U.S. Defense at Risk?
Clinton Legacy Haunts U.S. Military - New Draft Possible?
April 14, 2003
By Toby Westerman
Copyright 2003 International News Analysis Today
www.inatoday.com
The United States military faces grave challenges of troop morale
and readiness to engage potential enemies, despite America's
quick, impressive victory against Saddam Hussein's dictatorship,
according to former presidential aide and retired Air
Force officer, Lieutenant Colonel "Buzz" Patterson.
America must face the challenges presented to its security, including issues ranging from low pay to greatly reduced numbers of active military personnel, stated Patterson, who served as a military assistant to President Bill Clinton from May 1996 to May 1998.
Patterson's just-released book, Dereliction of Duty, details the disastrous effect of the Clinton administration upon national security, and expresses deep concern regarding the future of the U.S. military.
Patterson spoke about Clinton's lingering influence and continuing impact on the U.S. military in an exclusive interview with International News Analysis Today.
The U.S. military continues to be haunted by Clinton-era policies, including low pay for military personnel, a severely reduced fighting force, and a curtailed research and development program, stated Patterson.
Clinton "inherited the world's strongest fighting force," but reduced its size "by a third to a half, depending upon the branch of the service," Patterson said.
Patterson cautioned that if the U.S. faced at the same time two major regional conflicts - in Iraq and North Korea, for example, the results could be disasterous. "We don't have the capability anymore, we don't have the strength, the mobility assets, the number of troops, the number of divisions," Patterson lamented.
Military pay under Clinton failed to keep up with civilian earnings, resulting in the creation of an entirely new class of poverty - the "military poor" - revealed Patterson.
Poor pay in the present volunteer military could result in the need for the reinstatement of the draft, asserted Patterson. If the military is unable to attract new recruits because of low pay, the nation will again be forced to rely upon a draft to find the needed number of personnel.
Ironically, an improved economy could spell disaster for the volunteer armed forces, if large numbers of potential recruits stay in civilian life to avoid the low pay of the military.
Patterson favors a volunteer force, because he considers motivation to be higher among those who willingly choose to serve.
At the same time Clinton reduced America's military force, he committed U.S. troops to more trouble spots than ever before. The number of deployments in the Clinton administration rose from eigtht in the previous 45 years, to 40 military interventions during the Clinton years, Patterson noted.
"Most [of the deployments] were for political benefit, for CNN sound bites," Patterson said. "Many of those interventions were poorly planned, said Patterson, using the "Black Hawk Down" incident in Somalia as an example, where the U.S. suffered humiliation at the hands of lightly armed rebels.
The Clinton administration had virtually no respect for the military, with attitudes shaped by ignorance of the armed forces or by ideological hostility to the military, Patterson said.
Patterson related to INA Today an account of one Clinton staff member expressing surprise when she learned that many in the military have college degrees.
Morale plunged in the military under Clinton, Patterson said, as the administration's disregard for the military became increasingly apparent.
Patterson praised President George W. Bush for demonstrating within his administration an understanding and commitment to U.S. troops.
According to Patterson, America's success in Iraq is directly attributable to American military personnel recognizing in Bush a "moral authority" to command.
"Moral authority" exists apart from the President's legal authority, says Patterson, and is given freely by the troops to those demonstrating competence and devotion to the military and its mission.
Clinton was never recognized as having "moral authority," Patterson asserts.
Patterson is disturbed that Sen. Hillary Clinton may run for President, and he attributes the "social engineering" agenda of the Clinton administration to Hillary, including the erasing of all distinctions between men and women in the military.
For two years Patterson directly observed daily operations in the White House, as he accompanied Clinton throughout the President's business day.
"Hillary is much more convicted to her ideology than
he [Bill Clinton] is…[Hillary] is the really convicted
ideologue" who "could not be moderated," said Patterson.
As commander-in-chief, Hillary Clinton would "radically alter the social structure of the military" and gut the military for domestic programs, resulting in a decline in defense capabilities twice as severe as that under her husband's administration, stated Patterson.
Patterson urges that future presidential candidates make clear to the public their position on military questions, and that the public seriously consider those opinions on election day.
Copyright 2003
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