The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
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Friends, With all respect for Tom Nagy's views, I have to agree with Eric Herring. The issue is not "muddying the water" in as much as being and sounding credible as many have stressed on this list. We have been reminded time and again that what we say and post must be correct and consistent. Scott Ritter has not been consistent. If he was able to change his mind once, what is to stop him from changing his mind again and again? Would we still quote Ritter if he goes back to what he was? If we remember well, it was Ritter who created the crisis of the Presidential Palaces, when he insisted on entering them. He gave the US administration the justifications it needed (flimsy as they were) to attack Iraq later that year. His resignation was not due to any awakening or humanitarian concern for the Iraqis: on the contrary, his criticism of the US administration was because, in his opinion, it wasn't doing enough against Iraq. He thought it was being too soft on Iraq, and he wanted it to use force… For seven years, he continued to carry out the work for the US army intelligence (disguised as a UN official), spying on Iraq for the US and for a foreign state (Israel), like he himself later admitted. Why didn't Ritter, working for the UN, express his opposition to Butler's policies while he was still working for UNSCOM? If he dared oppose the US administration, couldn't he have opposed his UN boss, and gone directly to the UN Secretary General or the Press to expose what was being done??? At that time, Ritter gave Ekeus and then Butler reports that Iraq was not in 100% compliance and he wanted 100% disarmament. Why didn't Ritter then talk of qualitative disarmament versus quantitative disarmament? Was his conscience on vacation?? Questions that I have put even to Iraqi officials I met last April, and to which no one had an answer.. So what happened between December 1998 and his awakening? Shakir Al Khafaji happened, who gave Ritter 400 000 reasons to change his mind!! Would Ritter change his mind again if he were given more reasons to do so by someone else??? That is why I believe that someone like Ritter has lost his credibility with me at least, and I do not quote him. I would rather use statements by Rolf Ekeus and Kofi Annan on UNSCOM's spying activities to expose these issues than refer to Ritter. Sorry, but that is how I feel…. Hassan _________________________________________________________ Chatting in Arabic is more fun with Maktoob Chat. So go and join the crowd! http://www.maktoob.com/ _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk