Smearing Ritter

Funny how these things happen...

Scott Ritter testifies before the Iraqi National Assembly. He shows up on CNN blasting the International Institute for Strategic Studies report, and argues forcefully that "Every American politician better be seeking to exhaust every viable option, including diplomacy and the return of inspectors, before we send American troops off to fight and possibly be killed in this war."

Then, Bill O'Reilly kicks off a segment on The Factor asking, "Is former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter in trouble?...has he been compromised by friends of Saddam Hussein? And is the FBI taking a second look at Ritter? ...We'll talk with Stephen Hayes, a reporter for The Weekly Standard who has written extensively about Mr. Ritter."

Needless to say, I caught the O'Reilly segment and found what I expected: a lob of character assassination.

Update: Antonia Zerbisias picks up the same story in the Toronto Star.