Confidential Information
He has been called pinko, Commie, even a traitor. And then there are the crank calls hate emails, and anonymous letters. Craig Rhodes does not get used to the angry epithets and threats, but he believes speaking out is an individual's duty in a democracy. And that is exactly what he does.
“It may sound like Pollyanna or pie-in-the-sky to a cynic,” he admits, “but I took my civics lessons seriously when I was in school.”
In the past couple of years, Rhodes has been compelled to speak out against the war in Iraq. He and others have been getting together twice a month in Paducah, Ky., to demonstrate under the banner of Patriots for Peace. On the second and fourth Saturday of each month, the group gathers at Noble Park from 10 a.m. to noon to protest.
“When we first began,” he recalls, “we heard and saw all the same old things.” He describes insulting hand gestures, screams of “Love it or leave it!”
Lately, attitudes seem to be changing, according to Craig Rhodes. Now when Patriots for Peace demonstrate, there are thumbs-up signs, people beeping the horn in support.
“Sometimes people will be driving by, they'll see us and join the protest,” he says. “Our presence empowers them to get involved.”
Patriots for Peace has raised money to bring Scott Ritter to western Kentucky Monday and Tuesday, October 25-26. That Monday, Ritter will give a talk at Paducah Tilghman auditorium at 7 p.m. On Tuesday, October 26, Ritter comes to Murray to make a presentation at the Wrather Museum on the Murray State University campus at 7 p.m.
Scott Ritter, author of the newly-released Iraq Confidential, was chief weapons inspector for UNSCOM, the United Nations Special Commission to disarm Iraq. A former Marine intelligence officer, he resigned from UNSCOM in 1998 in protest over Iraq's continuous efforts to violate sanctions against weapons of mass destruction. Since then, he has concluded that there were no WMD, and that Iraq was bluffing. He claims that the CIA was determined to stop the truth from coming out, because this knowledge would have derailed America's drive for regime change.
According to the write-up on Amazon.com, Iraq Confidential charts the disillusionment of a staunch patriot who came to realize that his own government sought to undermine effective arms control in the Middle East.”
Patriots for Peace is bringing Ritter to western Kentucky so people in the region will have the opportunity to hear another side to the ongoing debate about Iraq. The presentations in Paducah and Murray are free.
“We want the events to be open at no charge because most of the information we do get in our free society comes at a cost,” Craig Rhodes declares. “This issue is important enough to be made available for free. It's an opportunity learn.”
For more information about Scott Ritter's book, log onto www.iraqconfidential.com. For information about Ritter's presentations in western Kentucky, contact Craig Rhodes at 618-564-2645.
Story created Oct 18, 2005 - 11:01:44 EDT.
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