Press Releases

Former UN weapons inspector to speak at Caltech

PASADENA - Scott Ritter, former UN weapons inspector in Iraq, will be the first speaker in the 2002-2003 Social Activism Speaker Series at the California Institute of Technology. The presentation, "Understanding the Roots of Terrorism: Iraq as a Case Study," will take place on Wednesday, November 13, at 8 pm in the Ramo Auditorium on the Caltech campus. The event is free and open to the public.

In 1998, Mr. Ritter resigned his post as chief weapons inspector for the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) in Iraq, charging that the United States was purposefully obstructing the completion of the UNSCOM mission. A vocal critic of the Bush administration's current rhetoric against Iraq, he believes the UN inspectors destroyed 90-95% of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction in the seven years they spent there. He also argues that it would be impossible for Iraq to build new weapons in the four years since inspectors left, without that activity being detected.

Mr. Ritter graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA with departmental honors. He began his military career as an intelligence officer for the United States Marine Corps, where he served as the lead analyst for the Marine Corps Rapid Deployment Force concerning the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Iran-Iraq War. He is the author of the book "Endgame: Solving the Iraq Problem Once and For All", and director of the documentary "In Shifting Sands: The Truth About UNSCOM and the Disarming of Iraq".

This is the fourth year for the Social Activism Speaker Series, which is aimed at drawing attention to current social and political issues by inviting prominent activists to speak to the Caltech community, and the wider public, and to share their experiences and perspectives. This series is coordinated with the help of the Caltech Y, and is made possible by contributions from the President's Office, the James Irvine Foundation, Student Affairs, Campus Auxiliary and Business Services, Graduate Dean, Women's Center, Residence Life, the Alumni Association, the Diversity Program Fund, the Mellon Foundation, the Graduate Student Council, Jack and Edith Roberts, and ASCIT.

The Social Activism Speaker Series will continue in 2003 with Adam Shapiro and Huwaida Arraf, cofounders of the International Solidarity Movement, on Wednesday, January 8 at 8 pm, and Theodore Postol, MIT professor and critic of Nuclear Missile Defense, on Wednesday, April 2 at 8pm.

Ramo Auditorium is located in the center of the Caltech campus. Parking is available in the lots south of Del Mar Boulevard between Wilson and Chester Avenues, and in the Wilson Avenue parking structures between San Pasqual Street and Del Mar Boulevard.

For more information, visit http://sass.caltech.edu or contact Greg Fletcher, Caltech Y, (626) 395-6163.