Cognitive Infiltration and the forgotten legacy of Scott Ritter's WMD lies
"Stop misquoting me, There's no two Scott Ritters. There's one Scott Ritter" -Crosstalk 9/02
There something very weird about former Military Intelligence officer Scott Ritter. Giving him a just little closer inpection, particulary into his past, you will notice that he is not who appears to be. He may not be the patriotic, crusader for truth & peace that he portends to be.
He’s been an influential media personality, on and off, for close to 30 years. If my social media spaces were not filled with his videos being shared. Coupled with the fact that he seems to have a large following that doesn’t know him beyond other than his present ‘alt media’ persona, which is built on him being the leader of the ‘WMD Truth’ movement from the Bush wars era.
Most do not know him by his first media personality. A Hero of the Neocon Washington establishment and rabid bulldog, barking at and chasing Clinton in the US and Saddam Hussian , in Iraq, from around from 97’ to 99’ while grooming congressman and political spectators with firery rhetoric and fawning War Hawk, massive media coverage for the impending drive to invasion. From what I have surmised, he would rather not talk about that Scott Ritter. It’s understandable, while he has developed a winning grift formula, telling a significant portion of the ‘alt’ community what they want to hear, can be profitable.
Here is the problem, the entire edifice of his media cultivated image is built on deception.When a man was the top weapons expert whose self-described job was to expose the ways that Iraq was hiding weapons of mass destruction;
When he leads the charge for war ‘as the expert’ and then, inexplicably, does an almost-instantaneous about-face, on his previous stance, while still posing as an expert witness;
When he not only offers no explanation for this change in his supposedly expert opinion but even denies it occurred;
And when the mass media for the most part pretends nothing had happened; On September 3rd 1998 Ritter appeared before the US Senate and House of Representatives, respectively. He testified that Iraq had several nuclear weapons which needed only the fissile cores to be operational.
Well, ladies and gentleman, that seems to tell us a lot about the kind of information/perception warfare environment we are in.
Scott Ritter is a kind of glitch in the matrix
This created a international media storm. Senior officials at the IAEA last week categorically denied statements by former chief inspector Scott Ritter that United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) data strongly suggested that Iraq had developed and assembled three nuclear explosive devices that were missing only fissile material.”
”
Adding to my motivation to bring up ‘old news’, is the massive, bloody failure of the Iraq wars are frequently discussed in today’s political moment(Particularly On pro Trump media) as being a ‘NeoCon-led’ and acknowledged blood-soaked failure for the US and the world. So, I felt compelled to share this information regarding the much less known pre-9/11 drum march to war in Iraq. I did not know about it until just a few years ago. It took me by surprise!
Hysteria was sowed around the country from 1997 to 1999 to around Spring of 1999. Ritter stopped his insatiable drive to war after 9/11 and returned to the media spot light, an inexpliably changed man. The main sowers of Iraqi doom and danger before Bush was Scott Ritter when he worked in an official capacity at UNSCOM. As well as the NeoCon-lead war hawk media , reporting on what Ritter was saying.
Anyway, More succintly, a Ritter deep dive reveals 1) Ritter is some kind of conartist/intelligence asset 2) how the media and intelligence environment intermingle with what amounts to actors who are completely insincere. IMO, Ritter seems to be managing ‘alt media’ narrative regarding certain topics. For what ends, idk.
Basics from his Wikipedia:
William Scott Ritter Jr. (born July 15, 1961) is an American former United States Marine Corps intelligence officer, former United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) weapons inspector, author, and commentator.[6][5] He is a convicted child sex offender.[4][7][8]
Interestingly, Ritter was born into a military family and is intergenerational Military Intelligence. He got his start doing anti-Soviet operations in Afghanistan. A degree in Soviet history with a very specific speciality in certain Muslim resistence episodes in the Russian Empire. Sounds like something that may come in handy in Afghanistan if you are tying to give the Soviets a rough time.
He also apparently developed a penchant for 13-14 year old girls. Hence his arrests. That is certainly a trait that is looked for in those who wish to control other people. His sexual misconduct arrests were in 2001 (No time served) and 2010 (convicted and served time) So he appears to be a perfect candidate for ‘Cognitive Infiltration’ and doing the bidding of those that like to control people for dirty deeds.
It’s difficult to find any press about his 2001 arrest except it being referenced when his 2010 arrest happened.
The below is a 2010 article referecing his 2001 arrest. His 2001 conviction was apparently just unsealed in 2010.
Two months later, Ritter turned up at a fast-food restaurant, where police said they had set up a sexual meeting while posing as a 15-year-old girl. Ritter was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of soliciting a minor. Despite his national prominence, Ritter's arrest was not publicly announced.
So, in 2001 when he was Mr ‘WMD” truth was becoming a peace celebrity his arrest was ‘not publically announed’. Nothing suspicious about that, I suppose.
Moving on, for those unfamiliar with the term, ‘Cognative Infiltration’, it was coined under the Obama adminstration by Cass Susstine, who advised the goverment to infiltrate dissident/conspirascy groups , posing as one of them, for the prime purpose of misleading them or what they describe as coming to the correct conclusion.
In my estimation, “Cognative Infilrators’ pepper the ‘alt media; ecosystem’. Particulalry when an influencer gets to a certain level of celebrity.
Ritter first came to media fame in the late 90s when he was ‘Cheif Concealment Officer’ for UNSCOM, from 1991 until August 1998, when he abruptly resigned in protest of the Clinton administration’s, seemingly for him and the UN not taking the Iraqi threat seriously, Additionally, there were rumors about him being an Israelis spy circulating, which may have been the prime impetus in his resignation.
Not to nitpik, but he was not really a ‘weapons inspector’, per se. He had a very specific job that looked for ways that the Iraqi regime may have hid it’s production and/or stockpiles of weapons. He was a ‘concealment officer’. The only that I was aware of in a large 1000+ person organization. The War Hawk media portrayed him as this rugged, maverick personality, who ‘spoke truth to power’ and was adament that the Clinton Adminstration was not taking the Iraqi threat seriously. According to him, Iraqi intelligence was obstructing his ability to inspect and thus, likely hiding their most prized , dangerous weapons. He demanded the Clinton Adminstration act!
Another noteworthy point about Ritter’s position at UNSCOM. He appears to be the spokeman for the whole operation. That was an organization with over 1000 inspectors, typically different types of scientists and there was some big brains and prestigious diplomats were part of the operation. Even though he was the ‘face’ of UNSCOM for 2 years, he did not attend their 30 year anniversery in 2021.
Ritter, with age his specific degree in Soviet History, makes him kind of stick out as an oddball, especially for being the face of the operation. He and the press constantly called him ‘cheif weapons inspector’, which he was not. He was ‘cheif concealment officer’ He apparently told actual inspectors where to look and he would question Iraqi official in a very hostile manner. This would get the Iraqi’s pissed and Ritter kicked out of an opperatioon, which would result in him runnjng back to Washington to tell on Saddam with the press following him, that he was being extremely uncooperative and ‘obstructing’ official UN business .
Anyway, he was the media face of UNSCOM for the world. He obviously had handlers with media connections. His self-descibed ‘alpha dog’ strategy, likely caused more friction and lots of bad press for Iraq, than producing anythjing productive.
Here is a Weekly Standard piece, written right after Ritter resigned explaing the situation pretty well. The “Expert”, Scott Ritter, says that Iraq is a major danger that must be dealt with. Coincidentally, the Lewinsky scandal broke when Clinton was was dealing with the full court media attack by Ritter and his Neocon supporters in early 1988. The Neocon media loved Ritter. As evidenced by a NeoCon of Nobility stock, Robert Kagan, using Ritter like a club to bash over Clinton’s head and drum up support for violence. It’s interesting to note Scott Ritter’s feelings on the ‘Neocons’ now. Interestingly, when Ritter became leader of ‘WMD” truth and got a LOT of press, the once-supportive war hawk media personalities, kind of game him a pass. Instead of rubbing his own words in his face, from when he was activey working for UNSCOM, in an easy effort to discredit him, they left his recent 180 change a secret.
"The Weekly Standard September 28, 1998 A Way To Oust Saddam By Robert Kagan (Robert Kagan is a contributing editor)
Former weapons inspector Scott Ritter has been warning Congress that the day is not far off--maybe a matter of a few months--when Saddam will suddenly present the United States and the world with a horrifying fait accompli: He will have his weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. If that day comes, no sanctions, no threat of sanctions, no angry U.N. resolutions, and no threat of "force" will be of any use. Saddam's new weapons would dramatically shift the strategic balance in the Middle East, putting at severe risk the safety of Israel, of moderate Arab states, and of the energy resources on which the United States and its allies depend.
The Clinton administration clearly has no idea how to handle this imminent and devastating threat to American interests. Clinton officials want Americans to believe that winning votes in the U.N. Security Council constitutes a policy for dealing with the Saddam menace. They dismiss Scott Ritter as "clueless.""
After his resignstion in August in 1998, he went on a full court media-blitz and speaking tours around the country.
Including ‘news’ of a book release!December 1998, the San Francisco Examiner ran the following story:
Ex-U.N. arms inspector: Bomb Iraq
New York - Former United Nations arms inspector Scott Ritter has signed a contract to write a book in which he spells out his suggestions for dealing with Iraq: Bomb the country and overthrow its leader, Saddam Hussein.
"Nothing less will work, and nothing less is justified," Ritter is quoted as saying in Simon & Schuster's announcement Tuesday of his book, "The Iraq Solution," due out in April.
Ritter's book will discuss Hussein's use of chemical weapons against Kurds and Iranians, and "why he must be stopped" before he uses mass-killing weapons again, the publisher said.
Ritter, an ex-Marine, created a stir Aug. 26 when he quit the United Nations Special Commission that monitors Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. He said then that the panel's efforts were being undermined by vacillating American and U.N. policy-makers.
[...]
--------------------------------------------------------
The book never materialized. It appears to have been just a head fake, possibly to scare Clinton or plans changed.
An impressive publisher like Simon & Schuster’s wide spread announcement of a book certainly gave Ritter’s violence activism, a potential aire of credibility (If the book had actusally been published) . This release was also carried by the Associated Press, London Times, USA Today and Washington Times, and reported by various local news stations.
*That type of media savvy requires handlers with connections, Ritter could not do that alone.
News of the book release caused quite a stir in the beltway because Ritter had a powerful media presence as the world’s foremost expert in Iraqi weapons concealment.
Hilariously, The fake book relase was then actually brought up by a reporter at the White House press briefing that day.
The following exchange took place:
Excerpt from White House briefing 9 December 1998:
Question: Joe, one more on Iraq. Does the White House have any comment on Scott Ritter's comments, that the only way to settle this is to bomb Iraq?
MR. [Joe] LOCKHART: No.
[Excerpt from White House briefing 9 December 1998 ends here]
Clinton tepidly bombed Iraq a week later.
Also, in December 1999 he did an interview with Frontline to discuss his role with Israel. There is a lot to unpact in that interview. Israel drove the inspection process by feeding Ritter ‘leads. Rumors circulated that he was an Isaeli asset and the FBI was investigated him for espionage.
This cooperation with Israel. Obviously, that's sensitive. I mean, Israel and the Arab world, that's the pariah, right? So, are we maybe crossing some kind of line here?
We're not crossing any line, in terms of the legalities of what UNSCOM's doing, but it's called being politically aware. We needed Israeli help, and I'll be frank with you: If it weren't for the government of Israel and the assistance it provided the special commission, the information fuel that feeds the inspection process would have run dry by the end of 1995. It was Israel and Israel alone that kept us going, through some very difficult times, and allowed UNSCOM to establish its own independent capability, its own independent credibility with other governments, and get the process flowing, so that by the end of 1997, early 1998, UNSCOM is again back on its feet, running the show, with Israel help but now with the help of other governments.
Now, not only did he drum up of fear about WMDs he did occastionally dabble in atrocity porn. Very renminicent of the famouse ‘incubator babies’.
Scott Ritter, early 1998. Speaking of Iraqi toddler prisons. Probably where they sent the incubator babies if they survived!
”It appeared to be a prison for children — toddlers up to pre-adolescents — whose only crime was to be the offspring of those who have spoken out politically against the regime of Saddam Hussein. It was a horrific scene. Actually I’m not going to describe what I saw there because what I saw was so horrible”
The list goes on of interviews and articles primarily from late 97 to early 99, all echoing the same thing. Saddam is an imminent danger. Biological weapons, nukes around the corner and baby torture chambers. The US needs to act now!
After he resigned from his position at UNSCOM, he went on a ‘bomb-Iraq’ speaking tour and full court press blitz, speaking to think tanks and colleges on how Iran is a grave dsanger and Clinton refuses to do anything. This went on until January 1999.
Ritter’s last media appearence to comment on his analysis of Clinton’s bombing of Iraq . He concluded it did absolutely nothing to diminish the threat of Saddam’s weapons and he agreed with Republicans of the time, it was likely a distraction from the Lewinksy Affair.
While still maintaining his tough-guy, Maverick and Truth Teller public image he inexplicably changed his ‘expert’ opinion. This time the focus of his anger was at the Bush Adminstation for basically agreeing with and in acting in accoredence of his ’expert’ opinion of the 1998 Scott Ritter. The 2002 Scott Ritter was relieved that nobody brought up the 1998 Scott Ritter
So, how did Ritter go from this in 1998;
US House Committee on National Security on 16 September 1998:
[Excerpt from Statement starts here]
The reality is that Iraq is winning its bid to retain its prohibited weapons. …
Iraq is not disarmed. Iraq still poses a real and meaningful threat to its neighbors, and nothing the Security Council or the United States is doing currently will change this fact..
To this;"'The truth of the matter is that Iraq has not been shown to possess weapons of mass destruction,' he said in an address to the Iraqi National Assembly -- the first by an American and widely seen as a propaganda coup for Hussein. 'Iraq today is not a threat to its neighbors.'"
-- Washington Post, 21 October 2002
For the most part, the media did not bring up his transformation besides a small spattering of left leaning venues who did notice. They didn’t press it. Likely, because he was presumably on ‘their side’.
Robert Kagan sure never brought it up in his manic war promoting frenzy from 2001 until the frenzy
Like everything Ritter says, this is stated aggressively and regardless of facts:
"…Stop misquoting me. First of all, I stand by everything I've said. I haven't retracted anything -- let me make that very clear. I stand by everything I've said. There's no two Scott Ritters. There's one Scott Ritter, and he's been thoroughly consistent."
Crosstalk, on September 15, 2002.
With the, purely coincidental, stroke of luck of the murderous disaster of 9/11 , made Al-Quada became an ally to NeoCons and Zionists eager for regime change. The emotional environment creareds, making the selling WMDs to the public much much, easier.
I still wonder, how instrumental Ritter’s 90s work on WMDs was on the post 9/11 push. Ritter laid the groundwork for Bush & co to pick up and run with.