In the years since former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter resigned his post, he has traveled around the globe on a mission. In addition to writing a book that has been in print for some years now, he has recently made a documentary film, In Shifting Sand, that discusses Iraq’s disarmament program, U.S. sanctions, and U.S. foreign policy in Iraq and the Middle East.
Yesterday, students and faculty gathered to here Ritter speak at the second lecture in the Global Citizenship: Thinking through 9/11 series held in DCC 308. Although the topic of the lecture was “The Widening War: Rethinking Iraq after 9/11,” Ritter touched on the war in Afghanistan, the recent anthrax scares, and other foreign policy and domestic issues.
Ritter revealed the true reason why America went to war with Iraq in 1991—Kuwaiti oil. He believes the justification for war was painted far differently in public. Saddam, who six months before was one of America’s friends, was “demonized” to the American public according to Ritter. “And so Americans thought we were out to get Saddam Hussein.”
As for the sanctions, Ritter believes, “We are at war with Iraq,” and the current economic sanctions that are imposed by the U.S. are an act of war. Their effect on the Iraqi population he said was inexcusable. “Not one, not two, not five children die, but thousands,” he added.
He finally discussed how the U.S. undermined the work of UNSCOM, the United Nations weapons inspection team in Iraq, and how this attitude has not changed in recent presidential administrations.
As for the future, Ritter believes that while Iraq poses no threat to America’s national security that the Bush administration may still want to attack Iraq to finish unfinished business.
