Dinner with Scott Ritter

By Bob Rudolph

2/17/2005

We had a wonderful function in Olympia last night, Friday night, with Scott Ritter, former UN Chief Weapons Inspector in Iraq and Dahr Jamail an unembedded reporter who spent eight months in Iraq and has the “real story” of what is going on over there.  Dahr gave a talk and a PowerPoint presentation of the things that he saw over there.  Some of the photos were so gruesome that they were hard to look at.  He gave us the “real story” on Battle of Fallujah and cleared up other misstatements that have been made in the Corporate Media and from the “Administration” on the “progress” being made in Iraq , it's almost non existent.  

Pat, I and several others had dinner with Scott and Dahr.  Scott did a wonderful presentation about the WMD, or lack there of, in Iraq .  He gave a rousing fact filled talk and I am sure he pumped all of us up and revitalized us so that we protest (Progressive) groups will continue our quest with more vigor than ever to protest this war in Iraq .  He told us that, from his reliable sources that it looks like the US is planning a possible bombardment attack on Iran in the near future probably around June.  So far Scott has been right on the Iraq War and WMD.  He told the administration and the Senate, many Democrats, way before the war started that there were no WMD, that they had cleared them out between 1991 and 1996.  He also said that Iraq was no where near any kind of Nuclear Weapon when we started that war.

The photos are of Pat, me and others with Scott at dinner.  The event had several sponsors, two of which I belong to are Veterans for Peace Chapter 109, Rachel Corrie Chapter, and United for Peace of Pierce County.  

Scott and I also had a good chat about our home towns in N.Y.  He lives in Albany and I am from a few miles down the road from him and we know each other home towns well---so it was kind of fun.