see the link here for the thread on THIS most interesting statement.

Most interesting, indeed.

99 posted on 01/23/2003 12:41:34 PM PST by cyncooper
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To: Shermy
Welcome to ground zero Mr. Ritter. Beam yourself up Scotty!
100 posted on 01/23/2003 12:43:12 PM PST by LaGrone
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