Blatant Hypocrisy of President Bush on Religiously Divisive Comments by his Deputy Undersecretary of Defense

Excerpt from Editorial of Washington Post, October 21st, 2003

" Mr. Bush took Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad aside during the economic summit in Bangkok "and told him that what he said was 'wrong and divisive,' " according to White House press secretary Scott McClellan.

" It stands squarely against what I believe in," Mr. McClellan quoted the President as saying.

Mr. Mahathir had told an Islamic conference last week that "the Jews rule the world by proxy" and urged Islamic nations to unite against being "defeated by a few million Jews." He received a standing ovation from his colleagues -- making Mr. Bush's expression of disapproval all the more necessary.

But Mr. Bush has found nothing to criticize in remarks disparaging of Islam by Lt. Gen. William G. "Jerry" Boykin, his Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence.

Gen. Boykin, in Army uniform, describes the United States as a "Christian nation" and says he knew he would capture a Somali warlord because "I knew that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol."

Gen. Boykin casts the war against terrorism as a "spiritual battle," saying that "Satan wants to destroy this nation, he wants to destroy us as a nation, and he wants to destroy us as a Christian army."

At the Good Shepherd Community Church in Sandy, Ore., last June, just after he received his third star and was named to his Pentagon post, Gen. Boykin said:

" Don't you worry about what these courts say. Our God reigns supreme."

But from the Bush administration, there has not been a syllable of criticism.

Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Thursday that it didn't seem Gen. Boykin had violated any rules.

"We're a free people," said Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. On ABC's "This Week" Sunday, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice ducked the question -- twice.

The president ought to be forthright about comments that are wrong and divisive -- whether they're uttered by a foreign leader or by one of his own generals."

Religious conservatives in Congress are defending a Pentagon general who referred to the war on terror as a Christian fight against Satan.

In remarks many consider demeaning to Islam, Army Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin has told church audiences his mission is "a battle with Satan." The struggle, Boykin said, is "because we're a Christian nation, because our foundation and our roots are Judeo-Christian ... and the enemy is a guy named Satan."

Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., drafted a letter Monday asking Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld not to discipline Boykin, saying that elected officials and military leaders have talked about God and spiritual matters throughout U.S. history. Read for more....

President Bush has wooed Muslim leaders at the White House. He declared Islam to be a peaceful religion, not the embodiment of Satan. Army Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin's remarks seemed almost designed to stir up the very radicals the President is trying quiet down.

Yet Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld laughed off reporters' questions about the comments late last week. Boykin's statements would be comical if they were not so provocative and potentially damaging to international relations. Having spoken in uniform and as a high-ranking representative of the U.S. war on terror makes his actions all the more untenable.

To those who know religious history, Boykin comes across as a 21st-century version of the European crusaders.

That parallel is hardly a good one if the president's goal of eliminating terror is ever to be met. It does neither the U.S. nor this president in particular any good to inflame pre-existing misunderstanding and hatred of the West - just what Boykin's remarks succeeded in doing. Read more....

Army Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin is an intolerant extremist who has spoken openly about how his belief in Christianity has trumped Muslims and other non-Christians in battle. He has described himself as a warrior in the kingdom of God.

When Boykin publicly spews this intolerant message while wearing the uniform of the U.S. Army, he strongly suggests that this is an official and sanctioned view -- and that the U.S. Army is indeed a Christian army.

Boykin is also in a senior Pentagon policymaking position, and it's a serious mistake to allow a man who believes in a Christian "jihad" to hold such a job.

Appointing Jerry Boykin, with his visions of holy war in the Islamic world, to a top position in the United States military is no way to marginalize extremism. Read more.....

  Go to Latest Posting

---

Comments 0

---