Births on July 15

Scott Ritter, American soldier and international weapons inspector

William Scott Ritter Jr. (born July 15, 1961) is a former Marine Corps intelligence officer who served with the United Nations implementing arms control treaties, with General Norman Schwarzkopf in the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm, and in Iraq, overseeing the disarmament of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), as a United Nations weapons inspector, from 1991 to 1998. He later became a critic of United States foreign policy in the Middle East.

Ritter resigned from the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) on August 26, 1998. He stated that the commission was undermined by infiltration from the CIA and lack of support from Washington and the UN Security Council. At the time of his resignation, Ritter said the international community was not assertive enough in disarming Saddam Hussein, who he said was obstructing the inspections. In 2000, Ritter stated that Iraq possessed no significant WMD capabilities. The New York Times said he became "the loudest and most credible skeptic of the Bush administration’s contention that Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction."Scott Ritter currently writes op-eds for Russia-state-controlled media, Russia Today RT. on issues pertaining to international security, military affairs, Russia, and the Middle East, as well as arms control and nonproliferation.

Ritter is a registered sex offender, having been convicted of unlawful contact with a minor and five other charges in a 2011 trial.