I’ve done a transcript of the last seven minutes of a Youtube featuring Scott Ritter. The entire video is about 70 minutes long and is riveting in its entirety. However, a question toward the end led Ritter to make some very specific prognostications—which I find compelling. See what you think. He doesn’t hold back.
I find it hard to get to the truth about the judicial reforms. I can fully believe that Netanyahu wants to control the judiciary to avoid jail time. However, the supreme court set-up there seems bizarre too. Judges selecting each other and dismissing Knesset legislation if they find it "unreasonable"? Sounds like a lock-in for left wing judges.
And it gets worse, because the political divide is also an ethnic divide. Left wing, in ethnic terms, boils down to Ashkenazi. So the ones who want their guys on the SC are largely Middle Eastern Jews of various persuasions. These are generalizations, but they largely hold true, and it is why Crooke (and Ritter) keeps describing Israel as a deeply divided society. The "Right's" leadership is still largely Ashkenazi, but that probably won't last much longer, based on demographics. And the attitudes of Middle Eastern Jews--call them what you will--are far more hard line. So there's a lot more going on that legal controls, power sharing, etc. It's about cultural "values" on all sorts of issues. And as in the US, control of the SC is a key.
Absolutely brilliant assessment of where Israel finds itself now - internally (political corruption/civil war) and externally (the wider ME, UN, public opinion. If we’re not careful, we could very well repeat this scenario. Funny how the big 3, Zhou, Zel and Netenyahu are all corrupt to the core and are using war - even civil war - to maintain their perfidious hold on power.
Anyone consider that Ritter might be a compromised source? His publicly available blackmail subject matter might be worse inside the file than what’s known.
Not enough salt mined, to date, for me to take too much of his “analysis” as “honest”.
Too easy to riff on a script. And his sourcing seems a bit “off” from what’s publicly available for other well vetted sources.
Enough from me, but tread with caution when it comes to SR.
I'm not suggesting Ritter has a theory of everything that I subscribe to, but the dynamics of the situation as he describes it are hardly novel for anyone with a military background. The dangers of urban combat, the dangers of a two front war, the dangers of relying on reserves for a large part of an army in a possibly existential conflict (if it goes two front).
My point is that it is very likely Ritter is a compromised source, and thus owned by someone. You might want to follow his "work", but as for me, it's more likely that work is not his own, but that of his handlers.
That he went looking for underage versus what he got kinda overlooks intent, and clearly indicates pattern of knowing where to look for underage interaction, since LEOs were also waiting in such a spot for bent individuals like Ritter.
This is my last post on this site. Good luck in your corner of the internet.
1. You've gone from pure speculation about what might be "inside his file" to "it is very likely" that he's being blackmailed to say things that aren't true. Correct me if I'm mistaken on that.
1a. I would argue against your view. The strong likelihood that I see is that Ritter--a sleaze, but far from the only one in his profession--was targeted for his outspoken political views. He was prosecuted twice and what seems very likely to me is that the Deep State would greatly prefer to put him totally out of circulation, rather than allow him to propagate views that are wormwood to the Deep State.
1b. Is it possible that Ritter is operated by a foreign power, say, Russia? Anything is possible in this world. As argued below, Ritter definitely has the competence and experience to comment credibly on the matters that he regularly comments upon. Against the idea that, say, the Russians are operating Ritter, I would argue that there are other uncompromised people making the same arguments. I have enough respect for the capabilities of the FBI/CIA to believe that they would have been able to expose Ritter's "handlers" over the span of years we can look at.
2. Ritter is undoubtedly a sleaze, but that's not the real point--he happens to have outstanding credentials for commenting on the matters that he does comment on.
3. His commentary over the years has been very consistent from a political point of view--whether you agree with his politics or not.
4. He has been a big supporter of Israel--up to now. His critique of Israeli politics at this point is consistent with his previous critiques of US policy.
5. His military analysis is what it is--it stands on its own and should be rebutted for what it is. It doesn't depend on his personal flaws or his politics. And that--his military based analysis--is what interests me.
6. In point of fact his military analysis simply doesn't differ much from the military CW. There are numerous mainstream reports stating that the US is urging Israel not to commit to a full ground invasion--for the same reasons that Ritter provides.
7. Example. Ritter says Israel won't go into Gaza because such an op would require too much of its military strength and would compromise its ability to deter a potential Hezbollah attack. This makes obvious sense, given that--from a purely military point of view--Hezbollah is far more capable than Hamas. Israel could not shift enough of its military north quickly enough to avoid a huge problem.
8. My critique of Ritter's view would be that the enormous US naval presence may be intended to serve as the deterrence against Hezbollah. He doesn't really address that. However, that is a situation that is developing as the regional situation also develops. What may have been seen as deterrence at the initial deployment may not work as well anymore in view, for example, of continuing attacks on US facilities with the potential to escalate throughout the region. While Ritter doesn't address those considerations in this video, his analysis is not inconsistent.
9. For all these points given, Ritter's analysis of the military situation is well worth considering. Personal considerations are beside the point. If he has "handlers" telling him what to say, then his handlers would appear to be pretty sharp people.
I disagree with most of these premises and will rebut at length, later. His conviction over chat room “activities” provides plenty of room for reasonably founded speculation on his proclivities, all on its own. As to might “own” him, anyone or any agency with online surveillance capabilities might have an interest in anything compromising in his history. He delivered that all by himself by his “interests”. His operator? Could be anybody including the CIA or FBI, as it’s fairly obvious there are interests within both organizations that are extra-Constitutional in nature.
In your lengthy rebuttal pls address the fact that his analysis appears to be proving correct. The Israeli military is not launching a major incursion, is so far steering clear of deep probes.
Regarding Ritter, how is he compromised? My understanding is that he was charged in two separate instances with sexual misconduct relating to internet interactions with 'minors' who in both cases actually turned out to be adult undercover agents. In the first case, the charge was dismissed. In the second case, also involving an undercover police decoy, Ritter refused to plea bargain and was convicted following trial. So, it would appear that all the facts are known regarding his 'criminal' history. So, again, how is he compromised? All the facts are known and he has been tainted by the charges and the conviction.
Unless somebody has something on him that is still unknown and different and worse than what is already known (we already know he has frequented chat rooms) and directly impacts his credibility as an analyst I don't see how he is compromised. I certainly don't see any proof that he is compromised.
G'day all, Where might reporting be found on Scotts assertion the majority of civilians killed in Israel attributed to Hamas Oct 7th were actually inflicted by IDF, I believe he said Oct 8th? This is the first I've heard of this that, if true, presents a most terrible state of affairs.
Secondarily, but I think importantly related: While I don't support Hamas at all and find our 'higher education' system promoting the violence as good as reprehensible, I do support free speech and one's right to an opinion favorable towards Hamas / Palestine. One cannot argue for 'free speech for me on my terms, but not for thee' even with the purported abuses of Hamas.
A simple fact is our 'higher ed' system is kaput. Financed now by those of us who paid our own college bills (and our own way by working) courtesy of our Federal Student (non) Loan system our institutions of higher ed have become tax-free hedge funds with huge management fees doled out to administrators there of. What sense of reality must exist for there to be many more 'Administrators' than students at colleges as there are now? And to now ask me to pay those loans off... my goodness, we have gone far, far astray. Count your blessings friends. My (late) mom said if you do that, you don't have time to reflect on your problems... funny how our parents get smarter and smarter as we get older... (WrH)
Survivors have reported that the IDF appeared to fire indiscriminately at any bldg held by Hamas, including direct tank fire, regardless of Israelis present--of whom there were many being held by Hamas.
There are a lot of republications of the Electronic Intifada article as well. These are obviously biased sources, but I wouldn't discount them. The major Israeli press outlets are obviously biased too. Veterans Today is complicated, sort of like Scott Ritter.
Why yandex? It's my go-to search engine for "controversial" subject matter, because bing and google censor too much, and ddg is just repackaged bing/google indices.
Try. Speaking as a disillusioned DuckDuckGo user. I wanted to check out Charles Murray's Bell Curve theory to see if there was anything to it. DDG and even Brave gave me dozens of articles of ad hominem attacks on Murray.
Further supporting Scott's contention with an un-prepared, under-trained military response by the IDF. I'm not going with 'on purpose', however diverting blame, or perhaps taking advantage of this, is reprehensible if true. Fog of War and all that aside, int'l support is being asked in retribution for what may be partially IDF's fault... As always, my best sir! (Wrh)
Good point sir! A couple hours ago Simplicius released a ME posting. The 'let God sort them out' thinking (sadly a familiar-to-me notion) is being deployed, so to speak, very heavily. Rather more for justification for elimination of any Palestinian presence in Gaza, how many hundreds of millions of lives were taken under just such a premise? Religious wars (in referencing religion/religious I mean "man's stuff", rather than Faith) seem to be a big go-to in all of history. I guess I fear rather than the 10's of millions of deaths Biden suggested are likely happening, there are way too many nuclear armed Jihadists these days... not mentioned (much, if at all) lurks Pakistan. Who, coincidentally, offered Turkey Nukes recently... Fallout cares not a whit what your pronoun is... (quoting myself, sorry!). Best regards Doug! (WrH)
Seems spot on. "Right now is as strong as Israel is ever going to be on this issue." Agreed. Israel might have achieved some temporary, superficial unity in recent weeks, but when this is over, there is going to be a massive calling to account. Meanwhile, we wait to see what happens with the other half of the clown act: the US ME build up. Will they be content to provide cover for Palestinian genocide, or will the neocons give another roll of the dice and decide to go all in on Iran?
It's easy to label our enemies and use that label to dismiss their views. I labelled Naomi Wolf as an hysterical feminist before Covid. That blocked me for a long time from realising how cogent and courageous here view where on the whole Pandemic scam.
I’m afraid the lesson of 9/11 is being forgotten. No generals or politicians lost their jobs based on this debacle. A divided country rallied around a sketchy government president and invaded Afghanistan and Iraq. Netanyahu knows the precedent. He will attack hezbeloh and get the United States to fight Iran
Maybe, but we're a very different world from back then. Things are much more febrile and fragile. The depth of the schism in Israel is abyssal and there is no guarantee that Bibi will get his way.
G'day Steghorn, I'm interested in you fleshing-out your thoughts you relate here. Particularly regarding Bibi. I wonder how much what 'his way' is his pure desire of if there's a cost being executed for his organization of the Zionist Coalition and him being returned to power. Sometimes, deals with the devil don't go as desired - could Bibi be in such a trap? Scott basically calls him a life-sentence criminal waiting to happen...
That, along with Scotts assertion of IDF killing a lot of the claimed 'victims of Hamas' has left me info-concerned. (I think I just made that up, but it's what I meant to write!). You know of my heartache at Scotts declaration against the present-day Israel situation, hence this request from me of you. Thanks for your time and any thoughts! Hope your week is spectacular! (WrH)
OTOH, it takes enormous courage to say what Ritter is saying. There is a heavy price to pay for criticizing Israel. I attribute some of the over the top passion to the adrenaline flow resulting from the expression of courage. In any event, he's either right or wrong w respect to his analysis (the part that Steg refers to as cold and clear) and his reputation more or less depends upon it.
As we all know by now, Ritter's reputation has taken some big hits over the years. To me, this can cut several ways. For one, I doubt he cares much what the DC Establishment thinks of him any more. Presumably, there won't be too many Establishment paychecks coming his way. Maybe he doesn't have much to lose anymore and can call a spade...So long as he gets it right...Or maybe he is just screaming for attention...
As for me, I'm mostly interested in hearing as many perspectives as possible so that I can (try to) sort out in my mind what exactly is going on. I watched the whole video and found it illuminating.
You could scarcely find more educated sources on the topics of foreign policy, specifically Israel vs. Palestine than Scott Horton, Ryan Dawson and Darryl Cooper.
Cooper has a 30 hour podcast series on the conflict recorded some years ago. It's called Fear and loathing in the New Jerusalem. t's a great jumping off point in understanding its roots.
When one understands Scott's extensive experience with Israel and ME issues, his opinions gain value and worthy perspective. Hard subject with huge possible consequences - makes it difficult to focus sometimes. I appreciate this Substack hugely, Mark. Best Regards - (WrH)
Wikipedia? Uh-huh. If we're talking about bias here, how objective do you think they are? To give some perspective, here's Wikipedia's intro to another maverick, Martin Armstrong: "Martin Arthur Armstrong is an American self-taught economic forecaster and convicted felon who spent 11 years in jail for cheating investors out of $700 million and hiding $15 million in assets from regulators." Armstrong, like Ritter, is generally right about a lot of things.
Robert Amsterdam interview provides one view of what is happening: https://robertamsterdam.com/departures-podcast-featuring-ron-robin-president-of-the-university-of-haifa/
Very mainstream source: "Another 10,000 IDF reservists announce they won't serve anymore"
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-752051
What happens if there was a war and nobody showed up?
Which is confirmation, to a degree, that Ritter is on the ball in his observations re Israeli politics and society. Alastair Crooke, too.
I find it hard to get to the truth about the judicial reforms. I can fully believe that Netanyahu wants to control the judiciary to avoid jail time. However, the supreme court set-up there seems bizarre too. Judges selecting each other and dismissing Knesset legislation if they find it "unreasonable"? Sounds like a lock-in for left wing judges.
And it gets worse, because the political divide is also an ethnic divide. Left wing, in ethnic terms, boils down to Ashkenazi. So the ones who want their guys on the SC are largely Middle Eastern Jews of various persuasions. These are generalizations, but they largely hold true, and it is why Crooke (and Ritter) keeps describing Israel as a deeply divided society. The "Right's" leadership is still largely Ashkenazi, but that probably won't last much longer, based on demographics. And the attitudes of Middle Eastern Jews--call them what you will--are far more hard line. So there's a lot more going on that legal controls, power sharing, etc. It's about cultural "values" on all sorts of issues. And as in the US, control of the SC is a key.
Absolutely brilliant assessment of where Israel finds itself now - internally (political corruption/civil war) and externally (the wider ME, UN, public opinion. If we’re not careful, we could very well repeat this scenario. Funny how the big 3, Zhou, Zel and Netenyahu are all corrupt to the core and are using war - even civil war - to maintain their perfidious hold on power.
Israel seems more of a kinetic version of the US: split down the middle but much more volatile.
Yes
Scott sounds like a liberal surrender monkey!
Israel should not stop!
If being against ethnic cleansing and genocide is being a "liberal surrender monkey", then count me in.
Sounds like a call for genocide. Am I reading you right?
Anyone consider that Ritter might be a compromised source? His publicly available blackmail subject matter might be worse inside the file than what’s known.
Not enough salt mined, to date, for me to take too much of his “analysis” as “honest”.
Too easy to riff on a script. And his sourcing seems a bit “off” from what’s publicly available for other well vetted sources.
Enough from me, but tread with caution when it comes to SR.
It's hard to tell the real provenance of most of the people we listen to. However, Ritter's analysis seems pretty realistic.
I'm not suggesting Ritter has a theory of everything that I subscribe to, but the dynamics of the situation as he describes it are hardly novel for anyone with a military background. The dangers of urban combat, the dangers of a two front war, the dangers of relying on reserves for a large part of an army in a possibly existential conflict (if it goes two front).
My point is that it is very likely Ritter is a compromised source, and thus owned by someone. You might want to follow his "work", but as for me, it's more likely that work is not his own, but that of his handlers.
That he went looking for underage versus what he got kinda overlooks intent, and clearly indicates pattern of knowing where to look for underage interaction, since LEOs were also waiting in such a spot for bent individuals like Ritter.
This is my last post on this site. Good luck in your corner of the internet.
1. You've gone from pure speculation about what might be "inside his file" to "it is very likely" that he's being blackmailed to say things that aren't true. Correct me if I'm mistaken on that.
1a. I would argue against your view. The strong likelihood that I see is that Ritter--a sleaze, but far from the only one in his profession--was targeted for his outspoken political views. He was prosecuted twice and what seems very likely to me is that the Deep State would greatly prefer to put him totally out of circulation, rather than allow him to propagate views that are wormwood to the Deep State.
1b. Is it possible that Ritter is operated by a foreign power, say, Russia? Anything is possible in this world. As argued below, Ritter definitely has the competence and experience to comment credibly on the matters that he regularly comments upon. Against the idea that, say, the Russians are operating Ritter, I would argue that there are other uncompromised people making the same arguments. I have enough respect for the capabilities of the FBI/CIA to believe that they would have been able to expose Ritter's "handlers" over the span of years we can look at.
2. Ritter is undoubtedly a sleaze, but that's not the real point--he happens to have outstanding credentials for commenting on the matters that he does comment on.
3. His commentary over the years has been very consistent from a political point of view--whether you agree with his politics or not.
4. He has been a big supporter of Israel--up to now. His critique of Israeli politics at this point is consistent with his previous critiques of US policy.
5. His military analysis is what it is--it stands on its own and should be rebutted for what it is. It doesn't depend on his personal flaws or his politics. And that--his military based analysis--is what interests me.
6. In point of fact his military analysis simply doesn't differ much from the military CW. There are numerous mainstream reports stating that the US is urging Israel not to commit to a full ground invasion--for the same reasons that Ritter provides.
7. Example. Ritter says Israel won't go into Gaza because such an op would require too much of its military strength and would compromise its ability to deter a potential Hezbollah attack. This makes obvious sense, given that--from a purely military point of view--Hezbollah is far more capable than Hamas. Israel could not shift enough of its military north quickly enough to avoid a huge problem.
8. My critique of Ritter's view would be that the enormous US naval presence may be intended to serve as the deterrence against Hezbollah. He doesn't really address that. However, that is a situation that is developing as the regional situation also develops. What may have been seen as deterrence at the initial deployment may not work as well anymore in view, for example, of continuing attacks on US facilities with the potential to escalate throughout the region. While Ritter doesn't address those considerations in this video, his analysis is not inconsistent.
9. For all these points given, Ritter's analysis of the military situation is well worth considering. Personal considerations are beside the point. If he has "handlers" telling him what to say, then his handlers would appear to be pretty sharp people.
I disagree with most of these premises and will rebut at length, later. His conviction over chat room “activities” provides plenty of room for reasonably founded speculation on his proclivities, all on its own. As to might “own” him, anyone or any agency with online surveillance capabilities might have an interest in anything compromising in his history. He delivered that all by himself by his “interests”. His operator? Could be anybody including the CIA or FBI, as it’s fairly obvious there are interests within both organizations that are extra-Constitutional in nature.
More later.
In your lengthy rebuttal pls address the fact that his analysis appears to be proving correct. The Israeli military is not launching a major incursion, is so far steering clear of deep probes.
Regarding Ritter, how is he compromised? My understanding is that he was charged in two separate instances with sexual misconduct relating to internet interactions with 'minors' who in both cases actually turned out to be adult undercover agents. In the first case, the charge was dismissed. In the second case, also involving an undercover police decoy, Ritter refused to plea bargain and was convicted following trial. So, it would appear that all the facts are known regarding his 'criminal' history. So, again, how is he compromised? All the facts are known and he has been tainted by the charges and the conviction.
Unless somebody has something on him that is still unknown and different and worse than what is already known (we already know he has frequented chat rooms) and directly impacts his credibility as an analyst I don't see how he is compromised. I certainly don't see any proof that he is compromised.
G'day all, Where might reporting be found on Scotts assertion the majority of civilians killed in Israel attributed to Hamas Oct 7th were actually inflicted by IDF, I believe he said Oct 8th? This is the first I've heard of this that, if true, presents a most terrible state of affairs.
Secondarily, but I think importantly related: While I don't support Hamas at all and find our 'higher education' system promoting the violence as good as reprehensible, I do support free speech and one's right to an opinion favorable towards Hamas / Palestine. One cannot argue for 'free speech for me on my terms, but not for thee' even with the purported abuses of Hamas.
A simple fact is our 'higher ed' system is kaput. Financed now by those of us who paid our own college bills (and our own way by working) courtesy of our Federal Student (non) Loan system our institutions of higher ed have become tax-free hedge funds with huge management fees doled out to administrators there of. What sense of reality must exist for there to be many more 'Administrators' than students at colleges as there are now? And to now ask me to pay those loans off... my goodness, we have gone far, far astray. Count your blessings friends. My (late) mom said if you do that, you don't have time to reflect on your problems... funny how our parents get smarter and smarter as we get older... (WrH)
Survivors have reported that the IDF appeared to fire indiscriminately at any bldg held by Hamas, including direct tank fire, regardless of Israelis present--of whom there were many being held by Hamas.
Did Scott Ritter provide links to survivor accounts of indiscriminate IDF fire?
A handful of links from the first page of yandex results, search term "idf israel 10/8 survivor account":
https://electronicintifada.net/content/israeli-forces-shot-their-own-civilians-kibbutz-survivor-says/38861
https://www.vtforeignpolicy.com/2023/10/were-most-israeli-10-7-hamas-attack-victims-of-idf-friendly-tanks-apache-helicopters-fire/
https://blog.thegovernmentrag.com/2023/10/17/hamas-terror-attack-survivor-says-idf-undoubtedly-shot-killed-israeli-citizens/
There are a lot of republications of the Electronic Intifada article as well. These are obviously biased sources, but I wouldn't discount them. The major Israeli press outlets are obviously biased too. Veterans Today is complicated, sort of like Scott Ritter.
Why yandex? It's my go-to search engine for "controversial" subject matter, because bing and google censor too much, and ddg is just repackaged bing/google indices.
Interesting. I just ran the search through DDG and Startpage.com (which had been my default for a long time). The results were startling different.
Those not already using Yandex ought to try comparing its results to other search engines. The difference is shocking.
Try. Speaking as a disillusioned DuckDuckGo user. I wanted to check out Charles Murray's Bell Curve theory to see if there was anything to it. DDG and even Brave gave me dozens of articles of ad hominem attacks on Murray.
Startpage just anonymizes Google and Bing. It will get you out of your personalized filter bubble, but it will not evade mass censorship.
https://www.startpage.com/en/how-startpage-works/
I've viewed them myself. You can easily find them if you look.
I have links in previous posts/comments but I don't have time to go back.
Further supporting Scott's contention with an un-prepared, under-trained military response by the IDF. I'm not going with 'on purpose', however diverting blame, or perhaps taking advantage of this, is reprehensible if true. Fog of War and all that aside, int'l support is being asked in retribution for what may be partially IDF's fault... As always, my best sir! (Wrh)
Good point sir! A couple hours ago Simplicius released a ME posting. The 'let God sort them out' thinking (sadly a familiar-to-me notion) is being deployed, so to speak, very heavily. Rather more for justification for elimination of any Palestinian presence in Gaza, how many hundreds of millions of lives were taken under just such a premise? Religious wars (in referencing religion/religious I mean "man's stuff", rather than Faith) seem to be a big go-to in all of history. I guess I fear rather than the 10's of millions of deaths Biden suggested are likely happening, there are way too many nuclear armed Jihadists these days... not mentioned (much, if at all) lurks Pakistan. Who, coincidentally, offered Turkey Nukes recently... Fallout cares not a whit what your pronoun is... (quoting myself, sorry!). Best regards Doug! (WrH)
Seems spot on. "Right now is as strong as Israel is ever going to be on this issue." Agreed. Israel might have achieved some temporary, superficial unity in recent weeks, but when this is over, there is going to be a massive calling to account. Meanwhile, we wait to see what happens with the other half of the clown act: the US ME build up. Will they be content to provide cover for Palestinian genocide, or will the neocons give another roll of the dice and decide to go all in on Iran?
Anyone who criticises the DS is a Russian asset and sex criminal these days. No biggie! :)
It's easy to label our enemies and use that label to dismiss their views. I labelled Naomi Wolf as an hysterical feminist before Covid. That blocked me for a long time from realising how cogent and courageous here view where on the whole Pandemic scam.
Yes.
I’m afraid the lesson of 9/11 is being forgotten. No generals or politicians lost their jobs based on this debacle. A divided country rallied around a sketchy government president and invaded Afghanistan and Iraq. Netanyahu knows the precedent. He will attack hezbeloh and get the United States to fight Iran
Maybe, but we're a very different world from back then. Things are much more febrile and fragile. The depth of the schism in Israel is abyssal and there is no guarantee that Bibi will get his way.
G'day Steghorn, I'm interested in you fleshing-out your thoughts you relate here. Particularly regarding Bibi. I wonder how much what 'his way' is his pure desire of if there's a cost being executed for his organization of the Zionist Coalition and him being returned to power. Sometimes, deals with the devil don't go as desired - could Bibi be in such a trap? Scott basically calls him a life-sentence criminal waiting to happen...
That, along with Scotts assertion of IDF killing a lot of the claimed 'victims of Hamas' has left me info-concerned. (I think I just made that up, but it's what I meant to write!). You know of my heartache at Scotts declaration against the present-day Israel situation, hence this request from me of you. Thanks for your time and any thoughts! Hope your week is spectacular! (WrH)
OTOH, it takes enormous courage to say what Ritter is saying. There is a heavy price to pay for criticizing Israel. I attribute some of the over the top passion to the adrenaline flow resulting from the expression of courage. In any event, he's either right or wrong w respect to his analysis (the part that Steg refers to as cold and clear) and his reputation more or less depends upon it.
As we all know by now, Ritter's reputation has taken some big hits over the years. To me, this can cut several ways. For one, I doubt he cares much what the DC Establishment thinks of him any more. Presumably, there won't be too many Establishment paychecks coming his way. Maybe he doesn't have much to lose anymore and can call a spade...So long as he gets it right...Or maybe he is just screaming for attention...
As for me, I'm mostly interested in hearing as many perspectives as possible so that I can (try to) sort out in my mind what exactly is going on. I watched the whole video and found it illuminating.
Yes, this is my position.
I would add that Ritter has been mostly right on Ukraine for 18 months now. He has that going for him as well...
To me, he's one of the few people who combines passion with clear, cold analysis. I don't see much wrong with what he says.
That's my take too. Not that it let's Bibi off the hook.
I agree that the Israeli judiciary was badly in need of reform.
You could scarcely find more educated sources on the topics of foreign policy, specifically Israel vs. Palestine than Scott Horton, Ryan Dawson and Darryl Cooper.
Cooper has a 30 hour podcast series on the conflict recorded some years ago. It's called Fear and loathing in the New Jerusalem. t's a great jumping off point in understanding its roots.
Go ahead--Shoot the messenger.
When one understands Scott's extensive experience with Israel and ME issues, his opinions gain value and worthy perspective. Hard subject with huge possible consequences - makes it difficult to focus sometimes. I appreciate this Substack hugely, Mark. Best Regards - (WrH)
Wikipedia? Uh-huh. If we're talking about bias here, how objective do you think they are? To give some perspective, here's Wikipedia's intro to another maverick, Martin Armstrong: "Martin Arthur Armstrong is an American self-taught economic forecaster and convicted felon who spent 11 years in jail for cheating investors out of $700 million and hiding $15 million in assets from regulators." Armstrong, like Ritter, is generally right about a lot of things.
Nope, not gonna shoot the messenger. Or not before I read up on Bai's views regarding "John McCain's philosophy about war."