Ex-United Nations weapons inspector William “Scott” Ritter is a
national
hero and should be awarded our country’s highest medal. In Iraq, he
stood
above and beyond the call of duty for his country at great personal risk
to
himself.
No, he didn’t knock out an Iraqi machine gun nest and then, even
though
grievously wounded, hold the position for several days.
In Iraq and recently in front of Congress he exhibited that other
kind of
true grit: MORAL COURAGE — a value fast disappearing in America. Today,
too many Americans are too fast to ask not what can I do for my country,
but what’s in it for me.
But not Ritter.
His old-fashioned heroism — which cost him his job and forced him to
endure insults from creeps like Senator Joe Bidin, a presidential
wannabe
until plagiarism got in his way and a Vietnam era draft dodger who tried
his best to run damage control for Clinton’s National Security Gang,
which
can’t think straight — is far more important to our country’s national
security than seizing and holding a bloody piece of real estate.
Until Ritter fell on his sword, he was the senior American inspector
on
the U.N. team in Iraq — a tenacious and daring man who was Saddam
Hussein’s biggest nightmare. And since he left Iraq, old Loony Tunes
hasn’t
stopped partying.
Last week at a Senate hearing, Ritter accused Bill Clinton’s foreign
policy fumblers of repeatedly shooting down his team’s efforts to find
Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction “through interference and
manipulation”
which he charged “came from the highest levels of Clinton’s
administration.”
He specifically fingered Madeleine Albright for talking out of both
sides
her mouth and arranging a deal in collusion with U.N. Secretary General
Kofi Annan to “avoid a confrontation with Iraq.”
He told of two occasions where inspections were canceled when he had
hard
intelligence about where to find forbidden Iraqi missile parts and other
horror weapons.
Ritter predicted to the gathered senators that without a gung-ho
inspection program, Saddam could have weapons of mass destruction back
in
his military arsenal within six months.
And bet your boots that he will — and that he’ll employ them. After
all,
he used chemical weapons against the Iranians, his own people and was
ready
to use them against U.S. forces during Desert Storm.
Nor would he have any qualms about supplying bugs and germs to
Osama bin Laden, to help him achieve his stated goal of causing America
as much pain
as possible.
Czechoslovakia, Albright’s country of birth, was holocausted by
Adolph
Hitler after he broke his 1938 deal with Neville Chamberlain. Of all
people, she should know from history not to play the diplomacy game when
you’re dealing with the devil.
Saddam and Hitler are alike. And it’s not just the black mustaches,
quirky
mannerisms and eagerness to kill people. Both must be regarded as evil
and
untrustworthy — only understanding brute strength.
Too soon there’ll be another High Noon in the desert because Saddam’s
a
mass serial killer who only stays in his cage when struck repeatedly
between the eyes with a 16 pound sledge hammer. Already our generals are
beefing up our ground forces there and placing bombers on Guam. The
Pentagon says these measures are for training, but my sources who fly
the
planes and drive the tanks say that within the next sixty days they’ll
be
drawing hazardous duty pay again in the Gulf.
Clinton’s got to set aside his personal problems, focus on Saddam,
tell
his national security team to get real and then pick up a big stick and
start swinging.
With or without allies, Clinton must tell Saddam to follow the
inspection
rules agreed upon when he waved the white flag at the end of “The Storm”
or
that we’ll take him out. He must be told that we’ll start with his oil
business and when that’s in smoking ruins, we’ll do a number on his
military, one Tomahawk and Cruise missile at a time.
After a good run of hard thumps, his military leaders will appoint a
new
commander-in-chief and our problems with Saddam will end just as they
did
with his mustached evil twin, Adolph Hitler.
Syria and America’s bloody diplomacy
Mike Pottage