FROM RITTER PAGE 3 Former UN inspector speaks
DOWNTOWN SM — When war critic Scott Ritter walked into the Main Library on Monday to promote his new book and blast the architects of the conflict in Iraq, the former United Nations weapons inspector was basically preaching to the converted.
A packed auditorium at the Santa Monica Public Library applauded and cheered as Ritter, the author of “Target Iran,” lambasted the United States’ military policy in Iraq, saying that Americans have no business tearing apart the Middle Eastern country.
Taking part in the library’s “In Conversation” series, Ritter, who was the United Nations Special Commission senior weapons inspector from 1991-98, spoke about his book and the United States’ current involvement in the Middle East through an interview with former LA Times Columnist Robert Scheer.
The event drew so many people that a second room had to be opened upstairs, where the conversation between Ritter and Scheer was streamed live.
“I wanted to hear what he had to say,” said Chris Mladinov, of Santa Monica, who arrived late and had to watch the discussion from the second floor.
Like many who came to listen to Ritter, Mladinov said he is against the conflict in Iraq, but supports the war in Afghanistan, a country whose Taliban government was harboring the criminals responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks.
But in Iraq, there was no crime committed against the United States to justify war, Mladinov said.
Part of Ritter’s talk focused on the American public’s ignorance when it comes to American foreign policy overseas and about Iraq itself, as well as his criticism of mainstream media for regurgitating the words of the Bush Administration without question.
Ritter said he was driving one day when he heard the Green Day song “American Idiot” and realized something.
“It became so obvious that the American public doesn’t know squat about the world we live in,” Ritter said.
Americans, as a whole, were easily deceived by the Bush Administration that the late Iraq dictator Saddam Hussein was the “personification of evil,” Ritter said.
He went on to criticize government officials who talk about creating a solution in Iraq when they actually don’t know anything about the country. They don’t know the difference between Sunni and Shiite; they don’t know what is Wahhabism, an Islamic movement; and they don’t know the difference between Kurds and Arabs, according to Ritter.
“You better damn well know the difference between those two (Sunni and Shiite) if you’re going to talk about coming up with a solution, Mr. (Silvestre) Reyes, congressman from Texas, head of the House Intelligence Committee,” Ritter yelled. “But we might want to remind Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, who appointed this man.
“I think she couldn’t pass the pop quiz either. None of them can.”
History will show that Hussein was actually the best thing going on in these times, Ritter said. Hussein was a secular Arab who was not only against Shiite fundamentalists, but was also opposed to Sunni fundamentalism.
While the United States government accused Hussein for killing 400,000 Iraqi citizens in 30 years, the U.S. actually killed 600,000 of them in four years, Ritter said. “We call him a war criminal for this,yet now we are in Iraq, we took apart the glue that held Iraq together, and we’re doing the same damn thing, but even worse,”Ritter said.
Ritter, a registered Republican, is anything but a fan of Hussein. The approach the Americans should’ve taken was regime change through an interaction that promotes growth of democratic principles, not change through invasion, he said.
Ritter, a graduate of Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania, was a Marine before ascending the ranks and ultimately accepting a position with the United Nations.
Following the talk, fans lined up for Ritter to autograph a newly purchased copy of “Target Iran.” Santa Monica resident Rocco Anderson stood in line, grasping a copy of the book.
Anderson arrived late and only caught the last 15 minutes of the talk.
“I wanted to find out what somebody on the inside had to say about everything that has been going on with this administration and the war in Iraq,” Anderson said. “It’s good to hear someone saying what I’ve been thinking.”
Some people wanted to hear what Ritter would say about the potential for military conflict in Iran. The short answer is yes — the United States will go to war against Iran, he said.
It’s a thought that frightens Pamela Deliz of Santa Monica.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 28, 2007. Read the original PDF.