U.S. troops see domestic support as critical to victory over terror

U.S. troops see domestic support as critical to victory over terror

A New York Times best-selling author says he was shocked to learn that many members of the U.S. military believe the mainstream media is as big a threat to American security as the terrorists.

Lt. Col. Robert "Buzz" Patterson (U.S. Air Force-Ret.) has just released his latest book, War Crimes: The Left's Campaign to Destroy Our Military and Lose the War on Terror. In researching the book, he traveled to Iraq and interviewed about 350 service members there.

"Everyone I talked to was proud to be there," he shares. "They were proud to serve. They saw the value in fighting al-Qaeda there and not back here. They saw the value in liberating 25 million Iraqis [and] giving them freedom for the first time in 5,000 years."

But Patterson says many among the troops are "very bitter" about the way the Left has undermined what they are trying to accomplish. "And when I would ask them, what do you think is your biggest threat, typically the answer would be it's the terrorists -- and it's the American media," the retired military officer says. "And that took me back, that the soldiers think the media is as dangerous to them as the al-Qaeda terrorists are.

"This is very shocking information to be coming from the mouths of soldiers, who say they feel like not only are they not being supported in Iraq, but they're being fought in Iraq by Americans," he adds.

According to Patterson, American servicemen and servicewomen realize the war has to be won politically in Washington, DC -- or all of their efforts and sacrifices will be for naught. "They realize they cannot win militarily without the political support back here," he notes.