Podcast interview: Judge Andrew Napolitano talks to former US Marine Corps Intelligence Officer Scott Ritter

From LifeSiteNews

By Patrick Delaney

Ritter, a former U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer, emphasized the relevant French troops “have been put on notice for deployment. So, this is real. This isn’t hypothetical.

A group of former American intelligence officers issued a statement last week warning that a planned deployment of French and Baltic state soldiers into Ukraine could initiate a chain of events quickly leading to the “nuclear annihilation” of the United States, Europe and Russia.

The March 24 public memo from Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) addressed to the president of the United States is signed by 19 well-known experts such as Colonel Douglas Macgregor, Scott Ritter, Matthew Hoh, Ray McGovern and Col. Lawrence Wilkerson.

It warns that the planned deployment of 2,000 French troops, being joined by some from the Baltic states, would be “purely symbolic” since they “would have zero survivability” in the “modern high-intensity conflict” happening in Ukraine today.

These troops from NATO countries would furthermore be “‘lawful targets’ under the Law of War” and it is “highly likely that Russia would attack” any such “contingent in Ukraine and quickly destroy/degrade its combat viability.”

President Emmanuel Macron of France may then believe he could invoke Article 5 of the NATO Charter requiring NATO members, including the United States, to intervene, the experts explained. Such a response would likely involve aircraft operating from NATO countries against tactical targets inside Russia.

“Doctrinally, and by legal right, Russia’s response would be to launch retaliatory strikes also against targets in NATO countries,” the letter continues. “If NATO then attacks strategic targets inside Russia, at that point Russia’s nuclear doctrine takes over, and NATO decision-making centers would be hit with nuclear weapons.”

“Europe needs to understand that France is leading it down a path of inevitable self-destruction,” the experts wrote. And the “American people need to understand that Europe is leading them to the cusp of nuclear annihilation.”

In describing the imminent dangers involved with this scenario, Ritter, a former U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer, emphasized the relevant French troops “have been put on notice for deployment. So, this is real. This isn’t hypothetical. This isn’t fake. This is real.”

Speaking in a March 26 interview with Andrew Napolitano, the three-time author described the French strategy as the “camel’s nose” that is intended to initially deploy a small force of 2,000 troops that it hopes to swell to 60,000 from other NATO nations that could be converted to “a de facto NATO occupation of West Ukraine.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, that is an act of war. Russia has said it’s an act of war. Russia will destroy these 60,000,” Ritter assured.

And “if you think for a second that NATO’s going to allow 2,000 French soldiers or 60,000 NATO soldiers to be killed by the Russians without doing anything, you’re wrong,” he said, explaining they will “strike the bases where the Russian aircraft came that destroyed this NATO force.”

Since some of those bases are “duel-hatted,” meaning they have both conventional bombers and nuclear deterrence bombers, a “strategic force waiting reserve in case there’s a nuclear war.”

“Russian nuclear doctrine says that if a conventional power attacks Russia in a way that diminishes its strategic nuclear deterrence, that is a red line that can lead to a Russian nuclear retaliation,” Ritter explained. “We are talking about nuclear war here. And it’s on full automatic, meaning that once this begins, it doesn’t stop until the world is ended.”

According to the former intelligence officer, Macron has spoken to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, along with the British, Polish and Czechs who have signaled they don’t want to lead on this deployment but are willing to follow with their own troop assignments soon after.

And while many believe “Russia has been crying wolf about its nuclear doctrine,” Ritter says, “let me just make it clear, I’ve had a lot of experience with the Russians. They don’t bluff. They literally don’t bluff.”

He believes Russia sent a signal recently in their destroying an airfield and a rail line on the Polish border. In effect, they are saying, “we know how you get here. We know how this is done. If you cross over, we will kill you all.” And, indeed “they have straight-up said, ‘a Frenchman steps foot in Ukraine, that’s a dead Frenchman. We will kill them.’”

‘No doubt,’ the U.S. president directed the CIA to ‘carry out acts of violence inside Russia’

Ritter also discussed why he believes the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was behind the March 22 terrorist attack at a concert hall just outside of Moscow that claimed the lives of at least 139 people.

According to his research, the intelligence service of Ukraine, the GUR, “is a total construct of the CIA and MI6, the British intelligence (agency),” and is thus “not an independent organ. It works on behalf of the United States.”

“The CIA has worked with the GUR to use Russian nationalist groups to invade Russia,” he emphasized. Perhaps similar to the Black Lives Matter riots in 2020, this was done in early March with a purpose of disrupting the election of Russian President Vladimir Putin and involved approximately 5,000 fighters trained, equipped, and directed by the United States “under the umbrella of Ukrainian intelligence.”

While these fighters were defeated, Ritter said this invasion was an act of war that also demonstrates “the CIA is capable of carrying out acts of violence on Russian soil.”

With regards to the Moscow terrorist bombing, he explained why the media narrative that the terrorists were ISIS-K jihadists was questionable as the assailants released pictures of themselves attempting to display a pious Islamic gesture but did it erroneously, betraying their unfamiliarity with the religion.

Secondly, while jihadists give their lives as “martyrs” in such attacks, these men escaped and sought their safe refuge in Ukraine, indicating they are mercenaries returning to those who recruited and trained, and paid them: “the GUR, which is the same thing as the CIA and MI6. America is behind this 100%.”

‘We have become the terrorists.’

Ritter further highlighted how the president of the United States is required by law to sign a “finding” authorizing such a covert action by the CIA Special Activity Center, at least in its general objectives even if the details of implementation are left to the discretion of the agency. Additionally, “the Gang of Eight” in Congress must be notified of such a “finding” as well.

Therefore, the former Marine concludes, the United States through the CIA has been in Ukraine “training the Ukrainians on ‘irregular warfare,’ ‘unconventional warfare.’ This means terrorism.”

“The CIA has a mission given to it by the president of the United States to train the Ukrainian intelligence services in acts of terrorism,” he said. “This operation is part of that process.”

“Let there be no doubt, the president of the United States has directed the Central Intelligence Agency to carry out acts of violence inside Russia, designed to undermine the authority of Vladimir Putin and to disrupt the elections that took place earlier this month,” Ritter said.

“We have become the terrorists. I hope people understand that. We have become the terrorists. We are responsible for setting in motion events that culminated in this horrific attack in Moscow,” he said. “We’re a terrorist nation.”

Noting the further irony, Ritter emphasized the “presidential directive to disrupt the elections in Russia” amid the western narrative over the last several years claiming “the Russians are interfering with American elections.”

If Americans understood the danger, ‘they would be in the streets’ by the millions

Returning to the topic of the French deployment of troops into Ukraine, “I’d like to believe that once the American people realize that we are on this automatic course towards nuclear annihilation, that if we don’t do anything to stop this, a possible or probable outcome is that they won’t survive the summer.”

“All you guys planning a summer vacation right now, it’s going to end with a blinding flash if we don’t stop this, if we don’t stop this insanity,” he implored.

If the American people understood the danger they were in, “they would be in the streets. Millions of people would be surrounding the White House. Central Park in New York City would be packed. San Francisco would be shut down,” Ritter exclaimed. “The American people should come out, stand up, and say not just ‘no,’ but ‘hell no, not in our name!’”

“But they’re not. They’re all getting up today, getting ready, going to work, living their lives as if nothing’s happening,” he lamented.