Customer Reviews

Frontier Justice: Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Bushwhacking of America

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Scott Ritter uses effective and compelling prose in this well-written book to dismantle Bush's justifications for war. Harnessing his considerable knowledge of Iraq's WMD programs and capabilites, Ritter proves himself to be perhaps the most objective, qualified American to speak to whether Iraq was a legitimate threat or not, as well as a surprisingly strong author.

Because I was aware of the points Ritter was articulating in the months leading up to war, the fact that no Weapons of Mass Destruction ever turned up has been no surprise to me. The one issue that had continued to confuse me was the apparent "flip flop" that Ritter seemed to make between 1998 (when he implied Iraq WAS a threat) and now. Ritter deals with this issue head-on, detailing the differences (from an inspector's perspective) between a technical threat, and a practical one.

Ritter's wordsmithing is thankfully sharp, making the inherently-complex subject matter highly readable. A couple of chapters dealing with the background to the conflict slow the pace slightly, and Ritter's late-chapter comparison of Bush to Hitler's[] ambition strikes me as overkill in an otherwise level-headed analysis.

Nonetheless, this book is highly recommended to anyone on either side of the ideological aisle who wishes to hear from an informed source on the issue of Iraq's WMD.

Scott Ritter writes and talks like the no-nonsense ex-Marine he is. Since his viewpoint is anti-militarism in the Bush preventive war context, his enemies are indeed frustrated that they cannot dismiss him as a lily-livered pacifist in the way that the right seeks to dispatch military critics from Vietnam to the present.

A former weapons inspector in Iraq, Ritter tells the unvarnished truth without any political spin about that troubled Middle East nation and what was really happening during that critical period when inspectors attempted to analyze just what was occurring in that nation. He has been consistently vindicated in his claims that the weapons of mass destruction argument, which was the cornerstone of the pretext for invasion, is false. Ritter warned before America invaded that it was getting into a quagmire of Vietnam magnitude. Events have proven that claim valid. Compare the statements of Ritter regarding weapons of mass destruction and Iraqi military capability alongside those of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Powell and clear differences emerge. The reports of the latter have been sketchy and lacking in substantive foundation. Ritter, conversely, has been vindicated as U.S. troops have become bogged down in a bottomless pit with no end in sight. For the first time, poll figures reveal that Americans believe the current price being paid in loss of life and injury to be unacceptable.

Ritter's conclusion in this timely work is, apropos his style, straightforward, directly to the point. When the subject of regime change is broached, Ritter believes that it needs to be achieved right here at home. Regime change begins with new American leadership with the vision to see the entire picture rather than deal in tawdry image creation and spin control.

Despite the attempts at assasinate his character during 2003-2003, Scott Ritter has been proven correct about Iraq and its lack of WMD. He is correct that we the citizens and the Congress are culpable for beleiving the Big Lie. Right-wingers will certainly try to disparage this book, but in today's climate loyalty to political party seems to take precedence over loyalty to country and to the U.S. Constitution. IMO, Scott Ritter is trying to stand up for the enlightend ideas and principles that founded our nation, and his book was a refreshing read of what has gone wrong, and what we need to do to fix things in 2004. Regime change at home, no more Big Lies.

Not only does Ritter painfully point out that the details showing that the Iraq invasion was a war of aggression, and as such illegal under International Law, but he successfully articulates that the US under this administration is looking very much like the earlier periods of fascism in Germany and Italy (mid-late 1930s). As an American I find these parallels repugnant, but an objective analysis of the facts suggest we are in fact following in those same footsteps.

Indeed, the neoconservative quest for "global dominance" will never happen, and may ultimately lead to economic failure of the US. The founding fathers were absolutely adamant that the US reject the temptation of Empire - as the histories of Empires all end the same way: Military overextension and subsequent economic decline. It's time to revisit the real meaning of the Constitution, the wisdom of the founding fathers, and the ideas and principles that founded our great nation.

As Ritter points out, simply waving the American flag and loving America is not enough - democracy requires active participation of the citizenry. Regrettably, Ritter is right 'America is going through a crisis of gigantic proportions. It is a struggle for the ideological soul of the nation. Bush and his posse have set a course for the future that dramatically departs, in words and in action, from the values and ideals set forth by our nation's founders." (page 201)

FYI to the media: During WWI, Teddy Roosevelt - a true conservative, and a species of politicians that is now all but extinct once said - "To annouce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." (page 8)

As pointed out by Ritter, Bush and the radical neoconservatives are the real traitors to both the American public and the ideas for which our country has stood for since the 1770s. Indeed, the US will quickly become an internaitonal isolated, bankrupt, and Authoritarian nation if this group of ideologues is not removed during next year's elections. Thank you Mr. Scott Ritter, for helping others understand that patriotism means - to protect the ideas espoused in our Constitution, from enemies both foreign and domestic - you are an American patriot.

I highly recommended this book for open-minded individuals (that includes *true* conservatives who care about our country and disavow the madness of the PNAC doctrine).

A wonderful book chronciling the events leading up to the second Gulf War and Scott Ritter's role in it. Scott Ritter had the courage to speak out about what he believed was an unjust and immoral invasion of a sovereign nation and he always back it up with facts that are constantly ignored by the major media broadcastors. This book is highly entertaining as well as informative and it inspires Americans to take their citizenship more seriously because there are people out there(Republicans) who are working hard to take our Democracy away from us.

This is a fine book--I just reread it now that there has been some time to give the run-up to Iraq some perspective. Ritter articulately makes the case that Iraq had long ago lost its ability to manufacture WMD's, and details his efforts to stop Bush's illegal war of aggression. This he does in a compelling, readable style, and potentially tedious technical information is handled in a clear, understandable way.

Certainly, the lack of WMD's found in Iraq has proven Ritter entirely correct in virtally all of his assertions, and he has been utterly vindicated. The sad, ignorant war-supporters who ignored him--or worse, questioned his patriotism--have been exposed as un-American idiots who understood nothing of WMD's. If America had done a better job of listening to Mr. Ritter, our young people would not have died in vain, and we would not be stuck in a quagmire today. Scott Ritter is an American hero.

I have read two other books by this author and a number of other articles and have enjoyed them. I have always liked his sharply focused line of attack. He does not deviate from his message. I have also seen him on TV and for the most part he holds his own. Therefore, I was excited to read this book. What I figured I was going to get was a break down of what Bush jr. and company said to get the country to go to war and then the outcome at least in regard to Ritter's area of expertise, WMD's. To my surprise and disappointment this area of the book only covered maybe 50% and it was really not that well documented. I wanted a blow-by-blow account, really getting into the details of each misstatement and speech. I wanted almost a well-detailed time line of events I could use in endless arguments with people who supported the war.

The rest of the book was a number of rather lightly detailed attack lines aimed at Bush. Don't get me wrong, I am all for giving Bush jr. a well deserved hard time, but I want some meat on the bones. Pointless or unsubstantiated attacks do nothing but provide critics ammunition to discount the authors other well thought out comments. Overall I would say the book was ok, the author sticks to his usual writing style, some would say no style, but overall the book is average.

When America was marching towards war, Scott Ritter was one of few dissenting voices. During that time, he was ridiculed as a traitor and a paid Saddam lackey. Three months after the war, Mr. Ritter's views have been vindicated both by the absence of the elusive WMD and the recent admission by the CIA that a critical argument in President Bush's State of the Union Address was based on a crude forgery. This book delves further into how the Bush administration exaggerated, misrepresented and even lied about Iraq's WMD capabilities to launch America's first pre-emptive war.

Sex sting in Poconos nets former chief U.N. weapons inspector
By Andrew Scott
January 14, 2010

A former chief United Nations weapons inspector is accused of contacting what he thought was a 15-year-old girl in an Internet chat room, engaging in a sexual conversation and showing himself masturbating on a Web camera.

Scott Ritter of Delmar, N.Y., who served as chief U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq from 1991-98 and who was an outspoken critic of the second Bush administration in the run-up to the war in Iraq, is accused of contacting what turned out to be a Barrett Township police officer posing undercover as a teen girl.

The police affidavit gives the following account:

Officer Ryan Venneman was posing as 15-year-old "Emily" in an online chat room when he was contacted by someone using the name "Delmarm4fun." This person, later identified as Ritter, told "Emily" he was a 44-year-old male from Albany, N.Y.

"Emily" told Ritter she was a 15-year-old girl from the Poconos, at which point Ritter asked for a picture other than the one "Emily" had posted on her account. Ritter then sent her a link to his Web camera and began to masturbate on camera.

"Emily" asked Ritter for his cell phone number, which he provided.

Ritter again asked "Emily" how old she was. Told she was 15, Ritter said he didn't realize she was 15 and turned off his webcam, saying he didn't want to get in trouble.

Ritter told "Emily" he had been fantasizing about having sex with her, to which she replied: "Guess you turned it off ..."

Ritter then said: "You want to see it finish," reactivated his webcam and continued masturbating and ejaculated on camera.

The online conversation occurred in February 2009, but the investigation lasted until November, when Ritter was charged, because police had to undergo the lengthy process of obtaining court orders to get Ritter's cell phone and computer information.

Ritter is awaiting his next appearance in Monroe County Common Pleas Court. He waived his right last month to a preliminary hearing and is free on $25,000 unsecured bail.

Ritter is not afraid to go out on a limb with his opinions. He also has a command of the facts (as he sees them). His writing style is somewhat difficult to wade through. Interesting read if you can muddle through it.

I became re-acquainted with Scott Ritter in Sept. 2002, when the President was appearing before the U.N. seeking some understanding re Iraq while this Marine former weapons inspector was appearing before the Iraqi Parliament. Because the gesture outweighed his comments, I was opposed to that visit then and still today. My credentials include two works that can be found on this website, "The Bode Testament" and "Impeachment," and I am a columnist for a Midwest newspaper. My feelings toward Mr. Ritter have changed profoundly since that fall day. This largely has to do with the process of evolving and the realization of stark reality. When one reads this book, one should be aware that "Frontier Justice" was published the first week of July!!! In July the situation in Iraq was still fluid. Most Americans, including this one, felt strongly, because they believed their President, that the WMD's would be found. It is now Oct. 2003, the CIA's David Kay has presented his report, and despite exhaustive searches no WMD's have been found. At the very least Mr. Ritter must be commended for the courage of his convictions. The Bush administration, the Blair government, and all the associative intelligence agencies were wrong about WMD's and any relationship between Saddam on the one hand and al Qa'ida and September Eleventh on the other. Contrary to what many think, we did not go to war in Iraq due to flawed intelligence. Read "Frontier Justice" to find out why we went to war, and why Americans were lied to. Equally important, Mr. Ritter encourages patriotism and good citizenship. Americans must discover the truth, then act upon that truth, according to the author. For this Marine, merely loving America and waving a flag is insufficient. In a manner of speaking, he states that we must constantly fight for the freedoms for which our veterans throughout the ages have sacrificed.