Scott Ritter on Foxnews

“full transcript of Fox News Channel's David Asman's interview with former United Nations weapons inspector Scott Ritter

Here are a few excerpts:

ASMAN: So he might still have all of those barrels of evil stuff, the biochemical weapons?

RITTER: It's not a matter of "still have," he might have been able to make those weapons in the intervening time.

ASMAN: Right, and chances are he has those weapons but he doesn't have the power to deliver them?

RITTER: No, first of all, I never said he has them and I'm not saying chances are he has them, I'm saying there's a possibility he could reconstitute this capability and that's why we have to have inspectors in place.

You can't go from the fact we can't confirm the final disposition of important elements of his program -- which is the case -- to suddenly giving Saddam Hussein massive strike capability that threatens the United States of America. You can't make that leap.

It is something you have to be concerned about. But the problem with what Bush is doing today is that he's made that leap, void of any intelligence information to substantiate that.



RITTER: I didn't say that. How do you think I got the government with him? He can get me the audience. I take advantage. ... I am waging peace in the same way other people wage war -- I am trying to stop a war that doesn't need to be fought. This is not anti-American.

[Unintelligible] ... put my life on the line for my country. And I would do so again if the cause is just, if the cause is founded. If there is a threat worth dying for, make the case, Mr. Bush. And I will support your war with Iraq to the hilt. But until you make that case, all we have is speculative rhetoric and that is not justification.”

“I think Scott should be considered a hero, not some kind of freak/spy/hippy... He's speaking his mind, he has experience in the matter. Osama might still be out there, Saudi Arabia is still creating terrorist schools... we are not doing anything about these, but we are looking to kick Iraq's ass again... they won't back down, and they won't put up much of a fight either... it's just political”

“The thing that really got me about the interview was how Asman really laid into him, like he was trying to prove the guy is an iraqi spy or something.”

“If they can't debate him on the facts, character assassination is the only option remaining.”

“I'm trying to figure out who was interviewed on GMA today, I think it was Ritter's former boss, who is claiming that while Ritter worked for him, he (Ritter) painted a MUCH more threatening picture about Iraq's military and terroristic capabilities.”

“totally... Fox News is the biggest Republican spin factory out there... I feel like I'm watching pro wrestling, it might be kinda entertaining but never take it seriously”

“You have to wonder about someone who goes into journalism without changing his name from Ass-man.”

“You should've seen the exchange between Scott Ritter and Richard Butler (the former boss) on CNN last night.

Butler said that Ritter was changing his story on Iraqi WMD. Ritter countered that this was not the case and that Butler knew it. He also stated that he had the documentation (signed by Butler) to back it up. Then Butler asked, "Are you calling me a liar?"

Ritter said, "Yes, you're a liar and I have the documentation to prove it. Would you like copies?"


Not something you see every day...”

“Right or wrong, the guy has brass ones.”

“It wasn't your usual 'slap & tickle'....”

“They key to appreciating Fox News is Roger Ailes. Ailes is chairman and president of Fox news. He is an intense partisan. He was a Bush campaign aide - and was responsible for the Willie Horton ad. He was once the executive producer of the Rush Limbaugh show. He put Bush's cousin in charge of the Florida election coverage in 2000. And people grouse about biased liberal media!”

“a bunch of whiney libs consoling each other about the fact that their hero's are loosing their grip on the public when it comes to "big media"........




sorry to interrupt, please carry on....”

“LOL! Violin. I was thinking the same thing about his name (hadn't seen your post when I sent mine).”

“Sorry to bother you with the facts Strat, enjoy your name calling!”

“bout time, dontcha think? why do you think fox is so sucessful? cuz people think they lie? no,,,,,cuc people are hungry for a fairer and balanceder news source they can rely on. i like fox news. look up all the owners for the other big networks. check into their backgrounds and political ambitions........sorry i called you whiney, ped........”

“i think this makes a valid point...i mean i think his opinion should be considered strtongly by the admistration. i remember hearin an interview when he first left iraq, and it seemed at that time his gander was way up because they(iraQ) were not giving hime the acsess he wanted. he quit in frustration, as i recall. also you have to consider that there may be intel that he is not privy to conserning these matters...”

“Ritter is the Jesse Jackson of UN weapons inspectors...a total opportunist lacking credibility..who happened to be at the right place at the right time...It seems pretty obvious that he is an Iraqi sympathiser...who is looking to gain financialy from the whole situation...”

“I don't find that to be obvius at all, davies. What makes you see him in that light?

Strat, every time you say "get his gander up" it hits me with a vision of some guy with a goose sticking out of his pants. I'm not sure why. It's "dander", not "gander", okay?”

“err obvious. Sorry for the typo.”

“Phaed -

Could you try to be a little more balanceder in your criticism?”

“I wasn't trying to be mean.

Violin, you're just a liberal, which means you have no opinion worth listening to. Hush up.”

“That stinking liberal good-for-nothing Paula Zahn at the Communist News Network really handle Ritter with kid gloves.”

“err... handled”

“Careful with they typos. You'll be accused of being me in a minute.”

“Haven't you heard? We're all interchangeable anyway.”

“I love this part. I wonder where Richard Butler's paycheck is coming from now?

ZAHN: Do you think Saddam Hussein will ever comply?

RITTER: I have no idea. What I know is, we won't know until we give him a chance to comply. We cannot presume guilt. We must go in and allow the process to work, the process of disarmament as set forth by the Security Council of the United Nations in its resolutions.

The United States simply cannot come in and dictate a pre-ordained outcome of Iraqi noncompliance and military action, which is what President Bush did yesterday. Let the system have a chance to work. If Iraq fumbles -- and they probably will, because they don't have a good track record on this -- if they fumble...

ZAHN: Then what?

RITTER: Then, we have no problem lining up support around the world. Then, we won't be standing alone.

ZAHN: Isn't it enough -- and we've just got 10 seconds left -- that he has already violated 16 U.N. resolutions?

RITTER: Inspectors aren't in Iraq today, but not because Saddam kicked them out, but because the United States ordered them out in 1998. Keep that in mind.

ZAHN: That actually was as a result of U.N. negotiations.

RITTER: Negative. That was the result of Richard Butler unilaterally withdrawing from a system of inspection mechanisms.”

“Funny you should ask Phaedrus. Richard Butler is currently a CIA asset ‘diplomat in residence’ at the Council on Foreign Relations.”

“"We don't want the 'smoking gun' to be a mushroom cloud."
~ Condy Rice

(I LOVE that quote!)”

“A quick Google search on “Council on Foreign Relations” turns up all sorts of Kooky Illuminati and Trilateral Commission conspiracy sites.”

“Butler would be that last person to say "we have no evidence of WMD in Iraq". Seems like his job was to make sure that they FOUND evidence of WMD in iraq.”

“whut da heck is a dander? dam, another childhood misconception....you know, like gorilla warfare, or .......one nation, inviisible...


lol violin, i made that word up for you personally, cuz yer the most balanceder person i know....”

“are ya'll aware that mr ritter went before the iraqi parlement to give a speach deouncing the US? that's pretty "hanoi jane" if you ask me....”

“Those of you that hack on and on about the 2000 election..give it a rest..he won fair and square..based on electoral votes..who cares what ruling the Supreme Court handed down..every legitamite re-count of the ballots has come out in Bush's favor...If you'd rather have a popular vote election..then get the 2/3rds vote and change the Constitution..otherwise shut the fvck up its way past old and wore out...”

“"As someone who counts himself as a fervent patriot and a good citizen of the United States of America, I feel I cannot stand by idly, while my country behaves in such a fashion..."

Seems like he was denouncing a line of action that he disagrees with rather than the US as a whole. Of course the difference has been overlooked often lately, especially by those in full support of this administration.

...went before the iraqi parlement to give a speach deouncing the US? that's pretty "hanoi jane" if you ask me...


You got your information from a source with a pro-bush agenda, I'll wager.

Link to a transcript”

“Oh, and here's my favorite US-denouncing quote from him:

"Iraq must loudly reject any intention of possessing these weapons and then work within the framework of international law to demonstrate this a reality.

The only way that Iraq can achieve this is with the unconditional return of UN weapons inspectors, allowing such inspectors unfettered access to sites inside Iraq in order to complete the disarmament tasks as set forth in Security Council resolutions...
"

Next thing you know, he'll be spitting on government sidewalks! The Commie!”

“Why are the NEW "Conservatives" so immature? They live by dogma, anyone who challenges them (regardless of their politics) are branded a liberal, typically with an adjective in front of it.

We know that Saddam Hussein thinks Muslims are idiots and won't work with them. I'm not saying Saddam isn't potentially dangerous, but when is Bush going to really deal with terrorism?

I think he's just trying to up his approval points, and he's aiming to do it by killing people.

As for Conde Rice, if I was in charge of security of something and failed miserably would I still have a job? NO. This administration is operating in the same manner as Democratic administrations. They just keep creating new jobs, new divisions to do things that other people used to do.

I love how the Airline business has to pick up the paycheck for added security because the INS doesnt' work...”

“Honestly..what do you think Ritter's motive is in all this...The guy is a media hound..a tool of left wing pacifists..I'm convinced his motives are self serving..and am suspicious of his connections with Iraq(in terms of monetary gain from the Iraqi's)”

“Davies, if "pacifist" means needing a reason to invade another country, then I'm a pacifist, and so is pretty much everyone I know. You could say the same things about every other person in the public eye as far as the self-serving and media-hound remarks.

I believe this man's motive in this is to be able to sleep when it's all done, knowing that he didn't back down when he had information that could have prevented a war.

Do you wish he'd just shut up?”

“the people in Nazi Germany who didn't agree with Hitler heard the same kind of rhetoric before they were shot or sent to camp”

“Well, without being overly dramatic, I really think there's a lot of spin being put on this guy's message from the right. As best I can see his message is pretty clear: "We have no evidence of WMD in Iraq. We have no evidence of Iraq supporting Al-Quaeda."

Instead of worrying about his motives, prove him wrong, and get him and the international community on our side before we go tromping into Iraq.

Where is the issue with that?”

“Donman, thats kinda big leap from ashcroft to hitler isnt it? I dont support Ashcrofts stance on liberties but a comparison with Hitler smacks of the type of fearmongering that ashcroft himself has been so condemned of.”

“errr...that would be "condemned for".”

“Any unprovoked unilateral attack by one country on another country is considered a breach of international law. Since I don't see how we can call an attack of Iraq as "defensive" without evidence, we'd be as guilty as Iraq was of invading Kuwait. Also to defy the UN in this matter would destroy it....all to satisfy our President's little man syndrome. Bush's speech smacked of blackmail, "support us or we'll do it anyways". Better hope the UN Security Council passes some sort of supportive resolution or we will have ruined a good thing.”

“Let's get the inspectors back in Iraq. That is the first step, and it's possible that Iraq will cooperate.

On a related note, I've said it many many times, show me a Republican who really wants less government.”

“MY impression of Bush's speech was that he was actually looking to get the inspectors back in. It sounded to me like he was actually calling on the UN to meet him halfway. Of course, today, the message changed a bit.

I think bush's speech writers are hampered by the fact that the idiot speaks without being scripted at times. One day we hear X and the next day we hear Y (Y being what bush thought cheney told him to say, but he can't remember because his shorts are riding up).”

“Bush may not be the most polished public speaker..at least the guy is willing to take a stand on issues that he believes in..whether they are popular or not...Much better than the Zogby poll Pres. that we just had..In terms of being a pacifist..well I think most of us want to avoid bloodshed...but some of us realize that it's a dangerous world..where inaction(Like appeasing Hitler and allowing him to build up his military might) is far more costly than timely action...and please don't get me started on the UN...”

“I agree that inaction in some cases may be costly. Does this mean we should take military action against Iraq? I have seen no real proof of that, and I would really like to, if I am to support it. I'm concerned that this may be a case of a political leader standing for something he believes despite a severe lack of evidence to support him.

I believe the correct course does call for action from the president. He needs to pressure the UN in such a manner as to get the weapons inspections happening again. I thought this was what he stated in his speech on Thursday, and I was supportive of it, but he has changed his tune since then.

The absolute last thing we need is for Bush to violate international law by unilaterally invading Iraq. He could be using the talk of invasion as a tool to spur the UN into action, but his economic track record with the WTO tells me he is not above breaking the rules in order to accomplish a questionable goal (read: Canadian timber tariffs, European steel tarrifs). If we invade Iraq without the support of the international community, we can expect other UN countries to denounce us and refuse to abide by other UN resolutions. In effect, we would be removing the authority of the UN.”

“The UN doesn't have authority..it's only as strong as the members countries commitment to it...Which is weak..The UN is a joke...You may consider yourself a world citizen..but I consider myself to be an American..and I hope the US follows a course of action that is best for us...Hopefully not at the cost of innocents...”