Editing Scott Ritter

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{{Use American English|date=September 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Short description|American weapons inspector and writer (born 1961)}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Scott Ritter
| image              = Scott Ritter by David Shankbone (4x5 cropped).jpg
| alt                = Scott Ritter wearing a suit
| caption            = Ritter in 2007
| birth_name         = William Scott Ritter, Jr.
| birth_date         = {{Birth date and age|1961|07|15}}
| birth_place        = [[Gainesville, Florida]], U.S.
| nationality        = 
| education          = [[Kaiserslautern American High School|Kaiserslautern American High School, Germany]]
| alma_mater         = [[Franklin and Marshall College]]<ref name="d">[https://books.google.com/books?id=CA1TFx2308oC&dq=scott+ritter+Gainesville,+Florida+1980s&pg=PA159 Historical Dictionary of the Clinton Era], p. 159.</ref>
| occupation         = {{hlist | speaker | author | columnist}}
| spouse             = {{marriage|Marina Khatiashvili|1991}}<ref name="wapo2002">{{Cite news |date=21 October 2002 |title=Fighting Words |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2002/10/21/fighting-words/df98eed2-3eaa-4f47-b3fd-058b59831ade/ |newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref>
| children           = 2
| known_for          = Chief [[United Nations Special Commission|UNSCOM]] weapons inspector to Iraq, 1991–1998
| website            = {{url|scottritterextra.com}}
}}

'''William Scott Ritter Jr.''' (born July 15, 1961) is an American former United States Marine Corps intelligence officer, former [[United Nations Special Commission]] (UNSCOM) weapons inspector, author, and commentator.<ref name="New Yorker 1998">{{cite magazine|title=Scott Ritter's Private War|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1998/11/09/scott-ritters-private-war|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|date=November 1, 1998|archive-date=April 4, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240404213924/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1998/11/09/scott-ritters-private-war|url-status=live|access-date=August 18, 2024}}</ref><ref name="Bai">{{cite news |last=Bai |first=Matt |author-link=Matt Bai |title=Scott Ritter's Other War |work=[[The New York Times Magazine]] |editor-last=Lovell |editor-first=Joel |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/magazine/scott-ritter.html?auth=login-smartlock |date=February 22, 2012|archive-date=April 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424221224/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/magazine/scott-ritter.html?auth=login-smartlock |url-status=live|access-date=June 21, 2019}}</ref>  

Ritter was a junior military analyst during [[Operation Desert Storm]].<ref name=salon>{{cite news|last=Aydintasbas |first=Asla |date=March 19, 2002 |title=Scott Ritter |magazine=Salon |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324073227/http://www.salon.com/people/feature/2002/03/19/ritter/index.html |url=http://www.salon.com/people/feature/2002/03/19/ritter/index.html |archive-date=March 24, 2010}}</ref> He served as a member of UNSCOM overseeing the disarmament of [[weapon of mass destruction|weapons of mass destruction]] (WMD) in [[Iraq]] from 1991 to 1998, from which he resigned in protest. Later he became a critic of the [[Iraq War]] and United States foreign policy in the [[Middle East]]. In recent years, he has been a regular contributor to Russian state media outlets [[RT (TV network)|RT]] and [[Sputnik (news agency)|Sputnik]]. He has visited [[Russia]] in support of Russia since the start of the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]].<ref name="Chechnya2024">{{Cite web |date=September 12, 2023 |title=Disgraced Ex-Marine Offers Kadyrov's Army 'Friendship' With America: Video |website=[[Newsweek]] |url=https://www.newsweek.com/scott-ritter-chechnya-visit-kadyrov-army-speech-1858652 |archive-date=January 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240122051431/https://www.newsweek.com/scott-ritter-chechnya-visit-kadyrov-army-speech-1858652 |url-status=live|access-date=January 22, 2024}}</ref> In June 2024, Ritter claimed that US authorities seized his passport and prevented him from visiting Russia.<ref name="a042">{{cite web | title=Moscow Throws Putin Fanboy Scott Ritter Under the Bus | website=The Daily Beast | url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/moscow-throws-putin-fanboy-scott-ritter-under-the-bus | last=Quinn | first=Allison | date=4 June 2024 | access-date=5 June 2024 | archive-date=June 5, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605080842/https://www.thedailybeast.com/moscow-throws-putin-fanboy-scott-ritter-under-the-bus | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="passport">{{cite web |title=State Department seizes passport of Delmar's Scott Ritter before flight to Russia |url=https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/state-dept-seizes-scott-ritter-s-passport-flight-19498991.php |work=Times Union |date=June 7, 2024 |access-date=June 8, 2024 |archive-date=June 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240608091612/https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/state-dept-seizes-scott-ritter-s-passport-flight-19498991.php |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[https://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/34028 Opinion: Why Scott Ritter's Passport Seizure Is Long Overdue] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240612153723/https://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/34028 |date=June 12, 2024 }} (June 11, 2024). [[Kyiv Post]].</ref> 

In 2011, Ritter was convicted of several criminal offenses after engaging in sexually explicit online activity with a police officer who was posing as a 15 year-old girl.<ref name="TU2014">{{Cite news|title=Scott Ritter paroled in online sex case |url=http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Scott-Ritter-paroled-in-online-sex-case-5936227.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220328195917/https://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Scott-Ritter-paroled-in-online-sex-case-5936227.php |last=Karlin |first=Rick |date=December 4, 2014|archive-date=March 28, 2022 |access-date=8 August 2024 |work=[[Times Union (Albany)|Times Union]]}}</ref><ref name="BBC 120411">{{cite news |date=April 12, 2011 |title=Ex-UN inspector Scott Ritter sex sting trial begins |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13057436 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220314070242/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13057436 |archive-date=March 14, 2022 |access-date=June 21, 2019 |publisher=[[BBC News]]}}</ref><ref name="BBC2011">{{cite news |date=15 April 2011 |title=Ex-UN inspector Scott Ritter guilty in sex chat case |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-13089135 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809172737/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-13089135 |archive-date=August 9, 2024 |access-date=9 August 2024 |publisher=[[BBC News]]}}</ref>

==Early and personal life==

The son of an Air Force officer and a military nurse,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2002-09-16 |title=Ex-Inspector's Stance on Iraq Sparks Storm |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-sep-16-fg-ritter16-story.html |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> Ritter was born into a military family in 1961 in [[Gainesville, Florida]]. He graduated from [[Kaiserslautern American High School]] in [[Kaiserslautern]] west of [[Mannheim|Mannheim, Germany]] in 1979. He earned a [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree from [[Franklin & Marshall College]] in [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania]]. He studied the [[history of the Soviet Union]] there and received departmental honors.<ref name="d"/>

While working in [[Votkinsk]] as an intelligence offer, Ritter met his second wife Marina Khatiashvili, a Soviet translator from Georgia.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2002-09-16 |title=Ex-Inspector's Stance on Iraq Sparks Storm |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-sep-16-fg-ritter16-story.html |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> The couple married in 1991<ref name="wapo2002" /> and have two children; twin daughters.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-01-14 |title=Ex-UN weapons inspector in child-sex sting |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna34864444 |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref>

=== Arrests and conviction for sex offenses ===
Ritter was the subject of two law enforcement [[sting operation]]s in 2001.<ref name="Warner 2011">{{cite news |last=Warner |first=Dave |date=April 12, 2011 |title=Sex trial of former U.N. weapons inspector opens |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sex-ritter-idUKTRE73B7PG20110412 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307204810/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sex-ritter-idUKTRE73B7PG20110412 |archive-date=March 7, 2022 |access-date=March 7, 2022 |work=[[Reuters]]}}</ref> He was charged in June 2001 with trying to set up a meeting with an undercover police officer posing as a 16-year-old girl.<ref name="CNN01232003">{{cite news |date=January 23, 2003 |title=Ex-arms inspector, war foe Ritter confirms 2001 arrest |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2003/US/01/22/ritter.arrest/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302193421/https://edition.cnn.com/2003/US/01/22/ritter.arrest/ |archive-date=March 2, 2022 |access-date=June 21, 2019 |work=CNN}}</ref><ref name="foxnews.com">{{cite news |date=January 23, 2003 |title=Scott Ritter: Timing of Arrest Reports Suspicious |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/former-u-n-weapons-inspector-scott-ritter-timing-of-arrest-reports-suspicious |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305155012/https://www.foxnews.com/story/former-u-n-weapons-inspector-scott-ritter-timing-of-arrest-reports-suspicious |archive-date=March 5, 2022 |access-date=June 21, 2019 |publisher=Fox News |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> He was charged with a [[misdemeanor]] crime of "attempted endangerment of the welfare of a child". The charge was dismissed and the record was sealed after he completed six months of pre-trial probation.<ref name="foxnews.com" /><ref name="BBC 120411" /> Ritter suggested at the time that the case, which coincided with his prominent dissent against the buildup to the Iraq War, was a smear campaign designed to silence him.<ref>{{cite news |last=Odato |first=James M. |date=November 30, 2014 |title=Scott Ritter paroled in online sex case |url=https://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Scott-Ritter-paroled-in-online-sex-case-5936227.php |access-date=January 4, 2025 |work=Times Union}}</ref>  

Ritter was arrested again in November 2009<ref>{{Cite web |title="Sex sting in Poconos nets former chief U.N. weapons inspector", Pocono Record, January 14, 2010 |url=http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100114/NEWS/1140319 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100116214612/http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100114/NEWS/1140319 |archive-date=January 16, 2010 |access-date=January 14, 2010}}</ref> over communications with a police decoy he met on an Internet chat site. Police said that he exposed himself, via a web camera, after the officer repeatedly identified himself as a 15-year-old girl.<ref name="Bai" /> The next month, Ritter waived his right to a preliminary hearing and was released on $25,000 unsecured bail. Charges included "unlawful contact with a minor, criminal use of a communications facility, corruption of minors, indecent exposure, possessing instruments of crime, criminal attempt and criminal solicitation".<ref name="nypostponocos">{{cite news |date=January 14, 2010 |title=Poconos sex sting leads to arrest of former chief UN weapons inspector |url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/chief_not_publishpoconos_sex_sting_WGyPXivECwaSEiWGUZQ3AJ#ixzz0cc73vR5B |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120422083939/http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/chief_not_publishpoconos_sex_sting_WGyPXivECwaSEiWGUZQ3AJ#ixzz0cc73vR5B |archive-date=April 22, 2012 |access-date=June 16, 2024 |work=[[New York Post]]}}</ref> Ritter rejected a [[plea bargain]] and was found guilty of all but the criminal attempt count in county court in [[Rochester, New York]] on April 14, 2011.<ref name="Bai" /><ref name="ponono">[https://web.archive.org/web/20120113031324/https://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article/?AID=%2F20110414%2FNEWS%2F110419856%2F-1%2FNEWSMAP "Verdict: Ex-UN weapons inspector Ritter guilty of all but one count in sex sting" (April 14, 2011) ''Ponono Record''] Retrieved April 14, 2011.</ref> In October 2011, he was sentenced to one and a half to five and a half years in prison.<ref name="rubinkam">{{cite news |last=Rubinkam |first=Michael |date=October 26, 2011 |title=Ex–UN inspector gets prison in Pa. sex case |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna45049386 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201025354/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna45049386 |archive-date=December 1, 2020 |access-date=June 21, 2019 |website=[[NBC News]] |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref> He was sent to [[State Correctional Institution – Laurel Highlands|Laurel Highlands]] state prison in [[Somerset County, Pennsylvania]], in March 2012 and paroled in September 2014.<ref name="TU2014" /><ref name="BBC 120411" /><ref name="Guardian 150411">{{cite news |date=April 15, 2011 |title=Former UN weapons inspector found guilty in online sex case |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/15/former-un-weapons-inspector-online-sex |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220314070242/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/15/former-un-weapons-inspector-online-sex |archive-date=March 14, 2022 |access-date=June 21, 2019 |work=[[The Guardian]] |agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

=== Passport seizure ===
In June 2024, US authorities seized Ritter's passport and prevented him from visiting Russia.<ref name="a042" /><ref name="passport" /> According to Ritter, three [[U.S. Customs and Border Protection]] agents stopped him as he was about to board a flight to [[Istanbul]] going to the [[St. Petersburg International Economic Forum]].<ref name="passport" /> He said that the agents never showed him a warrant and never gave him a receipt when they seized his passport.<ref name="passport2">{{Cite news |date=June 5, 2024 |title=Scott Ritter Claims State Department Seized His Passport |url=https://www.theamericanconservative.com/scott-ritter-claims-state-department-seized-his-passport/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240612153725/https://www.theamericanconservative.com/scott-ritter-claims-state-department-seized-his-passport/ |archive-date=June 12, 2024 |access-date=June 12, 2024 |newspaper=The American Conservative}}</ref> [[Vladimir Putin]]'s spokesman [[Dmitry Peskov]] said that "details" about the situation were not clear. Peskov also said that restricting the travel of former intelligence agents "is practiced in almost all countries in relation to former intelligence officers" and that if Ritter was removed from the flight to stop him from speaking in Russia, then it was part of a “frenzied campaign to prevent U.S. citizens from establishing at least some contacts with Russia".<ref name="a042" />

=== FBI raid ===
{{See also|Russian interference in the 2024 United States elections}}
On August 7, 2024, the FBI conducted a raid of Ritter's home near Albany as part of efforts by the Department of Justice to combat Russian election interference.<ref name=":62">{{Cite news |title=FBI searching Delmar home of ex-UN weapons inspector Ritter |url=https://wnyt.com/top-stories/fbi-searching-delmar-home-of-ex-un-weapons-inspector-ritter/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240807233935/https://wnyt.com/top-stories/fbi-searching-delmar-home-of-ex-un-weapons-inspector-ritter/ |archive-date=August 7, 2024 |access-date=August 8, 2024 |work=WNYT |location=Albany, NY}}</ref><ref name="Myers_Barnes_8/21/2014">{{cite web |last1=Myers |first1=Steven Lee |last2=Barnes |first2=Julian E. |date=August 21, 2024 |title=U.S. Investigating Americans Who Worked With Russian State Television |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/21/technology/us-fbi-russia-election-disinformation.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240822224340/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/21/technology/us-fbi-russia-election-disinformation.html |archive-date=August 22, 2024 |access-date=August 23, 2024 |website=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

== Career ==

=== Military background ===
In 1980, Ritter served in the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] as a private. In May 1984, he was commissioned as an [[military intelligence|intelligence]] officer in the [[United States Marine Corps]]. He served in this capacity for about 12 years.<ref name=Fox2002>{{cite interview |last=Ritter |first=Scott |interviewer=[[David Asman]] |title=Talk of the Nation |publisher=[[Fox News|Fox News Channel]] |date=September 12, 2002 |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,62916,00.html|archive-date=September 6, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906131857/http://foxnews.com/story/0,2933,62916,00.html |url-status=live|access-date=January 21, 2008}}</ref> He was the lead analyst for the Marine Corps [[Rapid Deployment Force]] concerning the [[Soviet invasion of Afghanistan]] and the [[Iran–Iraq War]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Williams-Hedges |first=Deborah |date=November 1, 2002 |title=Former UN Weapons Inspector to Speak at Caltech |url=https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/former-un-weapons-inspector-speak-caltech-632 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240107104803/https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/former-un-weapons-inspector-speak-caltech-632 |archive-date=January 7, 2024 |access-date=January 7, 2024 |website=www.caltech.edu}}</ref> His academic work focused on the [[Basmachi]] resistance movement in [[Soviet Central Asia]] during the 1920s and 1930s, and on the Basmachi commanders [[Faizal Maksum]] and [[Ibrahim Bek]].<ref name="jch">{{cite journal|last=Ritter |first=William S |author-link=Scott Ritter |year=1990 |title=Revolt in the Mountains: Fuzail Maksum and the Occupation of Garm, Spring 1929 |journal=[[Journal of Contemporary History]] |volume=25 |issue=4|pages=547–580|doi=10.1177/002200949002500408 |s2cid=159486304}}</ref><ref name="ss">{{cite journal|last=Ritter |first=William S |author-link=Scott Ritter |year=1985 |title=The Final Phase in the Liquidation of Anti-Soviet Resistance in Tadzhikistan: Ibrahim Bek and the Basmachi, 1924–31 |journal=[[Soviet Studies]] |volume=37 |issue=4 |pages=484–493|doi=10.1080/09668138508411604}}</ref>

During [[Desert Storm]] (1991), as a Marine [[captain (United States O-3)|captain]], he served as a [[ballistic missile]] intelligence analyst under General [[Norman Schwarzkopf]]. Ritter filed multiple internal reports challenging Schwarzkopf's claim that the US had destroyed  "as many as 16" of Iraq's estimated 20 mobile [[Scud missile]] launchers, arguing that they could not be confirmed.<ref name="salon" /><ref name="scuds">{{citation|date=June 24, 1992 |title=Pentagon Claims on Scuds Disputed |newspaper=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/24/world/pentagon-claims-on-scuds-disputed.html|last=Schmitt |first=Eric|archive-date=October 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221003065247/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/24/world/pentagon-claims-on-scuds-disputed.html |url-status=live|access-date=October 3, 2022}}</ref> In 1992 Ritter was quoted in a ''New York Times'' op-ed saying "No mobile Scud launchers were destroyed during the war."<ref name="scuds" /> He later worked as a security and military consultant for the [[Fox News]] network.  In an interview with ''[[Democracy Now!]]'' in 2003 he said he had "a long relationship [...] of an official nature" with the UK's foreign intelligence spy agency [[Secret Intelligence Service|MI6]].<ref name="Democracy Now!">{{cite web |url=http://www.democracynow.org/2003/12/30/scott_ritter_how_the_british_spy |title=Scott Ritter: How the British Spy Agency MI6 Secretly Misled A Nation Into War With Iraq |last1=Goodman |first1=Amy |date=December 30, 2003 |work=[[Democracy Now!]] |access-date=November 3, 2014 |archive-date=March 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302220923/https://www.democracynow.org/2003/12/30/scott_ritter_how_the_british_spy |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== UN Weapons inspector ===
Ritter worked as a weapons inspector for the [[United Nations Special Commission]]  from 1991 to 1998, which was charged with finding and destroying all weapons of mass destruction and WMD-related manufacturing capabilities in Iraq. He was the chief inspector in fourteen of more than thirty inspection missions in which he participated.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 22, 2007 |title=Former Iraq weapons inspector Scott Ritter speaks at RCSI |url=https://www.rcsi.com/dublin/news-and-events/news/news-article/2007/05/former-iraq-weapons-inspector-scott-ritter-spoke-at-royal-college-of-surgeons |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240107105054/https://www.rcsi.com/dublin/news-and-events/news/news-article/2007/05/former-iraq-weapons-inspector-scott-ritter-spoke-at-royal-college-of-surgeons|website=www.rcsi.com |archive-date=January 7, 2024 |access-date=January 7, 2024}}</ref>

Ritter was among a group of UNSCOM weapons inspectors which regularly took [[Lockheed U-2]] imagery to [[Israel]] for analysis, as UNSCOM was not getting sufficient analysis assistance from the United States and the United Kingdom. That was not authorized by UNSCOM, the U-2 jet had been loaned to UNSCOM and caused him to be subjected to criticism and investigation by U.S. authorities. Iraq protested about information being given to Israel.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.users.cloud9.net/~recross/israel-watch/Texts/WashingtonPost.htm |title=Israel Gave Key Help To U.N. Team in Iraq |author=Barton Gellman |newspaper=Washington Post|archive-date=September 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904040136/http://www.users.cloud9.net/~recross/israel-watch/Texts/WashingtonPost.htm |url-status=dead|date=September 29, 1998|access-date=August 31, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |page=227 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uOcrDF0y-CAC |title=Spyplane: The U-2 History Declassified |author=Norman Polmar |publisher=Zenith Imprint |year=2001 |isbn=9780760309575 |access-date=August 31, 2013 |archive-date=August 20, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240820211911/https://books.google.com/books?id=uOcrDF0y-CAC |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Operation Mass Appeal ===
Beginning in December 1997, Ritter, with the approval of UNSCOM head [[Richard Butler (diplomat)|Richard Butler]] and other top UNSCOM leaders, began to supply the UK's foreign intelligence service MI6 with documents and briefings on UNSCOM's findings to be used for MI6's propaganda effort dubbed "[[Operation Mass Appeal]]": "I was approached by the British intelligence service, which I had, again, a long relationship with, of an official nature, to see if there was any information in the archives of UNSCOM that could be handed to the British, so that they could in turn work it over, determine its veracity, and then seek to plant it in media outlets around the world, in an effort to try to shape the public opinion of those countries, and then indirectly, through, for instance, a report showing up in the Polish press, shape public opinion in Great Britain and the United States. I went to Richard Butler with the request from the British. He said that he supported this, and we initiated a cooperation that was very short-lived. The first reports were passed to the British sometime in February of 1998. There was a detailed planning meeting in June of 1998, and I resigned in August of 1998.[...] This is an operation—Operation Mass Appeal, that had been going on prior to UNSCOM being asked to be the source of particular data, and it's an operation that continued after my resignation."<ref name="Democracy Now!" />

=== Last weapons inspections in 1998 ===

In January 1998, Ritter's inspection team in Iraq was blocked from some weapons sites by Iraqi officials who said that information obtained from the sites would be used for future planning of attacks. UN Inspectors then left Iraq, shortly before [[Operation Desert Fox]] attacks began in December 1998, using information which had been gathered for the purpose of disarmament to identify targets which would reduce Iraq's ability to wage both conventional and possibly unconventional warfare. UN weapons inspectors were thereafter denied access to Iraq. Ritter spoke on the [[PBS]] show, ''[[The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer]]'': "I think the danger right now is that without effective inspections, without effective monitoring, Iraq can in a very short period of time measured in months, reconstitute chemical and biological weapons, long-range ballistic missiles to deliver these weapons, and even certain aspects of their developing of nuclear weapons program."<ref name="PBS1998">{{Cite web|title=Online NewsHour: Scott Ritter|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/july-dec98/ritter_8-31.html|publisher=[[PBS]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061021202822/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/july-dec98/ritter_8-31.html |url-status=dead|archive-date=October 21, 2006 |access-date=September 11, 2017}}</ref>

When the United States and the UN Security Council failed to take action against Iraq for their ongoing failure to cooperate fully with inspectors (a breach of [[United Nations Security Council]] [[List of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1101 to 1200|Resolution 1154]]), Ritter resigned from the United Nations Special Commission on August 26, 1998.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2247600.stm |publisher=BBC News |title=Profile: Scott Ritter |date=September 9, 2002 |access-date=May 23, 2010 |archive-date=August 31, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831043048/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2247600.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> In his letter of resignation, Ritter said that the Security Council's reaction to Iraq's decision earlier that month to suspend co-operation with the inspection team made a mockery of the disarmament work. Ritter later said in an interview, that he resigned from his role as a United Nations weapons inspector over inconsistencies between United Nations Security Council Resolution 1154 and how it was implemented: "The investigations had come to a standstill, were making no effective progress, and in order to make effective progress, we really needed the Security Council to step in a meaningful fashion and seek to enforce its resolutions that we're not complying with."<ref name="PBS1998" />

On September 3, 1998, several days after his resignation, Ritter testified before the [[United States Senate Committee on Armed Services]] and the [[United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations]] and said that he resigned his position "out of frustration that the United Nations Security Council, and the United States as its most significant supporter, was failing to enforce the post-Gulf War resolutions designed to disarm Iraq."<ref name="CEIP">[http://www.ceip.org/programs/npp/ritter.htm Carnegie Endowment for International Peace<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021224112338/http://www.ceip.org/programs/npp/ritter.htm |date=December 24, 2002}}</ref> According to him Secretary of State [[Madeleine Albright|Madeleine K. Albright]] had supposedly "blocked more inspections in 1997 than Saddam Hussein did," a charge which Albright disputed.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Gellman|first=Barton|date=September 4, 1998|title=SENATE DEMOCRATS ATTACK RITTER|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1998/09/04/senate-democrats-attack-ritter/fcccba45-df53-4dc7-aa44-17b1d1e96289/|issn=0190-8286|archive-date=August 27, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827024313/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1998/09/04/senate-democrats-attack-ritter/fcccba45-df53-4dc7-aa44-17b1d1e96289/|url-status=live|access-date=January 29, 2022}}</ref>

During the testimony on September 3, 1998, Ritter was asked by then-Senator [[Joe Biden]] about his position on inspections, which Biden criticized as "confrontation-based policy."<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|last=Biden|first=Joseph R.|date=September 19, 1998|title='I MEANT NO DISRESPECT'|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1998/09/19/i-meant-no-disrespect/6acd6366-2058-4a7c-83cd-da4d345c144d/|access-date=January 29, 2022|issn=0190-8286|archive-date=January 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129054643/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1998/09/19/i-meant-no-disrespect/6acd6366-2058-4a7c-83cd-da4d345c144d/|url-status=live}}</ref> According to [[Barton Gellman]], Biden questioned if the inspector was trying to "appropriate the power 'to decide when to pull the trigger' of military force against Iraq," with Biden saying that the Secretary of State would also have to consider the opinion of allies, the United Nations Security Council and public opinion, before any potential intervention in Iraq.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=United Nations Weapons Inspections in Iraq|publisher=C-SPAN|url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?110998-1/united-nations-weapons-inspections-iraq|access-date=January 29, 2022|language=en-us|archive-date=January 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129063718/https://www.c-span.org/video/?110998-1%2Funited-nations-weapons-inspections-iraq|url-status=live}}</ref> Later on, Biden stated that the decision was "above [Ritter's] pay grade."<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /> According to Gellman, Senate Democrats joined Biden and "amplified on the [[Presidency of Bill Clinton|Clinton]] administration's counterattack [against] Scott Ritter" with exceptions such as [[John Kerry]], while Senate Republicans "were unanimous in describing Ritter's disclosures as highly damaging to the credibility of the Clinton administration on one of its core foreign policies."<ref name=":0" />

Ritter's testimony was disputed by Richard Butler, chief UN arms inspector for Iraq, who claimed that Ritter made factual errors and harmed UNSCOM's mission. The previous chief inspector for Iraq, [[Rolf Ekéus]], said that Ritter was "not in a position to know all of the considerations that go into decision making on the commission," and defended Albright's support for UNSCOM. Albright publicly disputed Ritter's claims in a speech, saying "In fact, the United States has been by far the strongest international backer of UNSCOM. We have provided indispensable technical and logistical support. We've pushed and pushed and pushed some more to help UNSCOM break through the smoke screen of lies and deceptions put out by the Iraqi regime."<ref>{{cite news |last=Philip |first=Shenon |date=September 10, 1998 |title=Rebuking Ex-Arms Inspector, Albright Defends U.S. Role |newspaper=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/10/world/rebuking-ex-arms-inspector-albright-defends-us-role.html |access-date=October 3, 2022 |archive-date=October 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221003055008/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/10/world/rebuking-ex-arms-inspector-albright-defends-us-role.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Reception as weapons inspector===

Butler, Ritter's former UNSCOM boss, said that Ritter "wasn't prescient" in his predictions about WMDs, saying, "When he was the 'Alpha Dog' inspector, then by [[God]], there were more weapons there, and we had to go find them a contention for which he had inadequate evidence. When he became a peacenik, then it was all complete B.S., start to finish, and there were no weapons of mass destruction... that also was a contention for which he had inadequate evidence."<ref name="Bai" />

Writing in ''[[The New York Times]]'', [[Matt Bai]] said that Butler's caveat notwithstanding, Ritter was in fact vindicated about Iraq's lack of WMDs and that the aftermath of the war could be calamitous. Bai described Ritter as the "most determined dissenter and the one with the most on-the-ground intelligence" of the situation in Iraq prior to the war.<ref name="Bai" />

However, Bai went on to compare Ritter's insistence during his 2011 trial for sex offenses that his conduct was of no consequence to the wider community—and his unwillingness to consider a plea agreement—to the stridency with which Ritter advocated for his views on Iraq: "If there is a connection between Ritter the activist and Ritter the accused, though, it probably lies in the uncompromising, even heedless way in which he insists on his version of reality, and how he sees himself always as the victim of a system that is self-evidently corrupt.&nbsp;... the very attribute that made Scott Ritter appear somehow clairvoyant on Iraq—his refusal to accede to everyone else's sense of reality—is the same one that has led him, now, to ruin."<ref name="Bai" />

==U.S. policy toward Iraq==

{{BLP primary sources|section|date=January 2023}}
After his resignation from UNSCOM, Ritter continued to be an outspoken commentator on U.S. policy toward Iraq, particularly with respect to the WMD issue. He became a popular anti-war figure and talk show commentator.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

===Ritter and Operation Desert Fox===

In a 2005 interview, Ritter criticized the Clinton administration's use of a blocked inspection of a [[Ba'ath Party|Ba'ath]] party headquarters to justify [[1998 bombing of Iraq|Operation Desert Fox]], a three-day bombing campaign in December 1998. During the bombing, inspectors were withdrawn from Iraq and they did not return until late 2002.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Interview|url=http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05%2F10%2F21%2F144258|website=[[Democracy Now!]]|archive-date=October 23, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051023045136/http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05%2F10%2F21%2F144258 |url-status=dead|access-date=July 16, 2022}}</ref> However, in his 1999 book ''Endgame'', Ritter says that he was the one who had originally pushed for the fateful inspection of the Ba'ath party headquarters over the doubts of Butler, his boss, and also planned to use 37 inspectors. It was temporarily canceled because Iraq broke off cooperation in August 1998.<ref name=":3">{{cite web| author=Scott Ritter| title=Endgame| website=The New York Times Web Archive| date=April 8, 2018| url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/r/ritter-endgame.html| access-date=January 17, 2023| archive-date=January 16, 2023| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116062234/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/r/ritter-endgame.html| url-status=live}}</ref>

===Commentary in the post-inspection period===

[[File:Scott Ritter speaks at SUNY New Paltz.jpg|right|thumb|Ritter speaks at SUNY New Paltz on March 16, 2006]]
In ''Endgame: Solving the Iraq Problem&nbsp;— Once and For All'', Ritter reiterated that Iraq had obstructed the work of inspectors and attempted to hide and preserve essential elements for restarting [[Weapon of mass destruction|WMD]] programs at a later date. However, he also expressed frustration at alleged attempts by the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) to infiltrate UNSCOM and use the inspectors as a means of gathering intelligence with which to pursue regime change in Iraq–a violation of the terms under which UNSCOM operated, and the very rationale the Iraqi government had given in restricting the inspector's activities in 1998. In the book's conclusion, he criticized the U.S. policy of [[containment]] in the absence of inspections as inadequate to prevent Iraq's re-acquisition of WMD's in the long term. Ritter also rejected the notion of removing [[Saddam Hussein]]'s regime by force. Instead, he advocated a policy of diplomatic [[engagement]], leading to gradual normalization of international relations with Iraq in return for diplomatic recognition of [[Kuwait]], [[Kurdish population|Kurdish]] autonomy and de-escalation of tensions with Israel.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pipes |first=Daniel |date=September 1999 |title=Endgame: Solving the Iraq Problem - Once and for All |url=https://www.meforum.org/1307/endgame-solving-the-iraq-problem-once-and-for-all |journal=Middle East Quarterly |language=English |volume=6 |issue=3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240107105725/https://www.meforum.org/1307/endgame-solving-the-iraq-problem-once-and-for-all |archive-date=January 7, 2024 |access-date=January 7, 2024}}</ref>

Ritter again promoted a conciliatory approach toward Iraq in the 2000 documentary ''[[In Shifting Sands|In Shifting Sands: The Truth About UNSCOM and the Disarming of Iraq]]'', which he wrote and directed. The film is about the history of the UNSCOM investigations through interviews and video footage of inspection missions. In the film, Ritter argues that Iraq is a "defanged tiger" and that the inspections were successful in eliminating significant Iraqi WMD capabilities.<ref name="Kehr">{{cite news|newspaper=New York Times|author=Dave Kehr|title=In Shifting Sands|url=http://movies2.nytimes.com/mem/movies/review.html?title1=&title2=In%20Shifting%20Sands%20(Movie)%20%20&reviewer=Dave%20Kehr&pdate=&v_id=279450|access-date=May 23, 2010}}{{Dead link|date=September 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> (For more see below under "Documentary".)

In 2002, Ritter traveled to Iraq to address the [[Council of Representatives of Iraq|Iraqi Parliament]] as a private citizen. He told the parliament that the U.S. was about to make an "historical mistake" and urged it to allow inspections to resume.<ref name="Bai" />

===Iraq War predictions===

Just after the coalition invasion of Iraq was launched but prior to troops arriving in [[Baghdad]], British [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] [[Tony Blair]] told the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] that the [[United States]] and the United Kingdom believed they had "sufficient forces" in Iraq. At the same time Ritter offered an opposing view on Portuguese radio station [[TSF (radio station)|TSF]]: "The United States is going to leave Iraq with its tail between its legs, defeated. It is a war we can not win... We do not have the military means to take over Baghdad and for this reason I believe the defeat of the United States in this war is inevitable... Every time we confront Iraqi troops we may win some tactical battles, as we did for ten years in [[Vietnam]], but we will not be able to win this war, which in my opinion is already lost."<ref name=News24>[http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Iraq/0,6119,2-10-1460_1338708,00.html US defeat in Iraq 'inevitable': World: Iraqi Dossier: News24<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080605231314/http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Iraq/0,6119,2-10-1460_1338708,00.html |date=June 5, 2008}}</ref>

===Commentary on Iraq's lack of WMDs===

Despite identifying as a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] and having voted for [[George W. Bush]] in 2000,<ref name=berates>{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/09/14/MN81272.DTL |title=Ex-weapons inspector berates war plans |date=September 14, 2002 |newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |first=David |last=Wallis|archive-date=February 21, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060221105013/http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2002%2F09%2F14%2FMN81272.DTL |url-status=live|access-date=January 18, 2009}}</ref> by 2002, Ritter was an outspoken critic of the [[George W. Bush administration|Bush administration]]'s claims that Iraq possessed significant WMD stocks or manufacturing capabilities, the primary rationale given for the [[U.S. invasion of Iraq]] in March 2003. Prior to the war, Ritter said that the U.S.and [[Government of the United Kingdom|British]] governments were using the presence of WMD's in Iraq as a political excuse for war.<ref name="Bai" /> His views at the time are summarized in ''[[War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You To Know]]'' a 2002 publication which consists largely of an interview between Ritter and anti-war activist [[William Rivers Pitt]].<ref name=Pitt2002>Pitt, William R. ''War On Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know'' 2002, Context Books, New York. {{ISBN|1-893956-38-5}}</ref>

===Later statements on Iraq===

In February 2005, writing on [[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al Jazeera]]'s website, Ritter wrote that the "Iraqi resistance" is a "genuine grassroots national liberation movement," and "History will eventually depict as legitimate the efforts of the Iraqi resistance to destabilize and defeat the American occupation forces and their imposed Iraqi collaborationist government."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,147717,00.html |publisher=Fox News |title=A Critic's Defeatist Rhetoric |date=February 15, 2005  |archive-date=September 24, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080924235759/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,147717,00.html |url-status=live|access-date=January 21, 2008}}</ref> In 2012, Ritter said that the U.S. was "bankrupt, morally and fiscally, because of this war. The United States is the laughingstock of the world".<ref name="Bai" />

=== Documentary ===
Ritter's documentary ''In Shifting Sands'' was released in 2001. It argues that Iraq did not possess weapons of mass destruction because of the UN weapons inspection program.<ref name="Ft">Mylroie, Laurie. [http://www.mail-archive.com/sam11@erols.com/msg00286.html Money Questions Surround Ritter's Film] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126043109/http://www.mail-archive.com/sam11@erols.com/msg00286.html|date=January 26, 2021}} ''Financial Times''.</ref> According to ''[[The Washington Times]]'', his documentary was partially financed by [[Iraqi American]] businessman [[Shakir al Khafaji]].<ref>[http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20040321-101405-2593r.htm "The U.N. Oil for Food scandal"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313175206/http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20040321-101405-2593r.htm|date=March 13, 2007}} ''The Washington Times'', March 22, 2004</ref> Al-Khafaji pleaded guilty to multiple felony charges in 2004 for his involvement in the [[Oil for Food|U.N. Oil-for-Food scandal]].<ref>John O'Neil. ''Virginia Man Pleads Guilty in Oil-for-Food Inquiry''. New York Times. January 18, 2005</ref>

Ritter said that there was no [[quid pro quo]] with Al-Khafaji and he told Al-Khafaji the financing "can have no connection to the Iraqi government". Ritter was asked "how he would characterize anyone suggesting that Mr. Khafaji was offering allocations in [his] name", he replied: "I'd say that person's a __ liar... and tell him to come over here so I can kick his _."<ref name="Ft" />

== Other views and commentary ==

=== U.S. policy toward Iran ===
On February 6, 2006, in the James A. Little Theater in [[Santa Fe, New Mexico]], Ritter talked about a U.S. war with [[Iran]]: "We just don't know when, but it's going to happen," and said that after the U.N. Security Council will have found no evidence of WMD, then Under Secretary of State [[John R. Bolton|John Bolton]] "will deliver a speech that has already been written. It says America cannot allow Iran to threaten the United States and we must unilaterally defend ourselves." and continued "How do I know this? I've talked to Bolton's speechwriter".<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070204115643/http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/02/06/1346123.htm Ex-U.N. inspector: Iran's next: Ritter warns that another U.S. invasion in Mideast is imminent<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

Ritter's book ''Target Iran: The Truth About the White House's Plans for Regime Change'' was published in 2006.<ref name="Forward2006">{{cite news|title=Book: Israel, Lobby Pushing Iran War|work=Forward|last=Guttman|first=Nathan|url=https://forward.com/news/9734/book-israel-lobby-pushing-iran-war/|archive-date=June 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621140702/https://forward.com/news/9734/book-israel-lobby-pushing-iran-war/|url-status=live|date=December 29, 2006|access-date=June 21, 2019}}</ref> Nathan Guttman in his review for ''[[The Forward]]'' said Ritter accused the "pro-Israel lobby of dual loyalty and 'outright espionage'". Ritter said that Israel was pushing the Bush administration into war with Iran.<ref name="Forward2006"/> He accused the pro-Israel lobby of invoking [[the Holocaust]] and of making false claims of [[antisemitism]]. Ritter told ''The Forward'' "at the end of the day, I would like to believe that most of American Jews will side with America."<ref name="Forward2006"/>

[[Con Coughlin]] in ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' wrote about Ritter's writings of the government in Iran. Coughlin wrote that Ritter said "that the Bush administration is in danger of making the same mistake over Iran that it did during the build-up to the Iraq war, namely getting the facts to fit the administration's policy of effecting regime change in [[Tehran]]". Coughlin said, Ritter concedes the "measures the Iranians have taken in pursuit of nuclear glory" which include the "concealing the existence of key nuclear facilities".<ref>{{cite news|last=Coughlin|first=Con|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3663435/The-case-for-action-against-Iran.html|title=The case for action against Iran|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|date=February 25, 2007|access-date=June 21, 2019|archive-date=June 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621145142/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3663435/The-case-for-action-against-Iran.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Russian invasion of Ukraine ===
In April 2022, shortly after the start of the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine|Russia's invasion of Ukraine]], Ritter tweeted that the [[National Police of Ukraine]] was responsible for the [[Bucha massacre]] and U.S. President [[Joe Biden]] was a "war criminal" for "seeking to shift blame for the Bucha murders" to Russia. Ritter apparently had not commented previously on Ukraine, or Russia.<ref name="Newsweek"/> [[Human Rights Watch]] found evidence linking the killings to the Russian military.<ref name="Briant 2022"/> He was suspended from [[Twitter]] for violating its rule on "harassment and abuse" afterwards but his account was reinstated the next day.<ref name="Newsweek">{{cite news|last=Dutton|first=Jack|url=https://www.newsweek.com/scott-ritters-twitter-reinstated-after-suspension-over-ukraine-remarks-1695834|title=Scott Ritter's Twitter Reinstated After Suspension Over Ukraine Remarks|website=[[Newsweek]]|date=April 7, 2022|access-date=April 7, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220604082349/https://www.newsweek.com/scott-ritters-twitter-reinstated-after-suspension-over-ukraine-remarks-1695834|archive-date=June 4, 2022|url-status=live}}</ref> His strongly pro-Russian position quickly attracted negative international attention.<ref name="Briant 2022">{{cite web | title=How Russia benefits from ill-informed social media policies | last=Briant | first=Emma L. | website=Brookings | date=April 28, 2022 | url=https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2022/04/28/how-russia-benefits-from-ill-informed-social-media-policies/ | archive-date=July 6, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706114738/https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2022/04/28/how-russia-benefits-from-ill-informed-social-media-policies/|url-status=live|access-date=April 26, 2023}}</ref><ref name="Schogol 2023">{{cite web | last=Schogol | first=Jeff | title=How Russia uses US military veterans in its propaganda war against Ukraine | website=Task & Purpose | date=March 6, 2023 | url=https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-veteran-john-mcintyre-russian-propaganda/ | access-date=April 26, 2023 | archive-date=March 25, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325065211/https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-veteran-john-mcintyre-russian-propaganda/ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":4" /> In 2022, he became a contributor to Russian government-owned media outlets RT and Sputnik.<ref name="Echols 2023">{{cite web | last=Echols | first=William | title=Misleading: Chinese State Media Depict Pro-Russia Rally as 'Real Voices' of American People | website=POLYGRAPH.info | date=March 9, 2023 | url=https://www.polygraph.info/a/fact-check-misleading-chinese-state-media-depicting-pro-russia-rally-as-real-voices-of-american-people-/6996066.html | access-date=April 26, 2023 | archive-date=November 26, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231126215711/https://www.polygraph.info/a/fact-check-misleading-chinese-state-media-depicting-pro-russia-rally-as-real-voices-of-american-people-/6996066.html | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Schafer |first=Bret |title=How the People's Republic of China Amplifies Russian Disinformation |url=https://www.state.gov/briefings-foreign-press-centers/how-the-prc-amplifies-russian-disinformation/ |publisher=United States Department of State |language=en |access-date=August 18, 2022 |archive-date=August 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818114641/https://www.state.gov/briefings-foreign-press-centers/how-the-prc-amplifies-russian-disinformation |url-status=live }}</ref> He compared Ukraine to a "rabid dog" which needed to be shot.<ref name="Echols 2023" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Churchill |first1=Chris |title=Scott Ritter's mission to Moscow: Is the disgraced former U.N. inspector speaking truth to power? Or parroting Russian propaganda? |url=https://www.timesunion.com/churchill/article/scott-ritter-finds-new-audience-putin-s-russia-18130243.php |agency=Albany Times-Union |date=3 June 2023|archive-date=August 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230827203707/https://www.timesunion.com/churchill/article/scott-ritter-finds-new-audience-putin-s-russia-18130243.php |url-status=live|access-date=5 November 2023}}</ref> He compared the treatment of Russians under Ukrainian law to [[Nazi Germany]]'s treatment of Jews.<ref name="The Jerusalem Post JPost.com 2022">{{cite web | title=New Hampshire Libertarian Party likens Zelensky to Hitler | work=The Jerusalem Post | date=October 13, 2022 | url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-719576 | access-date=April 26, 2023 | archive-date=April 26, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230426131649/https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-719576 | url-status=live }}</ref> In October 2022, he posted a provocative tweet about Bucha, "Bucha was a war crime, Ukraine did it", to test the reaction of Twitter.<ref name=":5" /> 
DisInfoChronicle, a website of the [[NGO]] Detector Media which claims to refute Russian disinformation, wrote that Ritter was being used by Russia to "promote narratives needed by the Kremlin".<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=Scott Ritter "tested" Twitter: "Bucha was a war crime. Ukraine did it" |url=https://disinfo.detector.media/en/post/scott-ritter-tested-twitter-bucha-was-a-war-crime-ukraine-did-it |access-date=August 28, 2023 |website=disinfo.detector.media |language=en |archive-date=August 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230828112214/https://disinfo.detector.media/en/post/scott-ritter-tested-twitter-bucha-was-a-war-crime-ukraine-did-it |url-status=live }}</ref>

In July 2022, the Ukrainian [[Center for Countering Disinformation]] included Ritter on a list of what it called Russian propagandists.<ref name="u">{{Cite web |last=Carbonaro |first=Giulia |date=July 26, 2022 |title=Tulsi Gabbard, Rand Paul placed on list of Russian propagandists by Ukraine |url=https://www.newsweek.com/tulsi-gabbard-rand-paul-placed-list-russian-propagandists-ukraine-1727831 |access-date=August 18, 2022 |website=Newsweek |language=en |archive-date=July 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220726085336/https://www.newsweek.com/tulsi-gabbard-rand-paul-placed-list-russian-propagandists-ukraine-1727831 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Martynyuk2023">{{cite web| title=Russia Uses Ukraine Ex-UN Weapons Inspector's Misinformation for Propaganda| last=Martynyuk| first=Leonid| website=POLYGRAPH.info| date=April 24, 2023| url=https://www.polygraph.info/a/fact-check-ukraine-misinformation-from-ex-un-weapons-inspector-in-russian-propaganda-/7064239.html| access-date=April 26, 2023| archive-date=December 26, 2023| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231226140800/https://www.polygraph.info/a/fact-check-ukraine-misinformation-from-ex-un-weapons-inspector-in-russian-propaganda-/7064239.html| url-status=live}}</ref> In April 2022 and April 2023 Ritter said that Russia was winning the war. American government-owned news outlet [[Polygraph.info]] wrote that Ritter's claims about Russia winning the war and about the Bucha massacre were false.<ref name="Martynyuk2023" /> In May 2023, Ritter began a [[book tour]] of [[Kazan]], [[Irkutsk]], and [[Yekaterinburg]] for his most recent book, ''Disarmament in the time of the Perestroika'', which examines nuclear weapons agreements between Russia and the United States. According to ''[[Euronews]]'', Ritter predicted that Ukraine would lose the war.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=May 24, 2023 |title=Why are disgraced Americans spouting pro-Putin propaganda in Russia? |url=https://www.euronews.com/2023/05/24/why-do-disgraced-americans-like-scott-ritter-spout-pro-putin-propaganda-in-russia |website=euronews |language=en |access-date=May 29, 2023 |archive-date=September 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230921014424/https://www.euronews.com/2023/05/24/why-do-disgraced-americans-like-scott-ritter-spout-pro-putin-propaganda-in-russia |url-status=live }}</ref>

In January 2024, Ritter visited [[Chechnya]], addressing thousands of Chechen fighters in a central square in [[Grozny]], the capital. [[BBC]] journalist Francis Scarr called it "one of the most surreal moments of the war yet.[...] Scott Ritter has turned up in Chechnya and spoken in broken Russian (some of which I couldn't make out) to thousands of [[Ramzan Kadyrov]]'s fighters about his efforts to strengthen the 'friendship between Chechnya and America'." In his speech, Ritter again repeated his belief that Russia will win its war with Ukraine.<ref name="Chechnya2024" /> After Ritter's speech in Grozny, where he was being welcomed as a guest of the Chechenya, Kadyrov made a public statement that he had given Ritter a list of 20 Ukrainian prisoners-of-war he was prepared to release in return for a lifting of [[United States sanctions|US sanctions]] on him and his family.<ref>{{Cite news|date=January 6, 2024|title=Chechen Leader Offers Ukrainian Captives In Exchange For Lifting Sanctions On His Family|newspaper=Radiofreeeurope/Radioliberty|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/chechen-kadyrov-ukrainian-captives-lifting-sanctions-ritter/32763582.html|access-date=January 22, 2024|archive-date=January 22, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240122112037/https://www.rferl.org/a/chechen-kadyrov-ukrainian-captives-lifting-sanctions-ritter/32763582.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Kadyrov called his public statement "trolling" and said that it had not been serious.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Kadyrov calls his Ukrainian prisoner exchange for sanctions relief offer 'trolling' |url=https://news.yahoo.com/kadyrov-calls-ukrainian-prisoner-exchange-110400233.html |date=January 8, 2024 |access-date=January 24, 2024 |archive-date=January 24, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124073959/https://news.yahoo.com/kadyrov-calls-ukrainian-prisoner-exchange-110400233.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Later in January 2024, Ritter arrived in the [[Russian occupation of Kherson Oblast|Russian-occupied Kherson Oblast region]] in Ukraine, guarded by [[GRU (Russian Federation)|GRU]] agents, and spoke with [[Collaboration with Russia during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine|collaborationist]] [[Governor of Kherson Oblast (Russia)|governor]] [[Vladimir Saldo]]. [[Kyiv Post|The Kyiv Post]] denounced Ritter's visit as "illegal" due to the lack of Ukrainian consent.<ref>{{Cite news |title=American Sex Offender Scott Ritter Illegally Visits Kherson Region to Strengthen Kremlin Propaganda |url=https://www.kyivpost.com/post/26936}}</ref>

==Selected bibliography==

* ''Disarmament in the Time of Perestroika: Arms Control and the End of the Soviet Union'', Clarity Press, 2022, {{ISBN|1949762610}}
* ''Scorpion King: America's Suicidal Embrace of Nuclear Weapons from FDR to Trump'' (Paperback), Clarity Press, 2020; 2nd revised edition, {{ISBN|1949762181}}
* ''Deal of the Century: How Iran Blocked the West's Road to War'' (Paperback), Clarity Press, 2017, {{ISBN|0997896507}}
* ''Dangerous Ground: America's Failed Arms Control Policy, from FDR to Obama'' (Hardcover), 2009 {{ISBN|1568583990}}
* ''Waging Peace: The Art of War for the Antiwar Movement'', Nation Books, 2007, {{ISBN|1-56858-328-1}}
* ''Target Iran: The Truth About the White House's Plans for Regime Change'' (Hardcover), Nation Books, 2006, {{ISBN|1-56025-936-1}}
* ''Iraq Confidential: The Untold Story of the Intelligence Conspiracy to Undermine the UN and Overthrow Saddam Hussein'' (Hardcover), Foreword by [[Seymour Hersh]], Nation Books, 2006, {{ISBN|1-56025-852-7}}
* ''Frontier Justice: Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Bushwhacking of America'' Context Books, 2003, {{ISBN|1-893956-47-4}}
* ''War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know'' (with [[William Rivers Pitt]]). Context Books, 2002, {{ISBN|1-893956-38-5}}
* ''Endgame: Solving the Iraq Problem&nbsp;— Once and For All'' (Hardcover) Simon & Schuster, 1999, {{ISBN|0-684-86485-1}}; (paperback) Diane Pub Co, 2004, {{ISBN|0-7567-7659-7}}

== See also ==
* [[Eva Bartlett]] 
* [[Jackson Hinkle]] 
* [[Patrick Lancaster]] 
* [[Gonzalo Lira]] 
* [[Graham Phillips (journalist)]]
* [[Operation Rockingham]]
* [[Russian information war against Ukraine]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
*{{C-SPAN|56771}}	
*{{Twitter|id=RealScottRitter}}

{{Authority control}}
{{Iran–United States relations}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritter, Scott}}
[[Category:1961 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
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[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Gainesville, Florida]]
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[[Category:American anti–Iraq War activists]]
[[Category:Iran–United States relations]]
[[Category:American foreign policy writers]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:United States Marine Corps personnel of the Gulf War]]
[[Category:Iraq and weapons of mass destruction]]
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