Iraq 1996: The Coup that Wasn't

Scott Ritter was the former US marine captain tasked with finding Saddam Hussein's weapons. Now, in this first detailed account, he reveals how the CIA plotted to use a UN weapons inspection to overthrow the Iraqi regime - and how fiasco turned to tragedy when it failed

'This is big, Scott," Moshe Ponkovsky said. "We don't share this with anyone." Israel's military intelligence was already assisting us at Unscom (the United Nations Special Commission, which ran the UN's weapons inspections programme in Iraq) by scrutinising the "take" from the American U-2 spy-plane flights over Iraq. It had proved an unorthodox but fruitful relationship for Unscom: the Israeli analysts had proved far superior to the CIA's. But what I was now proposing to the Israelis was a dramatic expansion of this intelligence-sharing.

Steve Richter, the head of the CIA's Near East Division, had decided that the CIA would extend a helping hand - as long as they could exploit Unscom's work to further its plans for a coup against Saddam Hussein. This newfound enthusiasm for Unscom was only confirmed when the CIA saw how weapons inspectors were increasingly gaining access to some of the most sensitive sites in Iraq, including bases belonging to the Special Republican Guard - Saddam's personal bodyguard.

The CIA coup plan went like this: if Unscom inspections could somehow be used to trigger a crisis, that would create a pretext for a US military attack against the Special Republican Guard, then Saddam's personal security force could be decapitated. This would clear the way for the plotters, led by Mohammad Abdullah al-Shawani, a former commander of Iraqi Special Forces who had defected to Amman in Jordan and been recruited by the CIA, to make their move.

The failed June 1996 coup attempt had largely been determined by domestic American political considerations. Like President George HW Bush before him, Clinton and his political handlers were sensitive to public perception in a presidential election year. This shaped both the coup's mission (get Saddam) and its timing (early summer, before the Republicans had nailed down their candidate). Not only was the 1996 plot chiefly a "wag the dog" scenario, but once again, any chance of Iraq disarming under UN supervision had been cynically undermined by the larger US objective of regime change

Source:
Guardian

Interesting Read - actually taken from a Book called Iraq Confidential: The Untold Story of America's Intelligence Conspiracy, by Scott Ritter.

Very sensitive Article that shows how the US Goverment had Plans about the Iraqi Regime Change before the Bush Administration. After reading such articles, there is only one thing certain: that Iraq just had to be Invaded and it was only a matter of time and it had nothing to do with WMD's, Democracy, Freedom or anything else that Bush administration claims to be. Clearly Iraq has been on the Target list for a LONG time...

[edit on 29/9/05 by Souljah]

With respect, Scott Ritter has been pretty well exposed as a fraud and deviant for quite some time now.

An ATS thread search will show that he was telling anyone who was still interested that the U.S. invasion of Iran would start last summer.Still waiting.

Originally posted by Realist05
With respect, Scott Ritter has been pretty well exposed as a fraud and deviant for quite some time now.

An ATS thread search will show that he was telling anyone who was still interested that the U.S. invasion of Iran would start last summer.Still waiting.

Who is Scott Ritter?

Ritter was born into a military family on July 15, 1961. After graduating from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with departmental honors, he joined the Marine Corps in 1984, where he served for twelve years as an intelligence officer. He initially served as the lead analyst for the Marine Corps Rapid Deployment Force concerning the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Iran-Iraq War. During Desert Storm, he served as a ballistic missile expert under General Norman Schwarzkopf.

en.wikipedia.org...

I think this Man knows a Little more about the Iraqi Situation in 1996 then You and me Combined.

No doubt he knows more about Iraq than I do. He evidently knows more about contacting underage girls on the internet and arranging meetings at Burger King, too.

Here's the last time we heard from him:

February 20, 2005
Scott Ritter Says US Will Attack Iran in June
From United for Peace of Pierce County, WA.

(Scott) Ritter said that President George W. Bush has received and signed off on orders for an aerial attack on Iran planned for June 2005. Its purported goal is the destruction of Iran's alleged program to develop nuclear weapons, but Ritter said neoconservatives in the administration also expected that the attack would set in motion a chain of events leading to regime change in the oil-rich nation of 70 million -- a possibility Ritter regards with the greatest skepticism...

...Scott Ritter said that although the peace movement failed to stop the war in Iraq, it had a chance to stop the expansion of the war to other nations like Iran and Syria. He held up the specter of a day when the Iraq war might be remembered as a relatively minor event that preceded an even greater conflagration.

Can you please post a Link to that Quote?

Thank you!

I guess you spent more then 12 Years in Intel and know all about Iraq and US Covert Ops there.

I am sure that Iran will sooner or later end up on the Bush administration aerial attack target list, considering that the Plans are already made - everybody is just waiting for Iran to make a wrong move in the right direction. I guess that will happen when Iran starts to charge for the barrels of Oil in Euros!



For More Informaton check this Thread:

Project Censored: The News that didn't Make News

Under Number #9 Iran’s New Oil Trade System Challenges U.S. Currency.

[edit on 29/9/05 by Souljah]

Originally posted by Realist05
February 20, 2005
Scott Ritter Says US Will Attack Iran in June
From United for Peace of Pierce County, WA.

There may not have been aerial bombing in June but there were bombings in Iran in June that Iranians believed were aided by foreign intelligence services and carried by persons in the US and British controlled portions of Iraq.

Iran links bombing to recent protests, suggests foreign link (June 13, 2005)

[edit on 29-9-2005 by AceOfBase]

Iranians believe a lot of stuff that isn't true. I'm not saying there wasn't western involvement, but, as the tired refrain goes on ATS, show me your link.

I don't pretend to be an expert, but if I predict that a roadside bomb is going to go off in Bagdad this week, am I prescient?

Originally posted by Realist05
I don't pretend to be an expert, but if I predict that a roadside bomb is going to go off in Bagdad this week, am I prescient?

The difference is that bombings like that are a rare occurance in Iran.

Originally posted by Realist05
Iranians believe a lot of stuff that isn't true. I'm not saying there wasn't western involvement, but, as the tired refrain goes on ATS, show me your link.

...Talking About Links, you still haven't Postem your source for the quote written above.

I think the problem here is that you do not like Captain Scott and you especially do not like what he talks about.