Rating: 
Summary: So true, so true...
Review: Clinton was a terrible President but above all, he was a terrible commander-in-chief. He neglected the Armed Forces and only visited the casualties of Mogadishu, Somalia after being pressured by his staff. It was all for media attention. Clinton walked in to see men, still bloody from the October 3rd, 1993 battle, some without limbs. He gasped in horror and looked shocked at the horror he helped cause. By not providing the men of Task Force Ranger the proper tools to carry out their mission, he let dozens of men die in Somalia. How is Somalia today? The same, war-torn country it was in 1993. Thank God for our current President! George W. Bush, great job so far cleaning up the mess Clinton didn't do himself. We still have a long way to go to repair the damage former President Bill Clinton has done to our Armed Forces and foreign policy. God Bless America! Read this book and you will see how bad of a leader Bill Clinton really was.
Rating: 
Summary: The vast right-wing conspiracy lives to this day.
Review: Robert Patterson presents a one-sided view and makes many serious charges which cannot be substantiated. If one is going is going to call the Commander-in-Chief 'derelict' then it behooves the accuser to present facts which are documented and can be verified. Patterson fails the test consistently. His biggest lie is that Bill Clinton left our military establishment weak and demoralized. Try telling that to some of our fighting men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our troops continue to be the best-trained in the world and Patterson surely knows that. He has done his former military colleagues a troubling disservice by writing such nonsense. This is yet another vicious personal attack on Bill and Hillary Clinton and the reader should be wary of this fiction masquerading as non-fiction.
Rating: 
Summary: Well written but lacks a meaningful analysis.
Review: The book is very well written, does a very good job of keeping the readers attention and is surprisingly objective. The personal accounts are chilling and Patterson's insight into the moral and ethical improprieties are a welcomed change from the standard "Clinton bashing". However, the book falls short in showing how these improprieties endangered America's long-term national security.Patterson does a wonderful job in attaching a social and/or political value to an incident or impropriety but the connection to national security just isn't there. Accounts of aids attempting to divert naval carriers for photo ops and the use of military helicopters the retrieve backpacks are all well and good. But to say that these incidents have endangered America's long-term national security is just too far reaching. I was hoping for an analysis of doctrine or political accounting that showed a proclivity to dereliction of duty rather than an implied rational. Instead national security comes across as more of a buzz-word in this book then a central topic. Patterson focuses more on the indiscretions of the Clinton White House rather than how those indiscretions directly or indirectly endangered national security. I'll admit, I may have been expecting too much from this book. I have been longing for a book that not only detailed the indiscretions of the Clinton era but shows a direct correlation to how those indiscretions affected national security. While Paterson is indeed objective and insightful with regard to the indiscretions, he fails to connect these indiscretions to a dereliction of duty and compromised national security.
Rating:
Summary: An observational memoir; not a political, memoir.
Review: One of the greatest canards of the Clinton legacy is the notion that anything that portrays the ex-president, or his wife, in a negative way is politically motivated. Buzz Patterson is a man of honor who did not seek to write a political memoir; rather, his work is an observational memoir. He makes no greater claims for his work, which he calls "an eyewitness account." The issue at hand in Dereliction of Duty is not whether or not President Clinton was, or was not a good president, or whether or not his policies were good policies. Col. Patterson's look at Mr. Clinton is an examination of his role as the Commander in Chief (CINC). The colonel does a wonderful job at educating the reader in this often forgotten task every president has. The POTUS is not just a political animal who strives solely to get elected, than re-elected (although with the dawn of the modern presidency this is a sad, but permanent reality). The POTUS is the CINC of the United States Armed Forces. He, like the men and women who serve under him, are sworn to defend and protect this country from all enemies, foreign as well as domestic. There are critical aspects to POTUS' job as CINC that should have (in an ideal setting) nothing to do with politics. Defending the United States is one of these duties, and Col. Patterson vividly describes the ex-president's negligance. One of the more compelling and disturbing accounts involves Usama bin Laden. Col. Patterson reports that the CIA had intelligence on UBL's whereabouts (this was after the embassy bombings); there was a 2 hour window when he would be in a certain area, and the CIA "had him in the cross-hairs." Patterson does not speculate why, he merely reports that he and National Security Advisor Sandy Berger tried, in vain, for 55 minutes of the first hour to make contact. They were able to get Mr. Clinton on the phone; however, he and Berger debated for an entire hour on the necessity of the operation. During this time, scores of military assets---i.e. planes, pilots, etc. were ready to lauch and waiting for the word. The "two hour window" closed and UBL would live to fight another day, which of course he did. In no where in this, or other accounts, does Col. Patterson examine Mr. Clinton through a political lense; again, his account is an "eye witness" look at the president's role as the commander-in-chief. Clinton lovers will naturally hate this book because it shows the ex-president and his wife as their natural selves. The Clintons come off as venal, petty, rude and hateful toward the military, and totally absorbed with themselves. Supports of the Clinton's need to get over the fact that honorable men like Col. Patterson, will provide us with their "eye-witness" accounts, which is going to run contrary to the ever-spinning Clinton version. Buzz Patterson's account, and others like his, are important contributions to our nation's history. Since Watergate, scores of books, articles, and commentaries have been written about the short-comings of the Nixon presidency, and the shortcomings of the late president. Why should Bill Clinton get a pass?
Rating:
Summary: "Dereliction of Duty"-Could not describe Clinton any better
Review: Although there are many books on the subject of the disgrace of the Clinton Administration, It is good to have one by someone who was there everyday as a witness-This book agrees very much with people I have spoken to who were Govt. employees at different levels at the time. It is ashame that other members of the Administration have mysteriously left the Country or has died-
I'm sure they would have liked to be able to tell the world of the most corrupt and disgraceful White House in over 100 years. The people who really were paying attention are the ones that got it-The rest of the Country now has this book.
Rating:
Summary: Assualt on diginity
Review: Clinton, what else can we say. People do not refer to him as "President" Clinton, he name is just said..Clinton. No class, no style just a perfect example of the "Me" generation. If it amuses me, lets do it. This book only adds to my displeasure that this man was ever elected president. Character does count. A lying, amoral person should NOT be in government, for to them it is only a self serving position. If you like Clinton, you'll detest the book. If you are afraid of Hillary, READ the book!
Rating:
Summary: Propaganda Without Honor
Review: The author,Lt. Col. Robert Patterson, speaks often of "responsibility, commitment, and honor", and seeks to show that President Clinton was lacking in these area. However, in a twist the obviously escapes him, the objective reader will conclude that the one lacking in "responsiblity, commitment and honor" is the author himself. Terrible book. Mud slinging at its worst.
Rating:
Summary: Well-Written and Informative Account of a Loathsome Man
Review: Let me state at the outset that I was not a Bill Clinton fan before I read this book. In fact, I wouldn't have thought there was anything that could make me think less of this so-called "president." I was wrong. Buzz Patterson's account reveals that Bill Clinton was even more disgusting, irresponsible, and negligent that even a harsh critic like me could have imagined. Patterson, an eyewitness to the Clinton trainwreck, clearly details Clinton's ignorant disregard for the armed forces and his cavalier treatment of the nation's most important national security issues (including when he "misplaced" the nuclear launch codes). It also confirms (with some new accounts) what a truly loathsome human being Clinton is: from drunken partying to fondling a uniformed female on board Air Force One to rampant cheating at golf. Notice that most of the negative reviews of this book do not challenge the veracity of Patterson's assertions; rather, they suggest that Patterson is "right wing" or "conservative." Whether he is or not, the facts are the facts. You will finish this book shaking your head in disgust at how our great country could have put up with the Clintons for eight years.
Rating:
Summary: Good Grief - What Biased Nonsense
Review: This book is nothing more than the continuation of the Conservative assassination of Bill Clinton's presidency. Patterson's persepective is one man's opinion with very little objective fact. It adds nothing to the legitimate, historical analysis of Clinton's military/foreign policy. The book will be enjoyed by its intentend audience, Clinton haters, and easily dismissed by Clinton supporters. The war between Right and Left will continue when identical books are written on George Bush's foreign policy failures and war of aggression against Iraq. None of these present or future diatribes are worth the paper their printed on.
Rating:
Summary: Book is Excellent! Liberals Up to Old Games!
Review: Have any of you noticed that the reviews that receive one star generally do not address the specifics of the book, and the reviews that are 3+ do? It occurs to me that the liberals are still playing the "politics of personal destruction" that they learned during the Clinton years. In my estimation, 90% of the 1 star reviews attack Colonel Patterson personally with every vile comment they can think of. "How dare you," "Where is your honor?" "A disgrace to his service." Very few, if any, address the specific challenges and merits of this book. My God folks, this is an Air Force officer at the top of his game entrusted with the nation's highest security clearances. I choose to believe him. Those of you who care so little that even a second sentence is a challenge, read Sidney Blumenthal. I'm sure you'll buy his pap hook, line and sinker. For those who have not read the book and CARE to know the truth -- this book is extremely well written, well documented, and undeniably damaging to the Clintons, past, present, and future. It's high time we stamp out this blight on our country, our military, and with Hillary, possibly our future. President Clinton, as documented in these pages, was a horrible commander-in-chief, a committed liar, impeached and disbarred. Patterson retired with his integrity intact and the character to write this bestseller. God bless him and God bless our military. We need more like him, and less like "Major Bob," whose troops, I'm sure, are ready to frag.
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