Retired AF Pilot Upset About Media Focus on Military's Iran Plans
by Chad Groening
April 19, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A former military attaché to President Bill Clinton says it's not wise for members of the media to put American troops in danger with unsubstantiated reports about future military actions. He says he is concerned about a recently published report that the Bush administration is planning possible military action against Iran.In the April 17 issue of The New Yorker magazine, reporter Seymour Hersh cited mostly unidentified current and former officials who stated that President Bush considers Iran's new president as "a potential Adolf Hitler," and sees regime change in Tehran as the ultimate goal. The article went on to state that the Pentagon is making plans to attack Iran, even with nuclear weapons if necessary, to damage or destroy that nation's underground nuclear sites.
From 1996 to 1998 Lt. Col. (Ret.) Robert "Buzz" Patterson was responsible for the president's Emergency Satchel -- otherwise known as the "Nuclear Football" -- a black bag with the nation's nuclear capability that accompanies the president at all times. The former Air Force pilot says it is really "nothing new" that the U.S. has plans to stage a preemptive attack in Iran.
"In the Pentagon, in the U.S. military, we have war plans for virtually every imaginable scenario that we might find ourselves in, to include -- I guarantee you -- a potential invasion or retaliation with Iran," Patterson says.
He says that, according to his sources in the Pentagon, such plans were in the works as far back as six to nine months ago. "We already had plans in place going back that far because we knew about Iran's nuclear capability," he says. "And we can't let them acquire the bomb, bottom line," he adds.
That being the case, the retired Air Force officer still takes issue with the New Yorker article. "Seymour Hearst's article doesn't do anything but aid and abet the enemy, in this case Iran," says Patterson. "And if we do have to strike, hopefully we won't lose any U.S. Air Force pilots, or Marine pilots, or Navy pilots because of Seymour Hearst's irresponsibility."
As upset as he is about Hersh's article, Patterson says there are members of Congress who he believes are far worse in aiding and abetting the enemy. He calls them part of the "fifth column" movement.
"There is a fifth column -- and I can name you some folks that come to mind," he says. "John Murtha, Teddy Kennedy, John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Howard Dean. They are doing nothing to support our troops overseas and everything to support our enemy -- and that is a fifth column in my estimation."
Patterson is author of two New York Times bestsellers: Dereliction of Duty: How Bill Clinton Compromised America's National Security, and the recently released Reckless Disregard: How Liberal Democrats Undercut Our Military, Endanger Our Soldiers, and Jeopardize Our Security.
Chad Groening, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
