Posted on 03/16/2003 1:59:13 AM PST by kattracks
Ex-President Bill Clinton kept a squadron of F-117 stealth fighter-bombers and B-52s waiting to launch a critical 1996 airstrike on Iraq while he finished watching a golf tournament - dithering so long that U.S. pilots lost the cover of darkness and the mission had to be scrubbed.
That's the explosive charge leveled in a brand new book by Lt. Col. Robert Patterson, a key Clinton military aide from 1996 through 1998 whose primary mission was to carry the president's copy of America's nuclear launch codes.
"We dispatched eight F-117 stealth fighter-bombers capable of carrying 2,000-pound bombs into the region and sent B-52s to Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean, in preparation for action," reveals Lt. Col. Patterson in his bombshell security scandal tell-all, "Dereliction of Duty: The Eyewitness Account of How Bill Clinton Compromised America's National Security."
The Sept. 13, 1996 airstrike was planned as the U.S.'s response to an August 31 tank attack launched by Saddam Hussein on the northern Kurdish city of Irbil, a blatant violation of the 1991 Gulf War surrender accords that had an estimated 300,000 Kurdish refugees fleeing for their lives.
At the same time Saddam's Republican Guard had executed an estimated one hundred Iraqi dissidents and arrested fifteen hundred more - extinguishing whatever opposition the Iraqi dictator might have faced from within.
Two days before he attended the President's Cup golf tournament, Clinton had warned the world that "action is imminent" and that "the determination of the United States in dealing with the problem of Iraq should not be underestimated," reports the national security whistleblower.
With the F-117s and B-52s ready to take off and the cover of darkness in Iraq slipping away, National Security Advisor Sandy Berger placed a series of desperate phone calls to the Manassas, Virginia golf course seeking clearance from Clinton. But the president refused to come to the phone.
"Sir, Mr. Berger is on the line and needs a decision about the proposed attack on Iraq," Lt. Col. Patterson remembers telling the president.
Clinton's response? "Tell him I'll get back with him later."
As mission critical minutes evaporated, an anxious Berger called again.
"This time he was animated, obviously upset," remembers Patterson. "Pilots were in the cockpits waiting to launch, targets were identified, everything was in place, all he needed was the go-ahead."
The presidential military aide promised the National Security Advisor that he would do everything he could to get Clinton to pay attention to the mission at hand.
"This time, the president was engaged in conversations with several people and was less approachable," Patterson reports. "I maneuvered through the crowd and caught his eye. When President Clinton saw me, he seemed disturbed at being interrupted again with something unimportant. He frowned as I neared him."
Still Patterson persisted. "'Mr. President, Mr. Berger has called again and needs a decision soon.' I explained in a low tone, 'We have our pilots in cockpits, ready to launch, and we're running out of the protective cover of nighttime over there.'"
But Clinton seemed unmoved. "I'll call Berger when I get the chance," he told the aide.
Less than fifteen minutes later Berger called back. "This time he was irate," Patterson recalls.
"Where is the president? What is he doing? Can I talk to him?"
The presidential military aide was forced to explain:
"Sir, he is watching the golf tournament with several friends. I've approached him twice with your request. I've communicated your concerns about the window of opportunity and about the pilots being prepared and ready to go.
"I'm an Air Force pilot myself, sir." Patterson told Berger. "I understand the ramifications. I'll try again."
For the third time in an hour, the military aide desperately tried to get Clinton to focus on the mission - hoping he would appreciate that further delay could jeopardize the lives of U.S. pilots now waiting for his order.
But Clinton remained oblivious. "Tell Berger that I'll give him a call on my way back to the White House," he said, in what Patterson describes as an "indifferent" tone of voice. "That's all," Clinton added, in words the military man understood to mean the president didn't want to hear any more about the problem.
"I called Mr. Berger and explained that the president would contact him from the limo," Patterson recalled. "We both knew what that meant. We'd missed our opportunity."
The trusted soldier says he remains haunted by the episode. "Human lives were at stake - the lives of American service members and the lives of our allies who opposed Saddam at our behest and were now under attack.
"At a time when America's honor and grander principles were being challenged and the world was watching our every move...the president was watching golf."
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
It has been a long time, nearly 7 years, since this occurred. Why is this information coming out now? Is it because Mr Patterson has a book to sell?
It's good to see they're finally taking the gloves off. Maybe they're just disgusted with Clinton's hypocrisy on the Iraq situation and they're not going to let him get away with it. I hope so.
This book is the beginning of the consequences to Clinton for not receding into obscurity as previous ex-presidents have had the humility to do. The military around him knew the tradition, and would have kept things to themselves.
Since before 9-11 Clinton's been nipping at Bush, and since 9-11 he's been publicly railing against not only Bush's policies, but America in general. I think the boys in uniform have had enough.
I have the same question going through my mind yet I wake up each morning hoping to hear that Bubba has somehow managed to piss off the same people that Jimmy Hoffa did...............
LOL, you kind of have that backwards, friend. The ONLY REASON this is going to get ANY attention in the press is if we keep this book at the top of the best-seller page.
Also, read wayoverontheright's post #62: This book is the beginning of the consequences to Clinton for not receding into obscurity as previous ex-presidents have had the humility to do. The military around him knew the tradition, and would have kept things to themselves.
Since before 9-11 Clinton's been nipping at Bush, and since 9-11 he's been publicly railing against not only Bush's policies, but America in general. I think the boys in uniform have had enough.
There is no integrity in the democRAT party. He won elections because that is all they cared (and still care about).
You can blame every member of that dispicable party and particularly those in his administration for this, because of course they were all just interested in the power for power's sake. The good of the country be damned.
Of course, this coming out will make no difference to his defenders.
Yeah right. A man who lived his life as an Air Force officer would fabricate a story about a President known to have been "serviced" by an intern while on the telephone with a member of Congress, discussing the dispatch of American servicemen into harm's way.
And if Berger denies this ever happened you'll believe him too.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/865473/posts?q=1&&page=101
Hillary Clinton a security risk
A retired Air Force weapons engineer who worked on a number of the military's super-secret "black budget" programs is warning that New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's ascension last month to the Senate Armed Services Committee constitutes a national security risk.
"I am deeply concerned that Hillary Clinton serving on the Senate Armed Services Committee represents a clear and present danger to our national security," said the weapons officer...
"Considering all the sensitive information released by her husband's administration to North Korea and China, I have grave national security concerns about information that would be revealed to her and her staff regarding many of our most secret military capabilities," the Air Force whistleblower explained...
I remember that quite vividly. It was just hours after the planes hit the towers, Stephanopolis was doing live, play by play commentary on ABC with Peter Jennings. You can imagine the tension of this type of live reporting - absolutely unrehearsed. This is what he said:
"There are facilities in the White House, not the normal situation room, which everyone has seen in the past, has seen pictures of. There is a second situation room, behind the primary situation room, which has video conferencing capabilities. The director of the Pentagon, the defense chief, can speak from a national military command center at the Pentagon. The Secretary of State can speak from the State Department, the President from wherever he is, and they'll have this capability for video conferencing throughout this crisis."
"In my time at the White House it was used in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, in the aftermath of the TWA Flight 800 bombing, and that would be the way they would stay in contact through the afternoon."
Consistency.
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