Pentagon nominee forced to withdraw after op-ed surfaces blaming mass killings on immigrants who fail to assimilate

The nominee for a top Pentagon job has withdrawn from consideration after a controversial op-ed article he co-authored surfaced, Politico reports.

J. David Patterson was nominated on 9 January to be the second highest individual in the personnel office which oversees recruitment, career development, and pay issues for the department of defence.

Working in collaboration with ADP Efferson, Mr Patterson co-wrote a 2017 article for conservative website The Federalist, in which they blamed mass killings on immigrants that failed to assimilate.

The op-ed, How Multiculturalism Helps Breed Homegrown Terrorism, was published just days after eight were killed and 12 injured when they were run down by an immigrant from Uzbekistan in Lower Manhattan.

Politico’s reporting is based on three sources, a Senate Democratic aide, another person familiar with the matter, and a department of defence official, who said that Patterson lost support for his nomination after word began circulating about the article.

In the piece, the authors argue that there is growing evidence that promoting multiculturalism is a major culprit in the failure of immigrants to assimilate into an adopted culture, which is one explanation for an increase in terrorist behaviour in the US.

They wrote: “We certainly don’t discount the influence of ISIS’ ubiquitous propaganda, but to be compelling there must be a willing mind.”

The article also states: “Multiculturalism is the antithesis of what the United States stands for and the foundational thinking of our founding fathers that sustains America as its own unique society.”

It continues: “No one forces or cajoles immigration to the United States. We citizens welcome legal immigrants with the assumption they come of their own free will. That means they come to accept living in the United States with our laws and our culture the way it is, not the way they might want to change it.”

Mr Patterson is currently a senior vice president of strategic business opportunities at SMA Inc, a management consulting firm. His withdrawal from consideration comes amid a raft of senior departures at the Pentagon which have forced serving officials to take on a number of extra roles in an "acting" capacity.