On August 7, in the middle of the day, the FBI and state police raided the New York home of Scott Ritter, a well-known and outspoken figure. They had a search warrant and were looking into whether he might have broken a law called the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Their main interest was in seizing his electronic devices, hoping to dig into his communications and see what they might find.
Who is Scott Ritter?
William Scott Ritter Jr., born on July 15, 1961, has lived a life full of dramatic twists and turns. He started as a bright young man with a passion for military history, graduating from a high school in Germany and earning a degree in Soviet Union history with honors from Franklin and Marshall College.
Ritter’s military career began in 1980 when he joined the U.S. Army as a private. By 1984, he had risen to the rank of intelligence officer in the Marine Corps, where he spent the next 12 years. He became a lead analyst on critical issues like the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Iran-Iraq War. During Operation Desert Storm in 1991, as a Marine captain, Ritter challenged high-ranking military claims about the destruction of Iraqi Scud missile launchers, insisting that no evidence supported these claims. His willingness to speak out put him on the radar and showcased his dedication to the truth, even when it meant going against the grain.
In the early 1990s, Ritter became a weapons inspector for the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM), a role that took him to Iraq, where he was responsible for finding and destroying weapons of mass destruction. Over seven years, he led numerous inspection missions and often faced intense scrutiny and criticism, particularly when he sent U.S. intelligence data to Israel for analysis without authorization, stirring controversy back home.
Despite his prestigious military and intelligence career, Ritter’s life took a dark turn. He was convicted as a child sex offender, a shadow that has loomed large over his later years.
After leaving the UN, Ritter became an outspoken critic of U.S. foreign policy, especially the Iraq War. He regularly contributed to Russian state media outlets like RT and Sputnik, and he visited Russia to show his support after the 2022 special military operation in Ukraine. In June 2024, he claimed, that U.S. authorities had seized his passport to stop him from traveling to Russia.
Ritter remains active in public discussions as a member of the group Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity. His life story is a complicated mix of military service, international intrigue, public controversy, and personal scandal.
