Product Description

Scott Ritter became a cause celebre after he resigned in protest over UN and US policy relating to the arms inspection process in Iraq. In this analysis, he exposes the duplicity of UN and US government officials as they appeased Saddam Hussein, and reveals a bold new approach to ending the crisis.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1961963 in Books
• Published on: 1999-04-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

Review
"In altering its approach to Iraq, the Clinton Administration is blundering into a policy that allows Saddam Hussein to rebuild a deadly arsenal of chemical and biological weapons. That makes it all the more repugnant that the Administration is trying to discredit and intimidate Scott Ritter, a former top United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq who is rightly sounding an alarm about the developments in Baghdad". -- THE NEW YORK TIMES, OCTOBER 4, 1998

Customer Reviews

Outdated, probably irrelevant but very informative
Having read Scott Ritter’s other book “War On Iraq” three months prior to the war, I didn’t think this book would be very relevant now that the war has ended. How wrong I was. In a way I actually regret not having read this book first. Even though the book is only just outdated by current events, it does provide a lot of background information.

Scott Ritter is amongst the most informed westerners (if not THE most informed) when it comes to Iraq’s last 10-12 years history. He is undoubtedly the most informed person from outside Iraq (to my knowledge anyway) when it comes to Iraq’s history with weapons and WMDs in general. It must be said that he is/was ompletely opposed to the war. This is implicit in this book and very much explicit in his other book, “War On Iraq”. Having said that, not that it really matters now, Mr. Ritter does, very indirectly, make a case FOR the war in this book. In a sense the reader feels that Mr. Ritter is justifying it. Unintentional perhaps.

The book is 15 chapters long. The first 8 chapters Mr. Ritter talks about Iraq’s contemporary history: from the Ottoman Empire up to the present day (which would be back in 1999 when the book was first published). He briefly describes events without going into too much detail, the turmoil in Iraq resulting from British Colonialism; the coups and power struggles; the history behind Iraq’s border disputes with its neighbors (Kuwait and Iran specifically); the beginnings of Saddam Hussein and his rise to power; background information on Dr Germ and other characters from the Baath Party in Iraq. Chapters 9-14 deal with the actual inspections from Ritter’s experience; the creation of UNMOVIC; Richard Butler’s dubious run-ins with both Israeli and American politicians; Iraq’s ‘cat and mouse’ concealment games. The book ends with Mr. Ritter’s own analysis of how to deal with Iraq in the ‘after words’. Mostly outdated and practically irrelevant now, he talks about a diplomatic as opposed to military solution to Iraq discussing the consequences/ repercussions of both. Worth noting is that 9/11 is only mentioned once in this book. I think it would have made a difference if Mr. Ritter, in this updated edition, had talked about how 9/11 influenced the change in the US’s policies towards Iraq so drastically. Alas this was not to be the case.

In general I feel this a good book to read; very informative even today. This book provides more in-depth background information and more in-depth analysis than the ‘War on Iraq’. I personally feel that had Mr.Bush and Mr.Blair used this book and the information in it to convince their respective publics about going to war they probably would have found it easier for themselves in regards to influencing public opinion. The book is from the point of view of one person but it certainly explains alot and puts everything in perspective.

Excellent insiders story and good anaylsis
Instead of watching the news coverage of the war that is currently going on in Iraq I have spent some of my spare time reading this excellent work by someone who deserves attention. The behind the scenes account of political intrigues in Iraq, the US, and the UN is very telling and informative and puts a lot of events into their proper perspective. After I got half way through the book I was sort of surprised that Ritter has opposed the war, but in the closing chapters he makes his case (I think too briefly) and says that too much is made of the problems around weapons inspections, and not enough is made of the great successes that have been achieved (his own book seems to also have something of this problem.) I found the accounts of Richard Butler helped a lot to resolve my impression of the man as being very oddly political in his role in the UN. I never found him to be credible and Ritter's book backs up my impression somewhat.

Anyway - if you are at all interesting into how the situation in Iraq got to where it is today I highly recommend this book.