Deception is a common practice in politics but Americans seem to be particularly easy prey. One reason is perhaps the deeply ingrained idea of the U.S. as a benign and benevolent nation. This notion is part of the catechism of education that is transmitted from generation to generation. Another is that the corporate media fail to inform citizens about what the U.S. is actually doing in the world rather than what it says it is doing. And so one administration after another succeeds in hiding its true foreign policy objectives. The latest installment in this on-going saga of duplicity has led to the unjustified war on Iraq. That same formulaic pattern of lies, doubletalk and fear mongering is still in place and unless broken will lead to future wars.

Scott Ritter is a former Marine intelligence officer and a veteran of the first Gulf War. He served as a UN weapons inspector in Iraq for seven years. As an expert on arms control, he has addressed governments around the world as well as being a frequent guest on radio and TV talk shows. In the lead up to the attack on Iraq, Ritter openly questioned whether Iraq had any weapons of mass destruction. He is the author of Frontier Justice: WMDs and the Bushwhacking of America. His latest book is Iraq Confidential.