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Scott Ritter archives.
Scott Ritter: US at War with Iran
"We declared a war on terror and those who practice
terror," said Ritter. "Are we going to declare war on ourselves?"
On June 23, 2005, Scott Ritter spoke to 110 people at a fundraiser
for Traprock Peace Center at the Woolman Hill Meeting House. Before the presentation,
Ritter met with 30 people over dinner at Woolman Hill. Hear his presentation
and the question and answers, complete and unabridged. Sunny Miller moderated
the event, introducing Ritter and reading questions from the audience.
Hear this important talk -
mp3
47:08 min; 48 kbps; 16.2 mb
Questions and Answers -
mp3
1:04:57 min; 48 kbps; 22.4 mb
OR, if you can't get through to the above audio, try the
mirrored links below.
Talk
http://mirror.jagflyhosting.com/traprock/audio/scott_ritter_talk_23jun05.mp3
Q and A
http://mirror.jagflyhosting.com/traprock/audio/ritter_23june05_qa.mp3
We are preparing a dvd that will be available through this website.
We encourage radio air play and linking to this page.
(WRPI at RPI is playing the talk on June 27, 2005.)
For resources for antiwar organizing and 'depleted'
uranium,
and photos, see the Traprock Homepage.
Please see copyright notice and acknowledgements below.
(Please note: These are
very large files to download for dial-up connections. We were able to make
RealAudio versions for dial-ups, using Real Producer software, but our computer
was stolen. We aim to regain that capability. In the meantime, please bear
with us. People with dial-ups may wish to download overnight. While they may
be able to play it while it downloads, it will probably have a lot of stops.
An alternative would be to let it download for an hour or so before trying
to play it.)
See the Greenfield Recorder article
on talk below.
Please donate
to help us continue this work.
photo © 2005 Charles Jenks
Ex-U.N. inspector: U.S. already
at war with Iran
By ANITA FRITZ
Recorder Staff
http://www.recorder.com
DEERFIELD - A former weapons inspector told a full house Thursday that the
United States is already at war with Iran and has become a terrorist state
itself, referring to bombings in Iraq and the CIA's collaborations with the
terrorist organization Mujahedin-e Khalq.
Almost 100 people gathered at Traprock Peace Center at Woolman Hill to hear
Scott Ritter, the former United Nations weapons inspector, talk about U.S.
intentions concerning Iran and what citizens can do now to stop another war.
An historical second-round election runoff for Iran's next president was under
way as Ritter spoke.
He said the U.S. has defiled its reputation by engaging in the same tactics
in Iraq and Iran as the terrorists it chases. "We declared a war on terror
and those who practice terror," said Ritter. "Are we going to declare
war on ourselves?"
Ritter said the United States has been conducting secret reconnaissance missions
inside Iran since last summer. He said people would be stunned to know that
the U.S. is at war with Iran. "There hasn't been a national debate and
the president hasn't declared war."
He said it all sounds very familiar. "The war in Iraq began in September
of 2002, not March of 2003 like most would think," said Ritter. "And
the Bush administration fabricated intelligence to back up its decision to
go to war. Later, it manipulated the results of Iraq's elections," he
said.
"We're being told a lot of lies and the media is following blindly and
parroting information," said Ritter.
He said the Bush administration's goal for Iran is the destruction of the
country's alleged program to develop nuclear weapons. Ritter said he believes
the goal is to attack the oil-rich nation with the hopes of leading to a regime
change as in Iraq.
Ritter said Iran has a nuclear energy program, not a nuclear weapons program
as the administration would like Americans to believe.
"They just want to live like we do," said Ritter. "In order
to survive, Iran needs an alternative energy supply. Who are we to say they
can't have that?"
Ritter said the president and his administration know it's an energy program.
"The media knows it as well and I'm just afraid that two or three years
from now, when the truth comes out, the media will say it's old news. It's
not newsworthy," he said.
"This kind of information gets buried on page A21. However, the runaway
bride will never go away. She's been branded in the mindset of America,"
he said.
Ritter told people they need to acknowledge and accept that the battle to
stop the war has been lost and the United States will pay a heavy price.
"This is our Pearl Harbor. The U.S. has taken a big hit and it's going
to take a long time to dig out."
He said the peace movement needs to go back to the grass-roots level. "You
all need to help teach people what it means to be an American," said
Ritter. "As Americans we've sworn an oath of allegiance to the Constitution.
Most don't even know what the document means and the current administration
is dismissive of it."
Ritter said people have to become true citizens and hold the president and
his administration accountable for not following the Constitution.
"(The effects of war) is going to be a decades-long struggle for America,"
said Ritter. "We may be called the United States in years to come, but
if we don't do something about educating ourselves, we won't really be the
United States according to that document," he said.
"I wouldn't give my life for this and I wouldn't expect
anyone else to," said Ritter.
You can reach Anita Fritz at: afritz@recorder.com or (413) 772-0261 Ext. 280
photo © 2005 Charles Jenks
photo © 2005 Charles Jenks
photo © 2005 Charles Jenks
Copyright Notice to Audio Recordings
Copyright 2005 Traprock Peace Center. The audio is available
for radio airplay, without prior permission, provided that the radio station
notifies Traprock of the airing (413-773-7427) and provides attribution that
includes the following information: "Scott Ritter's talk was sponsored
by Traprock Peace Center, www.traprockpeace.org, on June 23, 2005. All rights
reserved." All other public use requires prior permission. In particular,
internet websites are encouraged to link to, but may not post, the audio on
their sites without prior permission. Individuals may download mp3 audio files
for private use only.
Photographs are copyright 2005 Charles Jenks.
All rights reserved; use by permission only. charles@mtdata.com
Acknowledgements
We wish to thank Ed Russell of activeingredients.org for doing
the recording and offering sound editing advice. Norman Lerchen videotaped
the talk. Charlie Jenks took photos and edited the auio for sound quality
only. We are preparing a DVD and audio CD of this important talk for distribution.
We also give our thanks to David Dashefsky, Traprock intern and Campus Antiwar
Network (CAN) Coordinating Committee member from SUNY at Geneseo, for serving
as head chef. Sally Weiss assisted David in preparing the food, and Charles
Peterson (CAN at Holyoke Community College) and Annie Zirin (Western Massachusetts
Chapter of the International Socialist Organization) helped with serving.
A number of people helped with cleanup - thank you. We thank the Woolman Hill
Conference Center for their kind courtesies, and Scott Ritter for giving generously
of his time.
Opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the
views of Traprock Peace Center's Core Group or supporters. When Traprock decides
to publish the audio of a program, we present it all and leave it to the public
to decide what to agree with, and what not to agree with. As we endeavor to
present audio that is suitable for radio airplay, we do edit for sound quality
and continuity, e.g. edits of introductions, 'housekeeping' announcements,
sustained applause and such.
