Scott Ritter, Tough Guy

By Randall Hoven

Scott Ritter is a former UN chief weapons inspector. Earlier in his career, he criticized President Clinton for not being tough enough toward Saddam Hussein. Later in his career he opposed President Bush for being too tough toward Saddam Hussein. As Time Magazine put it in 2002,

Scott Ritter was the UN's top weapons inspector in Iraq until 1998, when he resigned claiming President Clinton was too easy on Saddam. Now he says the dictator doesn't seem to have weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and that trying to oust Saddam is "extremely dangerous."

Why the Arianna Huffington-like personality change?

From the Pocono Record, we have a clue to an answer. (WARNING: graphic content.)

Officer Ryan Venneman was posing as 15-year-old "Emily" in an online chat room when he was contacted by someone using the name "Delmarm4fun." This person, later identified as Ritter, told "Emily" he was a 44-year-old male from Albany, N.Y.

"Emily" told Ritter she was a 15-year-old girl from the Poconos, at which point Ritter asked for a picture other than the one "Emily" had posted on her account. Ritter then sent her a link to his Web camera and began to masturbate on camera.

... Ritter then said: "You want to see it finish," reactivated his webcam and continued masturbating and ejaculated on camera.

That was not the first time he got in such trouble. Note the times: in 1998 he resigned because Clinton was too easy on Saddam, and in 2002 he was criticizing Bush for the opposite. As the Pocono Record reminds us, "Ritter was charged in a June 2001 Internet sex sting in New York, but that case was dismissed." Another case in April 2001 involving a 14-year-old girl he was not charged.

He is currently out on bail, awaiting his next appearance in Monroe County Common Pleas Court.

In 2002, Ritter was interviewed by Time Magazine. Here was his response to Time's comment that "Some on the right call you the new Jane Fonda, and joke about what you'll call your exercise video."

Those on the right who say that disgrace the 12 years of service I gave to my country as a Marine. I love my country. I'll put my record of service up against anyone, bar none. If they want to have an exercise video then why don't they come here and say it to my face and I'll give'm an exercise video, which will be called, "Scott Ritter Kicking Their Ass."

His latest video was not quite an ex-Marine kicking ass, was it?

Hat tip: AoSHQ.