UPDATES: War in October?

Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter has become the most outspoken opponent the Bush Administration has to its seemingly imminent invasion of Iraq. Ritter, who spent seven years in and out of Iraq, says everything we are being told about Saddam's weapons program is a lie. Others disagree (see an overview of analyses here). On a recent episode of the new PBS series Wide Angle, several men who purport to be Iraqi defectors claim Saddam is not only developing weapons of mass destruction, but is actively involved in international terrorism against the U.S. Is Ritter just a disgruntled bureaucrat pushing his own agenda? Or is a massive disinformation campaign leading us down the road to a conflagration that could threaten the stability of the entire region, and leave tens of thousands of innocents dead? Tell us what you think here.

Room 295 of the Suffolk Law School building in downtown Boston was filled to capacity on July 23rd with peace activists, aging Cambridge hippies and assorted freaks. One of the organizers for the gathering, United For Justice With Peace Coalition, handed out green pieces of paper that read, "We will not support war, no matter what reason or rhetoric is offered by politicians or the media. War in our time and in this context is indiscriminate, a war against innocents and against children." Judging from the crowd, and from the buzz in the room, that pretty much summed things up.


The contrast presented when Scott Ritter, former UN weapons inspector in Iraq, entered the room, could not have been more disparate. There at the lectern stood this tall lantern-jawed man, every inch the twelve-year Marine Corps veteran he was, who looked and spoke just exactly like a bulldogging high school football coach. A whistle on a string around his neck would have perfected the image.


"I need to say right out front," he said minutes into his speech, "I'm a card-carrying Republican in the conservative-moderate range who voted for George W. Bush for President. I'm not here with a political agenda. I'm not here to slam Republicans. I am one."