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October 12, 2008
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AP photo / Jim Bourg, pool

Third-Party Blues

Ralph Nader is right: The two-party system is failing America. There isn’t time between now and Election Day to create a viable third-party candidate, and so the sad reality is one of two deeply flawed men, the byproduct of a deeply flawed political system, will serve as president for the next four or eight years.

Posted on Oct 9, 2008 152 COMMENTS



AP photo / Bullit Marquez

‘Where Are the Weapons of Mass Destruction?’

Dave continued pacing back and forth in front of Mohammed. “My president,” he said, “is in trouble. Can you help him?” Mohammed was taken aback by the question. “Excuse me?” he asked. “Could you repeat yourself?” Dave sat down next to the Iraqi. “George Bush is in trouble. Our people did not find any WMD in Iraq. Can you help us?”

Posted on Aug 11, 2008 74 COMMENTS



AP photo / Brennan Linsley

Acts of War

The war between the United States and Iran is on. American taxpayer dollars are being used, with the permission of Congress, to fund activities that result in Iranians being killed and wounded, and Iranian property destroyed. This wanton violation of a nation’s sovereignty would not be tolerated if the tables were turned.

Posted on Jul 29, 2008 122 COMMENTS



AP photo / Hasan Sarbakhshian

Iran Shows Its Cards

Iran’s recent missile tests should remove all doubt that an attack by either the United States or Israel would be a terrible mistake.

Posted on Jul 14, 2008 154 COMMENTS



AP photo / Henry Arvidsson / United Nations

The Nuclear Expert Who Never Was

As a former U.N. weapons inspector, Scott Ritter knows a thing or two about nuclear threats around the world. So when so-called experts go on television or appear in print to help make the case for war with Iran, it gets his attention.

Posted on Jun 26, 2008 139 COMMENTS



DoD / R.D. Ward

Investigate This

As a critic of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, especially when unsubstantiated allegations of weapons of mass destruction are used to sell a war, I am no stranger to the concept of questioning authority. It’s too bad more journalists can’t say the same thing.

Posted on Jun 9, 2008 68 COMMENTS


Chicago skyline
Wikimedia Commons / AllyUnion

Taking a Stand Against War

The Chicago City Council is debating a resolution urging the Illinois congressional delegation to oppose a war with Iran. Scott Ritter, who has been called as an expert witness on the matter, explains why the resolution should be supported—and not just by the citizens of Chicago.

Posted on May 11, 2008 61 COMMENTS



DoD / U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley

The Pentagon vs. America

Former Marine and U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter has spoken out vehemently against the war, so it surprises some that he still embraces military service. In this article, Ritter explains why opposition to a war doesn’t mean lack of patriotism or a failure to “support the troops” and the services in which they serve.

Posted on May 5, 2008 36 COMMENTS


Ahmed Chalabi
AP photo / Hadi Mizban

Dinner With Ahmed

As we approach the fifth anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, I find myself thinking back on how we got ourselves into this predicament. ... As I examine where we are today and contemplate our future and those who are positioning themselves to play a role in Iraq, it seems to me that there is at least one such incident, a dinner party I attended at the home of Ahmed Chalabi in June 1998 that is worthy of a more public illumination.

Posted on Mar 17, 2008 36 COMMENTS


Mughniyeh coffin
AP photo / Hussein Malla

The Mughniyeh Enigma

Imad Mughniyeh was once America’s most-wanted terrorist, and his crimes were truly abhorrent. But his assassination, Ritter argues, will only lead to more violence.

Posted on Feb 26, 2008 53 COMMENTS


Iraqi
AP photo / Khalid Mohammed

Iraq’s Tragic Future

The former U.N. weapons inspector examines the president’s claims about the “surge” and says what the media and Congress won’t: It is not a strategy, it is an escalation, one that will not prevent the coming collapse of Iraq. There are no solutions just waiting to be found, and the only sensible thing to do is leave. Now.

Posted on Feb 5, 2008 67 COMMENTS


Musharraf
AP photo / David Guttenfelder

The Pakistan Conundrum

Pervez Musharraf’s recent actions remind us, Ritter argues, that America’s special relationship with Pakistan serves neither country’s best interests.

Posted on Jan 16, 2008 37 COMMENTS


Baghdad
AP photo / Dusan Vranic

The Five Iraqs

From Hillary Clinton to Mitt Romney, the candidates have no shortage of solutions for the Iraq mess, but their shallow rhetoric reveals an ignorance of the increasingly fractured and disastrous reality.

Posted on Dec 30, 2007 55 COMMENTS


Senators
AP photo / Lawrence Jackson

Calling on Congress to Stop a War

The former chief weapons inspector argues that the Bush administration isn’t going to let facts get in the way of its eagerly sought war with Iran. If there’s any hope of avoiding such a conflict, Ritter writes, Congress will have to rouse from its slumber and act, rather than continuing to wait for the White House to make the first move.

Posted on Dec 7, 2007 83 COMMENTS


Turkish flag
AP photo / Murad Sezer

The Not-So-Sick Man of Europe Does Matter

The former weapons inspector and military intelligence officer argues that Turkey, once dismissed as the “sick man of Europe,” will be ignored by the West at its own peril.

Posted on Nov 23, 2007 31 COMMENTS


Bush and Cheney
AP photo / Charles Dharapak

On the Eve of Destruction

The former intelligence officer and weapons inspector argues that the president’s recent World War III comment offers some rare insight into the highly secretive world of George W. Bush’s White House, where the leader of the free world gets advice from reckless neoconservatives, “war criminal” Dick Cheney and “God.”

Posted on Oct 22, 2007 83 COMMENTS


Cheney and fighter jet
AP photo / Gerald Herbert

Iraq Will Have to Wait

If you think the Iraq war is a disaster, just wait until we start bombing Iran. The countdown to another war is both real and terrifying, Ritter argues, and, distasteful though it may seem, it won’t be stopped so long as Iraq holds on to the spotlight.

Posted on Sep 27, 2007 73 COMMENTS


Couric and troops
AP Photo / Charles Dharapak

Reporting From Baghdad

Katie Couric’s “entertainment-as-news” excursion to Baghdad, Ritter argues, is symptomatic of an America that consistently refuses to properly identify and address the real problems in Iraq.

Posted on Sep 6, 2007 67 COMMENTS


Cheney
AP Photo / Mark Humphrey

Why Cheney Really Is That Bad

Although Karl Rove is stepping down, the real menace in the White House is staying on. Dick Cheney, Ritter argues, more than Kim Jung Il or Osama bin Laden, is the greatest threat to American and international security in the world today.

Posted on Aug 21, 2007 78 COMMENTS


Cindy Sheehan Speaks
AP Photo / Gerald Herbert

A Call to Service

The “Waging Peace” author argues that the antiwar movement’s strategies are failing to reach everyday Americans and doing little to end the war or repair our troubled democracy. He proposes a different model to win the hearts and minds of mainstream America: national service.

Posted on Jul 31, 2007 89 COMMENTS


Indian nuke
AP Photo / Ajit Kumar, File

A Farewell to Arms Control

Scott Ritter, a former U.N. weapons inspector and the author of “Waging Peace,” mourns the passing of the United Nations agency charged with monitoring Iraq’s WMD program. That agency suffered a political assassination recently to save the Bush administration any lingering embarrassment. With the closure of UNMOVIC, Ritter writes, the world has lost perhaps its last best hope for meaningful arms control and inspection.

Posted on Jul 5, 2007 14 COMMENTS


Bush
AP Photo / Ron Edmonds

Repudiation, Not Impeachment

The former weapons inspector and author of “Waging Peace” argues that the mere impeachment of President Bush would fail to repair the damage caused by an executive branch run amok and an uninformed and uninvolved citizenry.

Posted on May 31, 2007 172 COMMENTS


U.S. troops detain a protester
AP Photo / Adil al-Khazali

The Good American

The former Marine intelligence officer and author of “Waging Peace” takes on Alan Dershowitz, the American Legion and other advocates of the war who have equated “supporting the troops” with continuing the senseless and often brutal occupation of Iraq.

Posted on May 10, 2007 100 COMMENTS


Baghdad Wall
AP Photo / David Guttenfelder

Mr. Bush, Tear Down These Walls!

With his security barrier in Baghdad, a wall along the Mexican border and the provocative missile defense shield plan in Europe, President Bush’s interest in barrier-building is a betrayal of his conservative forebears that does not bode well for the spread of freedom and democracy.

Posted on Apr 26, 2007 33 COMMENTS


Flag
AP Photo / Petros Karadjias

The Final Act of Submission

The former weapons inspector who foretold the Iraq disaster argues that the newly empowered Democrats have allowed the Israel lobby to subvert America’s foreign policy by tacitly endorsing war with Iran.

Posted on Apr 13, 2007 106 COMMENTS


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