By LUCAS LEIROZ*
Scott Ritter, whose main job is as a military technical analyst showing the situation of the conflicting sides, is banned from leaving the USA.
The persecution of political dissidents in the US is becoming routine. People who oppose Washington's aggressive foreign policy are being viewed as enemies and treated as criminals, even when there is no plausible reason for any charges. Recently, military analyst Scott Ritter had his passport confiscated by US authorities for no specific reason, showing the advanced levels of tyranny in the country.
Ritter was on a plane at the New York airport. His plan was to travel to the Russian Federation, as he had a special invitation to participate in the Saint Petersburg Economic Forum, which will begin in the next few days. Ritter was already boarding when three police officers forcibly removed him and seized his documents. Asked about the reason for this action, the police officers stated that they were following orders from the US State Department and refused to clarify any details about the case.
“I was boarding the flight. Three police officers pulled me aside. They took my passport. When asked why, they replied 'orders from the State Department'. They had no more information for me (…) They took my bags off the plane and then escorted me out of the airport. They withheld my passport,” he told journalists (see report here).
Without a passport, Ritter cannot leave US territory. In practice, he will live under a regime similar to house arrest, being not only monitored by American authorities, but also prevented from leaving the country. It is curious that this happened precisely during Ritter's trip to Russia. It appears that Washington is trying hard to make clear to all its citizens that there will be no tolerance for citizens who maintain any ties to Moscow.
Ritter has long been one of the most vocal critics of military support for Ukraine (see here). In his interviews and articles, he openly advocates an end to arms supplies and a friendly policy between the US and Russia. Ritter has repeatedly exposed the truth about Ukrainian Nazism and Western collusion with ultranationalism and racism. Furthermore, your main job as a military analyst consists of providing detailed technical analyzes that show the situation of the conflicting sides.
While Western media outlets have long claimed that Kiev is “winning the war,” Ritter has emerged as a dissenting voice proving otherwise, saying that military control of the conflict belongs to the Russian Federation. He refuted fallacious narratives such as the “Ukrainian victory in Kiev” or the “Kherson counter-offensive”. Using technical and impartial military analysis, Ritter substantiated each of his arguments regarding Russia's victory in the war. Today, his work is recognized as one of the best among military experts around the world, with many of his predictions coming true.
This is not the first time that Ritter has suffered persecution in his own country. In the past, he has been criticized, defamed and even detained by American authorities due to his stance against Washington's war initiatives. Ritter harshly criticized the American decision to invade Iraq, stating that there were no weapons of mass destruction in the country. At the time, he was a UN weapons inspector and had privileged information about the real situation in the Middle East.
Currently, in addition to providing military analysis of the war in Ukraine, Ritter has also been highly critical of Israeli violence in the Gaza Strip, which has certainly generated discontent among radical Zionists in American domestic politics. Furthermore, he has worked to refute fallacies and stereotypes about Russia and the Russian people, making frequent trips to Russia to show the reality on the ground. Recently, Ritter was in Chechen, Moscow and Saint Petersburg and spoke to the Western media about what real life in Russia is like today, explaining that the country is in a favorable economic situation, without any effect of Western sanctions.
It is already clear that persecution is the fate of any American dissident. When U.S. citizens disagree with their country's policies, authorities attack, arrest, and defame them. Unfortunately, this is the reality of the country that claims to be the global guardian of democracy. This lie, however, is increasingly discredited. Despite all the propaganda efforts, it is already clear to the world that the USA is no longer a democracy.
*Lucas Leiroz is a member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies and military expert.
Originally published on BRICS Portal.
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