US will lose war, says former UN inspector

Independent Online ^ | March 26 2003 at 06:42PM | Sapa-AFP

[gene-k]

Lisbon - The United States does not have the military means to take over Baghdad and will lose the war against Iraq, former United Nations weapons inspector Scott Ritter said.

"The United States is going to leave Iraq with its tail between its legs, defeated. It is a war we can not win," he told private radio TSF in an interview broadcast here Tuesday evening.

"We do not have the military means to take over Baghdad and for this reason I believe the defeat of the United States in this war is inevitable," he said.

"Every time we confront Iraqi troops we may win some tactical battles, as we did for ten years in Vietnam but we will not be able to win this war, which in my opinion is already lost," Ritter added.

'It is a war we can not win' Stiffening Iraqi resistance as US-led forces close in on Baghdad have prompted questions about the strategy to use precision air power and a smaller, fast moving ground force to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Some military analysts have said there are not enough allied troops in Iraq to take control of Baghdad, where Saddam Hussein's elite troops are said to be concentrated, and that the planning of the war was overly optimistic.

But British Prime Minister Tony Blair told parliament Wednesday the United States and Britain believe they have "sufficient forces" in Iraq and London was not planning to send reinforcements to the country at this stage.

A combination of bad weather and heavy fighting in central Iraq has slowed the advance of coalition troops marching on Baghdad.

Ritter resigned in August 1998 after accusing both Washington and the United Nations of not doing enough to support the weapons inspectors.

Since leaving the UN weapons inspectors team he has become an outspoken critic of US policies towards Iraq. - Sapa-AFP

[Fulbright]

If Rumsfeld's War Plan is not scrapped, Ritter will be correct.

[Bigg Red]

Ritter, why are you sitting around shooting off your fat mouth? Isn't there some underage girl waiting for you in a Burger King somewhere?

[laz17]

Has anyone ever seen Scott Ritter and Michael Moore in the same place at the same time?

[Pagey]

There are only a certain amount of Republican Guards needed to be killed. Then the northern Iraqi's will get killed, then Baghdad becomes the Dresden of our century.(let us hope that doesn't have to happen)It isn't that difficult to see, unless it's you talking Mr. Ritter. Don't feel too comfortable talking in America anymore,eh? Had to go to Lisbon to talk freely,Huh? Scott Ritter is a Pedophile. Enough said.

[Poohbah]

I don't even think it'll come to a Dresden treatment.

We'll surround Baghdad. We'll even let the Red Cross deliver food and medicine. Hell, we'll even help.

But we'll focus our intelligence community on Baghdad, and we'll send in SpecOps to take down specific targets.

Perhaps, one day, we'll send 'em in to designate a specific bunker entrance for a smart bomb attack.

And on another day, we'll tell them to "bring me the head of Achmed Hussein al-Tikriti."

We'll keep Saddam's circle afraid to stick their heads up out of their hidey-holes, and pretty soon, the population of Baghdad will start giving their local Ba'athist leaders a hard time. "Sure, a$$hole, go ahead and shoot me and my family. Better hope you get all of us, 'cause we might rat-fink you to the Americans."

[Starstruck]

What war are you watching?

[Fulbright]

It's not Gulf War I, that is for certain.