My first FIRST!!!

TV

Ugh! I lived in Albany for 4 years, shopped in Colonie and ate out in Delmar. I feel dirty.

Blackmail? By whom? Maybe Scott Ritter is a closet Muslim...

Tony, congrats. Take it from us old hands, get some solid professional advice, so that in your golden years, you still have something left to show for today's success!

On topic:

Wasn't some other inspector an S&M fan? Now it turns out Ritter's a paedophile . . .

What's next?

I'll bet Blix is a cross-dresser. I can just see him in a pair of frilly lace panties.

Er, 16? What's the age of consent in New York?

"I'll bet Blix is a cross-dresser. I can just see him in a pair of frilly lace panties."

ugh ... that is not an image I wanted in my mind just before I retired for the evening

W.

Blackmail? By whom?

By the Mukhabarat, of course.

#3

Well, by just about anyone.

I mean, how many of you guys out there want to be known as a person who was

arrested for having sexual discussions over the Internet with a person [you] thought was an underage girl

and set up a meeting so

she could watch [you] perform sexual acts on [your]self.?

I dunno. Blackmail seems just right for Ritter. I'd like to listen to what he has to say on the subject, though. On all the interviews I've even seen him in, he just keeps talking, talking, talking the same talk, even when it's the other person's turn to make a point.

Maybe the question, "So who blackmailed you with trying to hook up with the underage girl?" will make him shut up for once.

I wonder if Iraqi intelligence has pictures of Mr Ritter doing things he shouldn't be doing while he was in Iraq?

These kinds of urges do not spring out of nowhere. He would have had them while in Iraq. He would have been watched very carefully in Iraq.

Maybe he was setup? Maybe his resignation in 1997 had other reasons?

The KGB would have used such techniques to compromise someone. It wouldn't surprise me to find out Iraq hired ex-KGB agents to watch guys like Ritter.

A cursory google shows the KGB were in Iraq in the 1980's.

[Link: cns.miis.edu...]

"From 1982 to 1985, the KGB aided al-Istikhbarat in concealment and protection techniques of its military program and facilities, as well as strategic reconnaissance deception methods."

It needn't be so complicated.

Iraqi intelligence (I think the mukhabarrat is Syrian - could be wrong) finds out about his pecadillos, aranges a little 'sting' operation, with video and all, and what do you know, Ritter now thinks Iraq's clean as can be.

Very interesting.

Wonder what Koffi's excuse is? Whose got the goods on him?

Good thing somebody stopped him before he lured a disco dolly to his team of weapons inspector inspectors!

Maui Girl:

I would assume blackmail by the Iraqis. If they found out years ago that he was chasing underage girls, they could have cut a little deal with him: Say we're not a threat and that we have no WMD's and we won't say a word about your interest in jailbait.

But the question isn't if you can picture Hans in a pair of panties but should you picture such a thing...

Well, before this became known, many thought he only took saddam's money. I recall a newpaper article which mentioned his "diversified investment" in Iraqi economy.

So sorry, Scott. Boy, did we have you figured wrong. Boo-hoo. Beforehand, we thought you were acting out of pure avarice. Now we see saddam employed carrot and stick ( and Scott).

OT, can anyone help me locate an LGF item which mentioned the ownership of Reuters may be Saudi, or largely Saudi? I remember that there was a link in there to a site which presented details on the ownership of companies, and would like to use it again. Obviously, my talents regarding proper of the search system are sadly lacking (as in "I don't belive I cannot find this damned thing! Grrr!").

Maybe he got caught in Iraq inspecting some hot 8 year old when he shoulda been inspecting the palace for bazookas. Maybe Saddam, as all good Ferrengies are wont, saw an opportunity.

I always thought that it was kinda strange that Ritter did such an about-face so suddenly; I could never figure out the motivation. Blackmail would make perfect sense. But he'll never be able to admit it, because on top of being a pedophile, which is bad enough, he'd have to own up to having betrayed his country. His changing his tune was a betrayal of the U.S., since he was doing his utmost to facilitate Saddam's ability not only to keep the WMD's he had but to acquire others, like nukes.

In any case, his credibility on any subject whatsoever is shot to hell, and it couldn't happen to a nicer pervert. What a creep.

Bruce (9):

Good point. Remember, Sadaam's hero is Stalin, so I'm sure he's lovingly adopted all the tactics used by the KGB, including sexual blackmail.

My question is, why is this news breaking right now? A Bush admin leak to discredit one of the biggest peace creeps? Or an "intrepid reporter?" I'm inclined to go with the first more than the second, if only because most mainstream journalists seem incredibly lazy these days (and not at all inclined to investigate someone who is so loved by CNN).

Age of Consent worldwide

I wish we could absolve Scott Ritter that easily but I've seen him a willing guest too many times on various talk programs lately, VIGOROUSLY defending Iraq's point of view and castigating the inspections with too much energy to be merely an unwilling dupe. I think he accepted money for some film he was making in return for compliance and it's possible the Iraqis have applied additional enforcement if they learned of his arrest; but the arrest was supposed to have been kept VERY QUIET. When first questioned about the arrest this week, Ritter denied it was him. Said it was some other Ritter.

The guy is not a stranger to prevarication and dodging the issues. He's been totally discredited in my book, even as a misguided lefty. He's a slimeball who probably took money from the Iraqis at one time for some reason and may have had their point of view reinforced by their learning of his deviance. But whatever, he's now TOAST!

#10 Maine's Michael: Koffi's reasons for being so obtuse are Saddam's convenient "Oil for Food" program for which the UN gets a percentage of the brokerage transactions as a fee. Since the enormity of the overall $ coming into the UN is staggering, even though a small percentage of the TOTAL transactions, I believe he is taking a very HEALTHY salary indeed for the UN's services. Why do you think the UN (which is always crying poor) was able to refurbish their building recently for millions of dollars?

The Oil for Food proram also pays for staff. Now, it's not supposed to pay EVERYBODY'S salary at the UN but I bet it could. The thing is no one really knows. The amounts coming in are staggering but everything is kept highly secret, including interest earned on the accounts, disbursements, banks it keeps the money in etc.

But my guess is that Koffi's cut is HUGE!

That's why the whole UN thing is totally discredited now in my estimation and that of many people. It's in the UN's BEST INTEREST to keep Saddam in power. Where else are they going to find a cash cow like Saddam?

So ANYTHING the UN does or says with respect to Iraq--ANYTHING--has been totally tainted by their need to keep receiving the dollars from their earned percentage of his Oil for Food Program as "fees". When those "fees" amount to millions of dollars every year, they end up being Saddam's employees.

Ironic isn't it. The program was meant to keep Saddam on the straight and narrow; instead it's ended by corrupting the whole UN staff and hierarchy.

Koffi is bought and paid for.

If one Marine gets harmed with WMDs during the coming war I hope life gets very rough for Mr. Ritter to live on these shores.

Me, I'd take him on an "awareness raising" tour of each and every Marine base so "focus groups" could be formed for "interaction and dialog" where an "understanding" be reached.

Elizabeth does not speak out of her ass.

[Link: www.opinionjournal.com...]

Well, maybe she does, sometimes, who knows? But not this time!

great link on Oil For Food.. by the way, the now defunct Citcun site which some of us here started after a great David Tell piece here on LGF, has some good stuff on oil for food, courtesy of Joseph Norland..

[Link: citcun.blogspot.com...]

Doh! Now Fox news is saying that it was a different Scott Ritter. Let's hope not, hehe.

Scott can be reached at: wsritter@aol.com (via C-SPAN). Whether he'll reply to inquiries or not I don't know.

IMO, this explains Scott's 180 degree reversal. His warped mind believes he was "framed". As a result, he is seeking revenge on the government.

His lawyer is now confirming it...

His attorney confirms he was arrested in 2001, but neither she nor police will discuss the details.

but Scott Ritter's first instinct, when confronted with the evidence, was to LIE.

(there's a shocker!!!)

"Sorry, you must have the wrong person," said Ritter when contacted at his home by the Daily Gazette.

[Link: worldnetdaily.com...]

i bet his screenname is "Weapon of Ass Destruction."

sorry.

The funny thing on Fox the other day that actor (Ed somebody has-been) who played a news editor on some planet in the Jurassic period sited Scott Ritter as his expert.

#22 Model4: I heard some backhanded compliments in my time but that one is a doozy; I don't know whether to laugh out loud or slap you.

Anyway, thanks for the link. I hadn't read that in the Opinion Journal. Good link. I first heard about this and read an article a couple of years ago in a Toronto paper. I remember thinking "Why doesn't somebody do something?" But nobody reads Toronto papers so it just sank like a stone.

Now, of course, I see the WSJ wrote that piece, and STILL there's no outcry. It's a bloody shame. Every time I see Koffi Annan I want to hiss at him. He goes around smiling and looking so benign and like Carter, wearing his Nobel rep. like a badge of entree and everyone kisses his backside and all the time he's as corrupt as they come--in fact dangerously so.

There's supposed to be a balance in life between the yin and yang, positive and negative, good and evil; but I see so many corrupt and evil men like Saddam and Koffi getting away with it and laughing in our faces. When do the good guys get to bat? [Sounds of teeth gnashing!]

#29 Elizabeth:

I see so many corrupt and evil men like Saddam and Koffi getting away with it and laughing in our faces. When do the good guys get to bat?

Almost never. :(

Charles, I enjoy LGF, but I've taken you to task over this post on my site. As for some of you commenters, you should be ashamed of yourselves, reveling in something like this.

In my opinion, pedophiles are the lowest scum of the earth, and I don't care what happens to them. Anyone who so much as looks at a child in a sexual way deserves whatever punishment they have coming to them.

However, I don't understand this:

Doh! Now Fox news is saying that it was a different Scott Ritter. Let's hope not, hehe.

Why? However much you may dislike Scott Ritter, why would you hope that this is true? Bad form.

I searched around the web to try to find out exactly when Ritter changed his mind about Iraq. When he resigned from the inspection team, reports said that he was upset that the UN Security Council wasn't willing to enforced their own resolutions.

But by June 2000 (a year before his arrest) Ritter seemed to have changed his tune.

An as early as May 2000, Ritter was saying that he quit because he thought he was being used by the US for politcal aims.

That seems to be important. If Ritter only changed his tune after his arrest a month later, then blackmail might makes sense to explain his change of heart. But it seems that he was critical of the US position before his arrest.

Maybe there was another incident for which he was being blackmailed. Or maybe he was being paid by Iraq. I dunno.

Here is a brief outline of dates and what Ritter's views were on those dates. I'm tired, so if anyone wants to add to this timeline with other stuff you find on the web, please feel free...

April 6, 2000, Washington Times
The return of a viable weapons inspection regime to Iraq should be the overriding priority of the United States and the Security Council, even if this means trading the lifting of economic sanctions.
[Link: www.viwuk.freeserve.co.uk...]

July 2000
Ritter turnaround on Iraq inspections
Contrary to his previous assertions, former UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) inspector Scott Ritter now claims that Iraq has effectively been deprived of its weapons of mass destruction. In an article in Arms Control Today, Ritter claims that, 'By 1997, Iraq no longer possessed any meaningful quantities of chemical or biological weapons agents, if it possessed any at all and the industrial means to produce these agents had been eliminated or were subject to stringent monitoring'.
[Link: www.vertic.org...]

May 5, 2001
Mr. Ritter is an outspopken critic of economic sanctions against Iraq. He is the former lead weapons inspector in Iraq for UNSCOM (United Nations Special Commission). Mr. Ritter resigned from this post in 1998 over his disagreement with UN and US policy towards Iraq when he learned that the country was disarmed and incapable of producing weapons of mass destruction.
[Link: www.whrtf.org...]

June 2001
Arrest

July 19, 2001
Ritter's documentary released crtical of US (sponsored by Iraqi-American)
[Link: www.cnn.com...]

Oct 2001
The Bioterror road doesn't lead to Iraq
[Link: www.commondreams.org...]

July 20, 2002
Is Iraq a true threat to the US?, Boston Globe
[Link: www.commondreams.org...]

#22 Model4: I've heard some backhanded compliments in my time but that one was a humdinger; I don't know whether to laugh out loud or slap you. We TRY not to talk out of our posterior but we're only human and even Greenwich Mean Time isn't 100% accurate, so if I say something that doesn't sound kosher--feel free to call me on it.

Having said that, thanks for the link. I hadn't read that in the Opinion Journal. Good link. I first heard about this and read an article about it a couple of years ago in a Toronto paper. I remember thinking "Why doesn't somebody do something?" But nobody reads Toronto papers so it just sank like a stone.

Now, of course, I see the WSJ wrote that piece, and STILL there's no outcry. It's a bloody shame. Every time I see Koffi Annan I want to hiss at him. He goes around smiling and looking so benign and like Carter, wearing his Nobel rep. like a badge of entree and everyone kisses his backside, but all the time he's as corrupt as they come--in fact dangerously so.

There's supposed to be a balance in life between the yin and yang, positive and negative, good and evil; but I see so many corrupt and evil men like Saddam and Koffi getting away with it and laughing in our faces. When do the good guys get to bat? [Sounds of teeth gnashing!]

Conrad (#31)

I agree, some of the comments are a bit much, but you're assuming that it's not true, so easy there on Charles. It may just as well turn out to be true. We'll see.

Elizabeth (#34)

Every time I see Koffi Annan I want to hiss at him.

Proof once again that you're far more of a lady than I am. I want to strangle him (or at least kick him in the ass with a pair of my pointiest shoes). He's dangerous alright.

zulubaby: I think that what Mr. H is saying is that he's hoping the reports are about the right Scott Ritter (which, apparently they are, since it was a William Ritter arrested, and the ex-arms inspector's legal name is William Scott Ritter, and he resides in Albany) since otherwise it would be false accusation.

And Conrad, there's a world of difference between some 18 year old having sex with his 16 year old girlfriend and some 40-something hooking up over the internet with a 16 year old expressly for sex, at least in the US. I think you've been out of the country too long, dude.

Time for Ritter to be added to the list of celebrity paedophiles

#31 Conrad

guess you just want people to visit your site.?

did you say something.?

Elizabeth: All compliment, in thanks for your great post.

#33: Wow, great fact-checking!

#31 Conrad: You urge Charles to have a drink and chill? What news organizations have you railed against for running this story? None? Oh, ok.
According to your blog you have a problem with a 16 yr-old not being able to consent to sex. Ok, and? Neither Charles nor Scott made those laws. And it isn't like Mr. Ritter was the girl's 17 yr old beau. He's what, 35-ish? You then complain that there was the possibility that Ritter was entrapped by law enforcement, again something Charles had no control over, and something not being reported in the press.

So Charles gives us the facts as presented in the press and provides a link. He then goes on to speculate how this could fit in with Ritter's odd public turnarounds. He doesn't proclaim it, but tosses out a personal musing. It isn't like Charles fabricated the charge in an unsubtantiated manner to smear the guy. So please, fair-minded one, do up entries in your blog criticizing the different press agencies that printed the story without wondering just how wrong this underage sex was and whether or not the bust was illegal.

#32 zulubaby: Well it clearly was a Scott Ritter, I think the poster was just thinking that if it remained the Scott Ritter the thread would stand. It seems doubtful that anyone was saying "Boy I hope that ass Ritter gets busted for trying to diddle kids." :)

Zulubaby: Got to get me a pair of those "pointy shoes"! LOL!

Ritter Watch: Between April 2000 and July 19, 2001 when his "documentary" was released is when he went "native". Where did he get the money for the documentary? If the Saudis or Iraq gave him the money, maybe it was a quid pro quo? Just guessing.

#31 Conrad: While at your blog I posted my reply there as well. Sorry we've gotta disagree on this one, but I've gotta say my first impression is that it looks like an interesting site. Time permitting I'll check it out some more.

#10, the Muhabarat is Iraqi, not Syrian intelligence. You can check into all of this ar the FAS website which is a great source of detailed reporting on all intelligence agencies. Iraqi intelligence is well known to be among the most brutal and also among the best (Syrian is terrible, naturally). One of the more interesting recent revelations about the first round of arms inspecting in the early Ninties is that it what completed comprised by Iraqi intelligence who knew in advance every supposed surprise visit. They may know now as well.

Their intelligence expertise also gives credence to Charles' hypothesis that were onto Ritter's interest in "younger women." I had personal experience with KGB agents in the Soviet era and I can tell you they watched your sexual proclivities like a hawk. That was something of a turnoff for me, thankfully.

Slightly OT: News of another "blowhard" Abu Hamza is being given the heave from the Mosque AND from Britain. Two excellent articles tonight on Drudge. Couldn't get on the earlier thread today--it's getting too full to load so will list them here. If this link doesn't work--go to Drudge.

[Link: www.thesun.co.uk...]

[Link: story.news.yahoo.com...]

Well, I did wonder how the man could do a 180-degree turn on Iraq, and this time around said the UN shouldn't go into investigate WMD's because he, personally, gave Saddam a "clean bill of health."

Sure, at the time people said he got half a million dollars, so he sold his soul for money. NOW I SEE THE HAND OF BLACKMAIL. $500,000 wasn't enough to get the guy to "turn." BUT FEAR OF PUBLIC EXPOSURE TO SOLICITING SEX WITH A MINOR probably is how the deal got cut.

WHO held the blackmail cards? Kofi Annan hosts them, whoever they are. And, it took lots of money to uncover this ... not just the money Scott Ridder got.

So, he bought "quiet" and became the story anyway. Teaches ya. HAVE NO CHARACTER AND DIE IN THE MEDIA BY A THOUSAND CUTS. It's not even a shame. Who cares what happens to someone who fools with kids?

There's supposed to be a balance in life between the yin and yang, positive and negative, good and evil; but I see so many corrupt and evil men like Saddam and Koffi getting away with it and laughing in our faces. When do the good guys get to bat?
First week of Febuary...

And while we're supposing Ritter's motivations, check out Den Beste's suppositions on what skeletons France & Germany might have lurking in their closets...

USS Clueless

There's a lot about this case that remains unclear -- like, was this entrapment of a hapless horndog with no previous inclination for teenage flesh, or does Ritter have a genuine fixation on 16-year-old girls?

But I have to side with Conrad at least insofar as agreeing that the Scott Ritter: Pedophile headline is inappropriate. To me -- and, I think, to many other people -- ''pedophile'' has a strong connotation of sexual desire for prepubescent children, as distinguished from teenaged minors. But Ritter was arrested for soliciting a 16-year-old girl. Now, I think that it will nearly always be a bad idea for a 16-year-old and a thirtysomething to get sexually involved; and I can't personally fathom how any self-respecting thirtysomething would find a teenager to be a satisfying sex partner. However, teenagers have, to varying degrees, adult-like physical features, so for a man of Ritter's age to find 16-year-old girls at least superficially sexy does not strike me as in any way ''weird,'' and certainly it's not at all in the same category of Disturbing Psychological Phenomena as getting a boner for third-graders.

Sorry, the links won't work; they were hard to read and I have to type them in EXACTLY or I'm screwed. Check for the two Abu Hamza stories on Drudge. There's a big picture of his ugly mug and they're right below it. The good news is he's being booted from Britain as soon as they find somewhere to send him. Yemen wants him for a bombing in which several people died (two or three of them British) so Britain, of course, won't send him there--too dangerous. As soon as they find a country that will take him he's gone.

My feeling is he should be tried for complicity in the murder of the Brits, but what do I know? Right?

I think Throbert and Conrad are correct in their assertion that there is no evidence Ritter is a pedophile. This is the standard definition of pedophilia:

Pedophilia involves reoccurring sexual arousal and desires or fantasies involving sexual impulses toward a pre-adolescent child or children. The pedophile must be above age 16, and the sexual attraction must involve a child of age 13 or younger who is at least 5 years younger than the adult.

Clearly a 16-year old does not qualify Ritter for the pedophile label. More like "scumbag" or "dirty middle-aged-man" or something of that sort. Even "statutory rapist," perhaps. But, technically, definitely not a pedophile. Although the blackmail speculation could still apply.

Wouldn't suprise me.

That two-bit traitor acts like:

"Mother rapers. Father stabbers. Father rapers!"

#37 Mommydoc. nice ad hominem response to an argument you clearly didn't read or are unable to comprehend. Lets try again.

As I make clear on my site (1) adult men should keep their hands off teenage girls; (2) "pedophilia" has a medical definition; (3) screwing 16 year olds (much lest masturbating in front of them as Ritter sought to do) does NOT fall within that definition; (4) there is absolutely no evidence that Ritter is a pedophile; (5) there is absolutely no evidence that Ritter has been blackmailed; (6) accusing Ritter of being gulity of #4 and #5 because he violated #1 is irresponsible.

An attempt to disprove any one of the enumerated factors above constitutes an argument. Snide references to how long I have lived abroad constitute stupidity.

Any questions?

#20 Elizabeth 1/20/2003 08:55PM PST
___

IIRC the estimate was $200,000,000/year going to the UN to administer Iraq's oil for food program. Deduct $25,000,000 for salaries and expenses. UN salaries are outlandish. Look up total UN expenses and figure half goes to salaries and other payments to their employees.

GOT THE GOODS ON SCOTTY. Been arrested previously for doing that internet sex thang. Mug shot etc:

[Link: www.freerepublic.com...]

[Link: www.freerepublic.com...]

"What team Ritter doesn't want you to know"

Doesn't explain why the Church is opposed to a war in Iraq or Israel defending itself. It's not like any of them have had any problems with pedophilia have they?

(sarcasm off)

#48, Throbert is right, the headline is excessive, Charles.

Unless of course that second link from Free Republic in #54, dennisw's post is accurate. 14 is definitely jailbait.

--

#27, dan, truly you have an intimate familiarity with pr0n puns. Some video producer has to have used that title. It's just *ahem* begging to be used.

C**ming soon: John Bobbitt and Scott Ritter in
"Disarming Sodom"...

What is it with pedophilia? I've been pondering this ever since I sat at a meeting of colleagues - language profs in Montreal - and heard a new mother regale us all with tales of how she played with her new-born son's penis while changing him to give him erections! No one said anything except me. I was horrified and said I had changed many a baby boy and never once considered it an opportunity for erotic enrichment. Guess who was considered a pervert? In certain circles this kind of behaviour is considered a mark of superiority. I'm not kidding.

I really do believe this innocent until proved guilty stuff, more or less -- particularly when the proof avaiable to me, as just a member of the public, isn't exactly solid -- even though, legally speaking, it's a fiction that's only obligatory on judges and juries. I'm not a judge, and even if the trial were to take place where I live, I'd be excluded by any sensible defense attorney.

That said, the blackmail possibility does explain a lot, and explains Ritter's about-face much better than previous speculations about money.

My take: I'm going to hold off any conclusions until at least some more information comes out.

Amy -

Are you in New York, by any chance? Your voice sounds familiar.

To borrow a phrase from Nelson Munz

HA - HA!!!

Interesting that some folks are more interested in arguing the semantics of whether Scott Ritter qualifies as a "pedophile" or not. They're right. He doesnt.

What he IS, though, is a traitorous, obviously mentally disturbed creep who -- we're now hearing -- apparently has a predilection for sitting on the internet, chatting up people he THINKS are teenage girls, in the hope he can get them to meet him at the Burger King to watch him diddle his dinky-wang.

Nope... that isn't technically a pedophile, is it? So maybe you should just change the header to something more appropriate like: "Scott Ritter: Disgusting Perv?"

Any other ideas? How about: "Does Scott Ritter want jailbait to watch him flick his Bic!" Or maybe "Scott Ritter surfs the internet with one hand!"

Slice the semantics however you want to, the story remains the same: 41 year old married man trolls internet for underage self-abuse partner.

There's no way to put lipstick on that particular piggy!

#38 - I'm embarrassed to say that I've never even heard of Gary Glitter. He looks like Jack Nicholson dressed up to be Elvis.

And didn't know about Elvis or Jimmy Page. :(

I'll have to agree with those who have said that this is NOT pedophilia. Sex with someone who is under 18, but past puberty, by someone who is much older, is, and should continue to be, a crime. But there is a degree of difference between that and the monstrosity of abusing a genuine child.

#10 -

The mukhabbarat is the Iraqi secret intelligence and security service, distinct from the estikhabarat, which is military intelligence.

What I want to know is why Charles' write-up at the top treats this like it's a current story, when even the page he's linking to says that the arrest happened a couple of years ago.

#65 James

Iit's "current" because when it first happened, it was kept secret, but it wasn't made public until just now. Still, there's an interesting story to that aspect, and I'm interested in it too.

#58 - That sort of behavior is actually quite common in many cultures, including Arab. Although it's not necessarily for any prurient interest that the mother may have, just as a means of getting Junior to calm down. Not that I'm defending it in any way - obviously it can be extremely destructive.

Sandra Mackey, in her book "The Saudis" suggests that this behavior may be at least partly responsible for the extreme sexism in Saudi culture.

The Soviets attempted to blackmail columnist Joseph Alsop because of his proclivities (he was Gay). Even though this was in the 1950s or early 1960s, when this would have been much more damaging to one's career.

To his everlasting credit, Alsop did not tone down his strident anti-Communist stance one bit.

Frank IMC #65 makes a good point it is interesting to note that this story is coming out now.

Move to discredit Ritter?

His behavior may be considered unsavory by some, but doesn't sound like pedophelia. How many surfers out there may have engaged in online activities that they wouldn't want publicized?

#46
First week of Febuary...

Dead on the money.
I see 4th ID is deploying this week (FOX). The 24th (Mech) ID should be getting their marching orders next.

I'll agree with those who said that sex chat with a 16 teen does not looks like paedophilia. I'll also agree Ritter's sex life does not look very healthy to me.
But I fail to understand how his taste for teenagers is relevant with his positions on Iraq (no joke intended) and his expertise on the subject.
Attacking your opponents on a personnal basis is a lousy way to win a debate IMHO.
And for the blackmail possibility, hmm, pure speculation, not a single evidence.

It suggests that he has a severe lack of judgement and a disfunctional sense of responsibility. So it is very pertinent except to people who are likewise impaired...all the way from his apologists up to our former president.

I don't know why you are talking about blackmail. This merely shows once again that the enemies of America are all moral degenerates.

Buckeye Abroad,

Greeting from a fellow National Championship resident. Where ya at? Hope it's warmer than it is here.

Couldn’t agree with you more. I’m hoping for a nice birthday present on Feb 2.

But I fail to understand how his taste for teenagers is relevant with his positions on Iraq (no joke intended) and his expertise on the subject.

1) Ritter was so incredibly stupid he believed he was talking to a 16-year-old and not a cop. That doesn't say much about his intelligence, or his "trade craft".

2) It's a possible handle Saddam could have on him. That, and the money Ritter's made off his "movie" deal.

3) Ritter's position changed radically. Why? Blackmail's makes sense as an explanation.

Throw in Ritter's initial statement of "it wasn't me, it was some other guy with my name" and his credibility has just been trashed.

#74 Geepers

Hello!! sorry for the delay-- suppose to be working.

Frankfurt, Germany

I stumbled into LGF purly by accident 2 weeks ago and have been silently reading in the back ground. I really appreciate the open discussions and freeflow of information here... wanted to contribute to the group here a few times, but time is pressing. Will have more time next week.

I was thinking more of 12 Feb.-- birthday of the Great Emancipator, Abraham Lincoln, but celebrating on 2 Feb. is just as good.

PS- Go Bucks

Wonder if he's any relation to Fr. Bruce Ritter?

Or John Ritter? (Sorry, I guess I've watched too many episodes of "Three's Company".)

#69 Tara - How many surfers out there may have engaged in online activities that they wouldn't want publicized?

Shhhusssh. Here's $20 - go and buy yourself a nice lunch. ;)

Where do gay suicide bombers hang out?

The allah cock bar!

Beth (#62) Thank you for putting it into perspective far more eloquently than I. It's ridiculous to argue semantics when the point is so obvious that his deficient moral character may have been used against him to threaten international safety.

Conrad--That's the point I was trying to make. Lighten up, buddy. I was teasing you, and you're too new here to have realized it. What I said was milder than the reaction you got from others. I have no desire to enter a flame war with you.

The discussions as to whether sex with a 16 year old constitutes paedophilia are moot. Seems Scotty boy likes them younger than that...

In June of 2001, Ritter was accused of engaging in a sexual discussion, on the Internet with a person who he thought, was a 14 year old girl. It was actually an undercover investigator who agreed to meet with Ritter. When Ritter arrived at the location, expecting to meet the girl, police warned him that he had been set up.

mommydoc says:

Conrad--I have no desire to enter a flame war with you.

Consider yourself blessed Conrad, as she would hand you your ass on a platter.

Buckeye Abroad (#76)

Are you in the service? If so you have a lot of company here at LGF. Know something the rest of us don't regarding Feb 12? There's a poster here who predicted the start of Dessert Storm to within 5 minutes.

Mommydoc,

If the question is whether he was blackmailed, I tend to believe that so long as he's not going after the pre-pubescent set, the Iraqis were unlikely to see anything perverted (read, useful for blackmail purposes) into his behavior.

Sure, the fact that he lied about it being him goes to a showing of moral character, but unless the Iraqis successfully lured him into activities with a boy, or a 10 year old girl, I don't see it as effective material to use against him...at least not in their eyes.

It is, however, quite effective to let this out into the press now. It certainly will keep him off the talk show circuit.

#62 - Beth

Slice the semantics however you want to, the story remains the same: 41 year old married man trolls internet for underage self-abuse partner.

There's no way to put lipstick on that particular piggy!

AMEN!!

#69 Tara T

His behavior may be considered unsavory by some, but doesn't sound like pedophelia. How many surfers out there may have engaged in online activities that they wouldn't want publicized?

How many get arrested by taking it to the next level and wanting to get that sweet young thang alone and take it outside just Internet chat??

Phillipe

But I fail to understand how his taste for teenagers is relevant with his positions on Iraq (no joke intended) and his expertise on the subject.

Because it is more evidence that Ritter is a whack job (pun intended). The man's on stage behavior is somewhat bizarre.

#49 Elizabeth

You take time to alert LGF posters to good links and I had no idea you were going about it by manually typing each link in. You can also do it easier by highlighting the address bar, copying by right-click, pasting to a clipboard and then slapping the copied link into Charle's "link" command when posting.

IMO - There is a Payback God for Assholes and Ball Busting. Ritter had his visitation. (Oh please, please Michael Moore...buy those beastiality tapes and get caught at it!!) Yes, he was not busted while playing the "in and out" game with a 7-year old, but a married 40-year old trolling for sweet teen twiffle
to meet and yank his ying for, constitutes what most of us mainstreamers would call "pervy" behavior. So, look for his agent to tell him that CNN, MSNBC, ABC, and a wad of colleges just cancelled their bookings because he is "unsavory". The sex arrests make him "not desirable" as either a consultant or a position advocate...and the folks at "Not in My Name" are probably telling Scott to keep away "Not in Our Name, Scott".

My only worry, given his disturbing, manic on-camera behavior, is that he might eat a bullet.

#31 Conrad did mention the disturbing practice of cops fishing and baiting "easy marks" into what in other venues would be entrapment...yes, but the public has recognized that the Internet has drawn creeps seeking kiddies or more readily manipulated teen boys and girls...and the public is willing to accept police tactics in order to clean the creeps out.

My hope is that the ISPs will also do a much better job of cleaning out the criminally oriented SPAM...Nigerian con artists, "Russian Lolitas for YOU", crap that we all seem to get these days, man and woman. There may be people that go for such "attractions" that wouldn't pre-Internet, but that until the ISP's figure out a way to better block such stuff, better patrol chat rooms to prevent dumb adults and dumb teen twiffle from erotically egging one another on...adults have to be held accountable for their decisions (Ay, Pete Townshed?).

Ranbutan (#83) - would that you were right that his pervish sexual activities would make him persona non grata as one of the prime Idiotarian "spokespeople" and "experts." Unfortunately, the Hollywood crowd, so active in the Idiotarian movement, has made sexual perversion not just acceptable, but positively fashionable. The list of Hollywood pervs who are "A list" actors, actresses, singers, producers, directors, et cetera would use up Charles' valuable bandwidth. These folks will simply ignore Ritter's babysitter-diddling ways, and treat him like the folk hero they think he is.

OTOH, if, for example, Rumsfeld fell victim to the same sting, the Idiotarian Left and Hollywood would go berserk in an Idiotarian orgy of name-calling. Hypocrisy is second nature for these bozos.

Pete Townshend

Yes, I wonder why that story just happened to hit the news within a few days of the Ritter story.

Ritter took at least $400,000 from Saddam to fund his 'documentary'... he's a paid prostitute for Saddam and this bust is just an expose' of his real character.

well i think it is certainly possible that the kid or his parents went to see a lawyer about ritter and the lawyer passed the infomation on to one of the leftist groups opposed to war as their morals would certainly not stop them from blackmail if they thought it would help them out. but i try not to engage in conspiricy chat as it makes you out to be just as crazy as the peace movement

Flashback...

Another "morally compromised" Arab stooge...

According to the former head of Romanian intelligence, Lt. Gen. Ion Mihai Pacepa, one of the highest ranking communist defectors of all time, Rahman al-Qudwa became an important political ally of the communist bloc following the death of Egypt's president, Gamal Abdul Nasser, in 1970. Gen. Pacepa's account of Rahman's intimate relations with the communist bloc is related in a book entitled "Red Horizons." As it happens, Pacepa tells us that the communists trusted Rahman because he was a voracious homosexual. This alone made him a workable Kremlin puppet, because once the Romanian intelligence services had taped Rahman's sex sessions with men and boys, he was completely in their hands. Afterwards, Rahman's friendship for the communist bloc would be permanent --if he valued his growing popularity in the Arab world.
Rahman al-Qudwa is better known as Yasser Arafat, the chairman of the PLO since 1968 and the president of the Palestinian Authority -- which is now at war with Israel. According to Gen. Pacepa's account, communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu ordered his people to bring Arafat over to Romania. In late 1970 the chief of Romanian intelligence in Egypt, Gen. Constantine Munteanu, arrived in Bucharest with Arafat in tow. Munteanu had gathered an extensive file on Arafat, which characterized the PLO leader as "so much cleverness, blood, and filth all together in one man." Pacepa says that this was Munteanu's "standard definition of Arafat."
Given Gen. Munteanu's extensive file, Arafat could not exactly refuse the communist's "friendly" overtures. There is little question that Arafat is fanatically devoted to destroying Israel, and would sell his soul to the devil to gain his devilish ends. Therefore, a compact between Arafat and the Soviet Union via communist Romania was not something that violated any sacred Islamic rule in Arafat's heart. Arafat is no Moslem. His fanaticism is completely secular. But since he operates within the Islamic world, he must sometimes appear as a would-be Muslim liberator. (“Kremlin puppets and how they work,” J.R. Nyquist, October 19, 2000)

To mommydoc and others--
I agree that Ritter's behavior is that of a scumbug, and that as such he is vulnerable to blackmail, as I said in my post #50.

However, mommydoc, I take issue with one thing you wrote--the discussion of pedophelia vs. other vices is NOT "arguing semantics," in my opinion. Pedophilia is a particular vice that arouses particular responses in people. It's my opinion than when one makes accusations, it's best to be as accurate as possible in those accusations--or else, among other things, one is open to the charge of bias and exaggeration, and one's statements in general can become suspect. I think accuracy is very important to retain credibility--and is a good thing in and of itself.

Also, I think that you yourself are interested in being accurate about those things you have expertise in--and there are a lot of such things, particularly in the medical/gynecology/obstetrics field. I for one have appreciated your discussions of the medical aspects of things, and your desire for people here to be as accurate as possible when they talk about those things. I've been involved in research in the field of sex abuse of minors, so I perhaps have an extra interest in seeing terms such as "pedophile" used accurately, and I don't consider it "just semantics." I don't think anyone is whitewashing Ritter's acts, or acting as an apologist for them--certainly, I'm not interested in doing so!!

I meant "scumbag" in the above post--although, come to think of it, "scumbug" isn't such a bad way to put it, either--

"[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. It was a horrific scene…Actually I’m not going to describe what I saw there because what I saw was so horrible that it can be used by those who would want to promote war with Iraq, and right now I’m waging peace."

Scott Ritter as quoted by Time.

I'm officially creeped out.

#88...good article you mention...here is the link

[Link: www.worldnetdaily.com...]

Charles, might be worth a thread..

"so much cleverness, blood, and filth all together in one man."

Pithy, as only Romanians can be . . .

UPDATE: Looks like Ritter liked 14-year olds as well as 16-year-olds.

Article posted in its entirety for the sake of historical record:

The Albany Times Union
January 21, 2003

Arrest wasn't first time police had eye on Ritter
Former U.N. arms inspector reportedly was under inquiry when cops charged him in 2001

By MIKE GOODWIN, Staff writer

Colonie -- The Internet sex case that led to the arrest of a former U.N. weapons inspector was not his first involvement with police on that type of crime, a person familiar with the case said Monday.

Scott Ritter was under investigation for trying to set up a meeting with a girl through the Internet when town police charged him in June 2001 with using an online chat room to set up a similar rendezvous at a Menands restaurant, the source said on condition of anonymity.

Police began investigating the 41-year-old Ritter, who lives in Delmar, in April 2001 after he tried to meet someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl, the source said. Ritter drove to a Colonie business, where he instead was met by police officers, the source said.

Ritter, an outspoken critic of President Bush's plans for war against Iraq, was released without being charged while police investigated.

Two months later, the source said, Ritter was caught in the same type of Internet sex-sting operation after he tried to lure a 16-year-old girl to a Burger King in Menands. The supposed teenager actually was an undercover investigator posing online as a minor as part of the town Police Department's investigation of Internet sex crime, the source said.

Police charged Ritter with attempted endangerment of a child, a Class B misdemeanor that carries a maximum sentence of 90 days in the county jail.

Assistant District Attorney Cynthia Preiser to have the case adjourned in contemplation of dismissal, which means that charges would be dropped if Ritter stayed out of trouble for a period of time. A Colonie town justice sealed the case after the agreement between the prosecutor and defendant was reached.

Ritter was out of the country on Monday, according to his attorney, Norah Murphy, and his wife.

Ritter declined to be interviewed when asked Monday by e-mail whether he wanted to give his side of the story.

"Thanks for your e-mail," he wrote. "I have no comment on the issue you mentioned."

District Attorney Paul Clyne fired Preiser because she did not inform him about a "sensitive" case in Town Court, but Clyne would not acknowledge that the case involved Ritter.

Clyne's office was heavily criticized three months before Ritter's arrest after another assistant district attorney agreed to drop crack cocaine charges against a renowned Loudonville surgeon, Dr. Darroch Moores. In that case, the assistant district attorney also failed to inform the district attorney.

Moores took a leave of absence from St. Peter's Hospital and was allowed to keep his medical license and continue practicing as part of a probation agreement with the state Board for Professional Medical Conduct.

Defense attorney Michael Koenig said adjournment in contemplation of dismissal was not an unusual outcome for someone charged with a Class B misdemeanor, as Ritter was.

Ritter, a former Marine, led a weapons inspection team in Iraq in the 1990s after the Gulf War. He has gained international attention in recent months as a critic of a new U.S. war with Iraq. He has been interviewed frequently on radio and television shows, consistently downplaying the threat posed by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Ritter's days as a leading voice of the opposition to war could be over if his arrest receives national media attention, said Robert Thompson, professor of media and popular culture at Syracuse University. He said the nature of Ritter's arrest would overwhelm any point he might try to make on a talk show.

"When you're a talking head, your whole reason for being has got to be the image of anything you represent," Thompson said. "If the story starts getting to be a big issue, there will be talking heads making their careers on the end of this talking head."

[Link: www.timesunion.com...]
 

Frank IMC -

Yes, I'm in NY - Do I know you?

#88: Eeeew! That helps explains Arafish's penchant for baby wipes.

Zulubaby, mommydoc;

I was not expressing joy or satisfaction that there are perverts and pedophiles in the world. But if there are, and one happens to be named Scott Ritter, then of all the Scott Ritters in the world, I do, in fact, want it to be the former arms inspector-turned traitor. He needs to be discredited, and I think that this will do it.

Okay Mr. H, I was waiting for you to clear that up before responding to what others thought you meant. I didn't think for a moment that you were advocating pedophilia, so no fear of that, but I do think hoping for this to be true about Scott Ritter was bad form. Please don't mistake this for me feeling pity for him, I don't. Now that I think about it, it's a personal issue I have about wishing or hoping bad on people. No big deal.

Re: Arafat's proclivities

Just FYI, I found a link regarding the genesis of the book which these allegations come from, Red Horizons by Ion Mihai Pacepa (Regnery, 1987) in Human Events. (Human Events, as noted at the bottom of the page, is associated with Regnery.)

Mention is made of 2002 Robert Fisk award winner Jimmy "Dhimmi" Carter and his sponsoring of the Romanian Communist dictator's U.S. tour, by the way.

There are numerous independent mentions on the web of Ceaucescu's involvement in Middle East diplomacy, and of his meeting several times with Arafat. (I even saw where Nixon once gave Ceaucescu a Buick. But former West German chancellor Willy Brandt gave him a Mercedes...)

Pacepa, it seems to me, should be a credible witness. But I wonder if there are any corroborating reports from former KGB officers.

What did Putin know, and when did he know it?

#95 - Amy

If the words "Tupelo Honey", "Needy Ed", and "Brown Brian" mean anything to you, you know me...

The rest of you, don't even TRY to figure this out...

Willliam--Thanks for the link to the Times-Useless article. Interesting sidenote about the local surgeon. A classmate of mine from Albany Med made the news there and permanently ended his career when, as an anesthesiology resident, he kept calling the pager of a local crack dealer. Unfortunately, the dealer had been arrested and the police were monitoring the calls and traced his number.

They approached him as he returned home and he invited them in, where he denied coke use but helpfully told them that he smoked pot. They then asked about a crack pipe that was sitting in plain view...He cut a deal which involved turning state's evidence on a whole ring operating (pun intended) out of the Albany Med OR. The residency program and the state let him go to an out-of-state rehab program.

Unfortunately, when he came back, he slipped back into use, failed a drug test and was tossed on his keyster. I heard he's an acupuncturist now.

Ritter's slide reminds me of my old colleague. Can't help but wonder whether the UN people found out about his problem and made him persona non-grata, upon which he decided to change his alliances.

blogaddict: Point taken. I guess I was thinking not so much of the generalities as much as the specifics of this case. He still would have been prosecutable for statutory rape if he'd taken his desires all the way.

BTW--scumbug is priceless!

Frank: We may not get it, but you know we're gonna try!

Zulubaby;

Would you rather it be some other random and faceless Scott Ritter or the weasel we all detest? Just curious.

A few more Arafat & Ceausescu related links I turned up:

Recent Pacepa article in OpinionJournal

Background on Ceausescu including timelines.

Extensive Israeli psychological profile of Arafat, includes reference to alleged homosexuality, concluding "..most probably, the rumors are unfounded." (However, if it were true, Arafat would likely have anyone who mentioned it killed, so it may not be surprising that there is little to corroborate Pacepa's account.)

Mr. H (#103)

I don't have a preference either way. Honest.

Ritter is a big guy and a borderline psycho, but just in case I'm wrong and he does show up on TV Talk shows or Anti-War rallys...he better have real thick skin...because he will be lambasted on the sex perve biz as another sign of his emotional dysfunctionalism.

If the likes of Donohue or Crossfire uses him, and I emphasize USE him...it will be as a ratings booster to see him froth on questions regarding his Lolita predilictions. A few more moments in the spotlight, then the mass media will discard him as damaged goods. His days as Noble Saint to Lefty groups are already over - too ambarassing. Steve Peder said Hollywood would still embrace him...I say no...they only draw the wagons around their own like Roman Polanski, Paula Poundstone, PeeWee Herman, and Woody Allen. and Lefty groups will

There is a God of Payback for assholes. He just doesn't visit every asshole, but he sure found William (not me! I'm Scott!) Ritter.

#102 Mommydoc -

"Tupelo Honey" is the natural sweetener, not an Elvis allusion. ;)

#81 Geepers

No longer. Spent my enlistment all overseas and after college (thank you GI Bill) been working in Europe since 96'.

I particpated in Gulf War I attached to 2nd Armor Div. and I know how hot it gets starting in March-April. Troop movements in the summer are hampered by the heat and equipment failures rise--- war still possible, but logistics and support problems increase, hence why I believe if we are going foward, it will happen before the end of February.
Just sorry we were not permitted to finish the job 12 years ago. When it was clear we were pulling back to Saudi, alot of us knew that we would have to come back some day.

#58:

I don't think babies can have erections. They don't get them when breast-feeding, and you'd expect them to have erections then if at any time, right?

Some people allege that Mossad tried to blackmail Clinton over the Lewinsky affair (yeah riiight). Could Iraq have tried to do some sort of blackmail on Clinton? Where are the Arab interns now?

#102 Mommydoc -

BTW, "Brown Brian" just happens to be the one that inspired my comment in another thread, regarding nudists with poor hygeine and chairs on which I will no longer sit.

110 andjam.
Shlightly OT, but babies do have erections. Which do not result of a sexual arousing. Just a matter of hormones. Accordingly, new born girls have very impressive genitals, due to an exess of female hormones.

#111 - couldn't you have said "disproportionately large", instead?

#100 - Frank IMC,

Sorry, doesn't ring any bells, but your clues sound so intriguing that I'd like to know you! :-)

Are you in nyc? If so, you should join our lgf local Zionist Conspirators group and come to our next get-together. Email davesax at davesax@earthlink.net if you're interested.

Here is your Phil Donahue poster boy...the moral highgrounder...Think about raising a daughter from birth, only to have some slimey ickball like this lure her to some apartment. What would a Scott Ritter do to protect his dirty little fling? Perhaps Chandra Levy knows the answer. What a disgusting pug! By the way, if this were a conservative talking head, do you think we would be seeing this measly coverage? Really, isn't it odd?

#113 Amy -

No, I don't live in NYC, but I visit there frequently. Uh, I hope it's not the "brown" clue that you find intriguing? ;)

The Zionist Conspirators sounds interesting! Is there a Washington area chapter? Or I may drop by on my next visit. I am eager to get in on the International Bankers conspiracy as well. ;)

No longer can Mr. Ritter appear on MSNBC without the danger of having ACCUSED PEDOPHILE  appear under his name.
   Ritter's predilections -- whether he holds them or not --
have no bearing on his arguments. But that doesn't matter. One of the most suspicious phenomena of 2002 actually was the amount of play given to Ritter and his positions. He was sometimes portrayed as a serious, high-profile critic of US invasion of Iraq at a time when so much of the media seemed devoted to advancing the idea that no criticism of US action mattered. Now it's clear why.  There was dirt on Ritter, and that dirt was a matter of common knowledge in certain circles. Ritter got a run of token offense in, raging against the war machine, serving as our proxy. A rock-ribbed, square-jawed ex-Marine. And look at him now. I mean, if you can find him. Don't expect Phil Donahue to have him back on the show anytime soon to lay the smack down on Ken Adelman. No sir, seems Mr. Ritter has problems of his own now.

"Is that a weapon of mass destruction in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"

#2 Mommydoc -

Ugh! I lived in Albany for 4 years, shopped in Colonie and ate out in Delmar. I feel dirty.

Yes, I've been through Albany a few times myself. That's the way I felt afterwards too. ;)

Frank IMC #115 -

Hmmm... Maybe you do know me after all...

Get yourself on davesax's mailing list, and we'll pursue this further... :-)

and now for the alternative view...

"Scott Ritter, the former UN weapons inspector who quit in 1998 and now says the U.S. is intent on manufacturing phony "evidence" of arms violations as a pretext for war, is the victim of what may be the sleaziest set-up job in recent history, a smearing so foul that it makes the Clinton crowd look like a bunch of amateurs. The news that he may have been arrested, in June 2001, as the result of an internet sex sting, in which an undercover cop posing as a sixteen-year-old girl lured him into "sex chat" over the internet, came to light in a very strange way. A local newspaper, the Daily Gazette, of Schenectady, New York, was first to pick up the dirt, which apparently came to light when an assistant district attorney was fired for settling the case and not informing the D.A. According to the Gazette:

"Police and prosecutors have declined to discuss the case, which involved at least one class B misdemeanor, because it was adjourned in contemplation of dismissal and ordered sealed by a Colonie Town Court justice. The Daily Gazette's request for access to the arrest report was denied by the Colonie town attorney's office, which ruled disclosure was barred under the state Freedom of Information Law."

So the police just happened to conduct a "sex sting" operation against the one man who had exposed the lies of our war-mad rulers from the inside. On the eve of war, as hundreds of thousands protest in the streets, this staunch Republican and solid family man who has become one of the War Party's most formidable enemies is suddenly "exposed" as a child molester.

Since the court records have been sealed, and the case was merely "adjourned in contemplation of dismissal," the authorities will say nothing, at least in public. The entrapment was apparently so transparent, so obviously the clumsiest sort of Cointelpro-style operation badly bungled by our newly-empowered political police, that the charges were dropped to the legal equivalent of a traffic ticket. Could it be that the records were sealed not to protect Ritter, but to protect whomever tried to set him up?

Anybody who doesn't believe that Ritter was specifically targeted on account of his political activities needs to seek help: that sort of naivete can be terminal, and the patient probably shouldn't be trusted to cross the street unattended.

In the post-9/11 era of the "Patriot" Act and the Office of Total Information Awareness, what is happening to Ritter is meant as a warning to anyone who dares oppose this government. Former UN inspectors, it seems, are a special target. Remember that other inspector, Jack McGeorge, also an American, who was "outed" as being a member of a sado-masochistic "advocacy" organization? Just as our war birds were wailing in bitter disappointment that the inspections process would delay or maybe even derail the much anticipated bloodbath, suddenly one of the inspectors is "exposed" as a sadomasochist. The point was not to somehow prove that this made him unfit for the job, but simply to degrade him, to make the experience so painful that he would immediately withdraw – which is precisely what happened.

There's nothing at all fishy about a "sealed" court record leaked to reporters, complete with an alleged "mug shot" of Ritter broadcast on television and republished by MSNBC. It's all a coincidence that this comes out just as the war crisis reaches its climax – or anti-climax – and the administration is desperate to come up with a half-way convincing rationale for war. What are you – a conspiracy theorist? Everybody knows the U.S. government is inherently and constitutionally incapable of pulling off such a dirty rotten lowdown trick. After all, isn't that why they hate us – because we're so wonderfully "free"? Free to be spied on; free to be set-up and smeared if we defy the powers-that-be; "free" to be entrapped by cyber-cops who randomly chose the single most convincing opponent of the War Party to snare in a web of deception."

Read more at [Link: sf.indymedia.org...]