- Ex-President Bill Clinton kept a squadron of F-117 stealth
fighter-bombers and B-52s waiting to launch a critical 1996 air strike
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.
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- 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.
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- "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."
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- The Sept. 13, 1996 air strike 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- "Sir, Mr. Berger is on the line and needs a decision
about the proposed attack on Iraq," Lt. Col. Patterson remembers telling
the president.
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- Clinton's response? "Tell him I'll get back with
him later."
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- As mission critical minutes evaporated, an anxious Berger
called again.
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- "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."
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- 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.
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- "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."
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- 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.'"
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- But Clinton seemed unmoved. "I'll call Berger when
I get the chance," he told the aide.
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- Less than fifteen minutes later Berger called back. "This
time he was irate," Patterson recalls.
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- "Where is the president? What is he doing? Can I
talk to him?"
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- 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.
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- "I'm an Air Force pilot myself, sir." Patterson
told Berger. "I understand the ramifications. I'll try again."
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- "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."
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- 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 Kurd allies who opposed Saddam at our behest and were
now under attack.
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- "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."
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- Is anyone serious about letting his wife be elected?
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