For two years we’ve been hearing that the “War on Terrorism” is a war of ideas. Apparently one of our highest-ranking defense intelligence officials thinks that instead of defending American liberty and pluralism we’re fighting over the ideals of the
medieval crusades:
Army Lt. Gen. William Boykin, deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence and war-fighting support, has used speeches at churches and prayer breakfasts to portray the U.S. battle with Islamic radicals as a fight with "Satan," saying they sought to destroy America "because we're a Christian nation."
NBC News broadcast videotapes of Boykin, an evangelical Christian, giving a number of speeches while wearing his military uniform at Christian functions around the country.
Donald
Rumsfeld is nonplussed:
Rumsfeld said he had not read or seen the general's statements, which were reported by the Los Angeles Times Thursday. NBC aired videotape clips of some of them. But he refused to say whether he would even look into them.
"Whatever he said was in a private capacity," he told reporters. "There are a lot of things that are said by people in the military, or in civilian life, or in the Congress, or in the executive branch, that are their views. That's the way we live. We are a free people."
"For anyone to run around and think that can be managed and controlled is probably wrong," he said.
Well, there’s an obvious problem with Rumsfeld’s position—being “managed and controlled” is the entire basis of military discipline. More specifically, when Boykin donned his uniform and spoke before a religious congregation, he violated a long-standing
Department of Defense directive, most recently updated in
Army Regulation 670-1, which prohibits a soldier from wearing army uniforms “when participating in public speeches, interviews, picket lines, marches, rallies, or public demonstrations, except as authorized by competent authority.” Boykin violated this provision unless he was authorized to give these public speeches to religious congregations. Now it’s up to Rumsfeld to either admit that the Pentagon authorized Boykin’s religious screeds, or discipline him for blatant violation of military regulations.