Scott Ritter/Seymour Hersh on C-Span2 (repeat)

[hexola]

[hexola]

1. on right now

[alcibiades_mystery]

2. up now

bling

[KC21304]

3. Thank you !

[BeHereNow]

4. THANK YOU for posting this!

I SO wanted to hear this!!!
Listening now, thanks to YOU!
BHN

[Kralizec]

5. If you didn't catch this earlier today, IT'S A MUST WATCH! (eom)

[pinto]

6. This is a great discussion. Saw it this afternoon.

[derby378]

7. Good catch

I was just about to post the notice myself when I saw yours.

[alcibiades_mystery]

8. Ritter is articulating the greatest failure of the Clinton administration

The lack of imagination and vision that caused the sanctions regime to be continued under the lie of disarmament. In order to keep the sanctions on, behind this lie, Clinton administration officials had to pretend publically that Saddam continued to have weapons, and continued to have weapons programs. And now, Bush and his cronies are able to point to those public statements and say "Everybody thought so, even Clinton."

Of course Clinton didn't think so, after 1995. He continued to pretend to think so, because nobody in the administration could conceive of another approach to Iraq. That lack of vision, that lack of imagination, opened the door for killers like the neo-cons to push their aggressive war. It is the greatest failure of Clinton's time - far more damaging than any sex scandal. And the greatest tragedy.

[Ilsa]

9. Thanks. I hadn't thought much about that, but there is so much

truth in what you are saying. It makes sense now. (duh me)

[alcibiades_mystery]

12. Ritter's right: Albright, Berger, and those others should be called out

as well.

In February and March of 1998, I protested against the war drums being banged by the Clinton Administration on Iraq. If you remember, Albright and several others went to sell this clunker to the American people at a "town hall" meeting at Ohio University. They were shouted down and shocked by the response: NO to war, NO to aggressive attacks on Iraq, from a broad spectrum. And from a smaller but vocal section (including myself) NO to sanctions. In December of that year we protested again when Clinton bombed Baghdad and other sites and pulled inspectors (but maintained the sanctions).

Do I blame Bush for the catastrophe more? Of course. But Ritter is right that all the Bush admin did was take advantage of the environment created by the Clinton administration's posture on the Iraq question. There's a lot of reflection and soul searching to be done, in a non-partisan manner.

[Ilsa]

15. Thanks for doing that, and yes, I remember the

encounter at Ohio State. It was featured on Frontline's The Road to War series. I guess I was distracted thinking about all the other stuff in that program to pick up on this aspect of the history of the US relationship with Iraq.

[ocean girl]

10. I watched it earlier and my head is still spinning

I Tivo'd it, so I can watch it about 5 more times until I absorb it all.

I love them both, but especially Ritter's passion and honesty - he just blew me away!

[berner59]

11. He's amazing...

I remember him being trashed during the war buid-up as he tried to tell the truth...

Clinton lied about all this, true, but he didn't start a war and have our soldiers killed - I really think that is the bigger issue...

[alcibiades_mystery]

13. That is a narrow partisan reading

It should, of course, be played for partisan gain, but it is essentially dishonest about history and piddling in its shirking of responsibility. And we'll never understand this fiasco that way. Or avoid the next one. We retreated into the same partisan positions after Vietnam, and look where it got us...all of us, Americans.

[berner59]

14. I do agree with your #12 post...

But right now - there is finally a chance to truly expose this and if this leads to Clinton's gang, then so be it...but right now - I want our soldiers home and this could be a step in that direction...