The University of Pittsburgh's Matthew B. Ridgway Center for International Security Studies Presents Town Meeting on U.S. Foreign Policy: "What Mainstream Media Don't Tell Us About Iran/Iraq"

PITTSBURGH—The University of Pittsburgh's Matthew B. Ridgway Center for International Security Studies will host Scott Ritter, former Marine and UN weapons inspector, and Ambassador Edward Peck, who served as Chief of Mission in Iraq and Mauritania, in a discussion titled "What Mainstream Media Don't Tell Us About Iran/Iraq," at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 22, in the Carnegie Library Lecture Hall, 4400 Forbes Ave. The discussion will be moderated by Dan Simpson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editor and former U.S. ambassador to the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Somalia. The discussion will be followed by a question-and-answer session.

Scott Ritter was one of the United Nations Special Commission's most senior weapons inspectors in Iraq between 1991 and 1998, after having served for eight years as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. As a Marine, Ritter conducted arms inspections in the former Soviet Union, and provided analysis of Iraq's missile capacity to U.S. General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr. in the 1991 Gulf War.

Ambassador Edward Peck served as Chief of Mission in Iraq and Mauritania; Embassy officer in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt; deputy director of the cabinet Task Force on Terrorism at the Reagan White House; deputy coordinator of Covert Intelligence Programs at the State Department; and Liaison Officer to the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon. With two tours of active duty as a paratrooper, Peck served in ranks ranging from private to first lieutenant.

Ritter is the author of Target Iran: "The Truth About the White House's Plans for Regime Change," (Nation Books, 2006) and "Waging Peace: The Art of War for the Antiwar Movement," (Nation Books, 2007). He will be available for book signings following the discussion.

The event is cosponsored by the University of Pittsburgh's Matthew B. Ridgway Center for International Security Studies, Center for International Legal Education, and the University Center for International Studies' Global Studies Program and Carnegie Mellon University, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Pittsburgh Persian Gulf Initiative, Consortium of Educational Resources on Islamic Studies, Thomas Merton Center, and American Friends Service Committee.The Ridgway Center is affiliated with the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and the University Center for International Studies, both at the University of Pittsburgh.

###

1/8/08/amm