Clinton Owes Forces An Explanation

Sat., April 10, 1999

Douglas Mackinnon San Francisco Examiner

What if you gave a war and despised the very military you asked to carry out your mission?

That is now the problem facing President Clinton and his administration. Past comments and actions come back to haunt them as they ineffectively try to wage war over Kosovo.

During my final three years in the Bush administration, I served at the Pentagon in a joint command comprised of members of the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps.

I have kept in regular contact with friends in the Pentagon and military. While it may come as no surprise that many members of the military look at Clinton with a jaundiced eye, some may be shocked at how deep the anger and mistrust run.

Military personnel in every branch openly wonder how a president who once mocked their very existence can now ask them to put their lives at risk. And why? An Army colonel asked me, “Why does a president who dodged the draft and once stated that he loathed the military now ask us to fight and possibly die thousands of miles away? Why does a president who avoided service in Vietnam now use the same rationale for Kosovo as President Johnson did for Southeast Asia?

“After years of Whitewater and Monica, is this president now desperately trying to create a legacy by spilling the blood of those in uniform?”

My honest answer is, “I don’t know.”

Many political appointees in the Clinton administration (including a number at the Pentagon and in positions of power over the military) have openly stated their “disgust” for the military, its code of conduct and way of life.

It is fair for men and women in uniform to ask if those who would send them to die have the proper respect and understanding for the job they perform.

It is right for those who serve to point at past Clinton mistakes and ask if he has learned his lesson.

The colonel I spoke with mentioned Mogadishu, Somalia, and the 18 elite American soldiers who were not only killed, but also stripped, disfigured and dragged through the streets as macabre trophies.

In his mind, he said, this happened because “Clinton and the secretary of Defense didn’t send in the armor requested by the commanders on the scene.”

How many people today remember that Secretary of Defense Les Aspin had to resign because of that tragedy? More importantly, how many people in the Clinton administration remember that?

The military has a right to wonder if it is being used like pawns for political, or worse yet, personal gain. This president and his administration have a track record when it comes to the military - and it’s not very good.

Are those in uniform wrong to question the motives of the president when he bombs a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan at the same time Monica Lewinsky is scheduled to testify?

Are those in uniform wrong to question the motives of the president when he bombs Iraq during his impeachment trial?

Many in the military now want to know why Clinton is using them in the war over Kosovo. Is it to prevent the genocide that his military commanders and intelligence experts warned him couldn’t be stopped with an air campaign - or, is it instead to try to manufacture a page in history for the legacy of Bill Clinton?

Our men and women in uniform deserve an honest answer.

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