SAUGERTIES -- Despite the widespread publicity of his sex-charge arrest, former U.N. arms inspector Scott Ritter drew a standing-room-only crowd eager to hear his views of the impending war with Iraq on Friday night. The Delmar resident, 41, talked for 45 minutes and answered questions for almost another hour, but he did not discuss his brush with the law in 2001.
At the time, he was arrested in Colonie and charged with trying to rendezvous with a teenage girl he met on an Internet chat line who was actually an undercover detective. Police charged Ritter with attempted endangerment of a child, but the case was adjourned in contemplation of dismissal and later sealed.
News of the case was released several weeks ago, and the U.S. attorney's office is considering filing federal charges.
Entering to a standing ovation, Ritter's confidence seemed to shake off any idea that the arrests would dent his credibility as a leading anti-war figure.
"War is not a solution," said Ritter, who served in the Marines for 12 years. "War is nothing but death. War is about getting killed, the taking of human life. Ladies and gentlemen, I don't believe that Iraq truly represents such a cost."
Ritter packed them in at the Saugerties Senior Center auditorium. The room, rated for a maximum capacity of 244 people, held at least 100 more people, and they all seemed to support him. They lined the walls several bodies deep and stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the lobby, occasionally yelling "Louder!" through the open doors. Others listened from outside through open windows. Four television cameras were present.
The views Ritter espoused Friday night were the same he has given dozens of times in speeches here and around the country: that there is no proof that Iraq has any more weapons of mass destruction; that while Saddam Hussein is an evil dictator who menaces his own people, he is no longer a threat to the United States; and that by leading the United States into another war, Bush will just create more hatred and terrorism against America.
Ritter served as a United Nations weapons inspector for seven years. In September, Ritter visited Iraq to urge Saddam Hussein to allow inspectors back into the country.
"We are told that to question the policies of the President is unpatriotic," he said. "I can't think of a more unpatriotic thing to do than not question the President's policies."
The speech was organized by the Saugerties Committee for Peace and Social Justice, which paid Ritter an undisclosed amount. The audience was instructed beforehand to ask questions only about the Middle East.
The crowd was a mostly graying lot, although a number of younger people were present. Most audience members said Ritter's political views should be kept separate from his personal life.
"I find the charges abhorrent," Jo Galante of Saugerties said. "But I still think the message is important enough to overlook those charges."
Others questioned why information in the sex case was recently released.
"The timing seems too perfect," said Leathem Mehaffey Barrytown. "I think it serves someone else's agenda to have him smeared like that."
Earlier this week, Schenectady County Community College canceled a speech Ritter was to give there. They will still pay his $4,000 speaking fee.
Ritter, wearing a gray suit and red tie, appeared to be unaffected by the recent negative publicity. He told jokes, took questions, encouraged debate and seemed completely energized as he told the crowd to keep making their anti-war views public.
"This war will be stopped in Washington, D.C., when President Bush realizes he can lose more by going to war than by not going to war," he said.