Former weapons inspector questions the war

By Robert Sullivan III '04

America is fighting its current war in Iraq for all the wrong reasons, according to former United Nations weapons inspector William Scott Ritter Jr. On March 28 in the Statler Auditorium on campus, Ritter told a Cornell audience that he does not believe Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction and hence is not a threat to U.S. national security.

Scott Ritter

Formerly a major in the United States Marines, Ritter served as chief inspector of the United Nations Special Commission to disarm Iraq, more popularly known as UNSCOM, until he resigned in 1998. Ritter also has written two books on Iraq: Endgame: Solving the Iraqi Crisis and War on Iraq -- What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know.

Ritter was quick to point out that he is not against the concept of war but said he fails to see a need for the current war. "Iraq cannot be shown to constitute a threat to the national security of the United States," he said.

"We have lost this war before it began," Ritter went on to argue. Faulty reasoning has been used by President Bush to justify the liberation and disarmament of Iraq, and America's campaign in Iraq incorrectly assumes that the Iraqi people want to be liberated, he said.

Now that the United States has committed itself to this war, Ritter said he believes the strategy being implemented by the military is inadequate for the situation in Iraq. The United States has implemented what Ritter referred to as a "radical new way of waging war called effects-based warfare," which is based on flawed assumptions of Iraqi weakness and U.S. international support.

Ritter additionally made the point that President Bush assumes Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has access to weapons of mass destruction. But from his first-hand experience, Ritter argued, it is highly unlikely that Iraq possesses any working nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. "The president has convinced the American people that Iraq has these weapons, thereby posing a threat. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a lie," Ritter said.

And, he said, the allied coalition was built not with nations that actually supported the cause but with countries that wished to gain an elite status with the United States.

Ritter said he does not believe the United States can come away from this war as a "victor." Both the military strategy being employed in Iraq is inadequate and the legitimacy of the United Nations has been destroyed, he said. "We cannot win this war militarily. We cannot win this war diplomatically."

In his closing, Ritter exclaimed: "Is it unpatriotic to stand up to this war while American heroes are dying in Iraq? No, if you disagree with this war it is the most patriotic thing you can do. It is a dereliction of your duty as an American citizen if you fail to do so."

Co-sponsoring the lecture were the Cornell Program Board, the Cornell Arab Association, Watermargin, the Department of Near Eastern Studies and the Cornell Political Coalition.