thedrifter
01-25-06, 08:01 AM
Arms Expert Sees Iran War Ahead
By TOM PULEO
Courant Staff Writer
January 25 2006
WEST HARTFORD -- Weapons expert Scott Ritter said Tuesday that President Bush is using the Iraq conflict to rush the nation to war with Iran.
"The Bush administration has its sights set firmly on Tehran," Ritter told a group of more than 200 people. "The same deception is taking place right before our eyes and most Americans remain blind. It is going to happen. It is happening as we speak."
A former U.S. Marine officer and ballistic missile expert, Ritter said only a reinvigorated U.S. Congress can stop Bush from going into Iran. The Bush administration has said in recent days that Iran is using an energy program as a cover for developing atomic weapons - something Ritter said is not borne out by the facts on the ground. Iran has insisted its uranium enrichment research will be used only to produce electrical power.
"Unless we can find a way to get people elected to Congress who respect the Constitution," Ritter said, "we're headed to war in Iran, ladies and gentlemen."
Ritter received a prolonged standing ovation after his one-hour talk in the town hall auditorium sponsored by West Hartford Citizens for Peace and Justice.
Ritter called Bush an "imperial president" who holds himself above the law in a misguided attempt to spread U.S. influence in the Middle East. Ritter said Iraq is not better off today than before the 2003 invasion.
"It's worse off economically, educationally, with health care, and worse off because 138,000 American citizens are illegally occupying a sovereign state."
At the event, Ritter signed copies of his new book - "Iraq Confidential: The Untold Story of the Intelligence Conspiracy to Undermine the U.N. and Overthrow Saddam Hussein."
After the 1991 Persian Gulf War, Ritter helped lead the U.N. weapons inspections in Iraq and found himself at the center of what he calls a deceitful game being played in Washington.
Ritter said the U.S. goal - going back to the first Bush presidency and the Clinton administration - was never to disarm Saddam Hussein but to remove a dictator who embarrassed the United States by remaining in power after the Persian Gulf War.
He said that when inspectors returned from Iraq in the mid-1990s with the news that the country had no weapons program, CIA officials met them with "ice cold silence."
"It was never about getting rid of weapons," Ritter said. "It was about propaganda to justify continuing sanctions until Saddam could be removed from power."
Bush administration officials now admit they erred about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq - blaming intelligence failures.
"We went to war on a lie," Ritter said. "End of story."
Ellie
By TOM PULEO
Courant Staff Writer
January 25 2006
WEST HARTFORD -- Weapons expert Scott Ritter said Tuesday that President Bush is using the Iraq conflict to rush the nation to war with Iran.
"The Bush administration has its sights set firmly on Tehran," Ritter told a group of more than 200 people. "The same deception is taking place right before our eyes and most Americans remain blind. It is going to happen. It is happening as we speak."
A former U.S. Marine officer and ballistic missile expert, Ritter said only a reinvigorated U.S. Congress can stop Bush from going into Iran. The Bush administration has said in recent days that Iran is using an energy program as a cover for developing atomic weapons - something Ritter said is not borne out by the facts on the ground. Iran has insisted its uranium enrichment research will be used only to produce electrical power.
"Unless we can find a way to get people elected to Congress who respect the Constitution," Ritter said, "we're headed to war in Iran, ladies and gentlemen."
Ritter received a prolonged standing ovation after his one-hour talk in the town hall auditorium sponsored by West Hartford Citizens for Peace and Justice.
Ritter called Bush an "imperial president" who holds himself above the law in a misguided attempt to spread U.S. influence in the Middle East. Ritter said Iraq is not better off today than before the 2003 invasion.
"It's worse off economically, educationally, with health care, and worse off because 138,000 American citizens are illegally occupying a sovereign state."
At the event, Ritter signed copies of his new book - "Iraq Confidential: The Untold Story of the Intelligence Conspiracy to Undermine the U.N. and Overthrow Saddam Hussein."
After the 1991 Persian Gulf War, Ritter helped lead the U.N. weapons inspections in Iraq and found himself at the center of what he calls a deceitful game being played in Washington.
Ritter said the U.S. goal - going back to the first Bush presidency and the Clinton administration - was never to disarm Saddam Hussein but to remove a dictator who embarrassed the United States by remaining in power after the Persian Gulf War.
He said that when inspectors returned from Iraq in the mid-1990s with the news that the country had no weapons program, CIA officials met them with "ice cold silence."
"It was never about getting rid of weapons," Ritter said. "It was about propaganda to justify continuing sanctions until Saddam could be removed from power."
Bush administration officials now admit they erred about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq - blaming intelligence failures.
"We went to war on a lie," Ritter said. "End of story."
Ellie