Lt. Gen. William Boykin, a new deputy undersecretary of defense who's promotion and appointment were confirmed by the Senate this past June, has been going to churches - in full military dress uniform - delivering speeches saying that the war on terror is a war between a "Judeo-Christian" America and America's enemy, Satan.
On at least one occasion, he even said that his God is the "real" God, while the God of a Muslim "
was an idol."
Here is
a sample of some of what he's had to say:
First Baptist Church, Broken Arrow, OK, June 30, 2002:
[Slide show, Picture of Osama bin Laden] "And then we began to see this face...the face of Osama bin Laden. And finally we said, `There's the enemy. That's our enemy. That's the man that hates us. And all of those that follow him."
[Picture of President Bush] "And then this man stepped forward. A man that has acknowledged that he prays in the Oval Office. A man that's in the White House today because of a miracle. You think about how he got in the White House. You think about why he's there today. As Mordecai said to Esther, `You have been put there for such a time and place.' And this man has been put in the White house to lead our nation in such a time as this.
"But who is that enemy? It's not Osama bin Laden. Our enemy is a spiritual enemy because we are a nation of believers. You go back and look at our history, and you will find that we were founded on faith. Look at what the writers of our Constitution said. We are a nation of believers. We were founded on faith."
[Picture of Satan] "And the enemy that has come against our nation is a spiritual enemy. His name is Satan. And if you do not believe that Satan is real, you are ignoring the same Bible that tells you about God. Now I'm a warrior. One day I'm going to take off this uniform and I'm still going to be a warrior. And what I'm here to do today is to recruit you to be warriors of God's kingdom."
[There are two additional excerpts available at the same page.]
He also tells his audience that
President Bush is God's chosen leader:
"Why is this man in the White House? The majority of Americans did not vote for him. Why is he there? And I tell you this morning that he's in the White House because God put him there for a time such as this."
These comments are more than just offensive. They're statements that are likely stir up more resentment against America among Islamists. There's already been considerable concern from the Islamic community that our war on terror is really a religious crusade. Remember the flap that occurred when, 5 days after the September 11 attacks, Bush said "
This crusade, this war on terrorism is going to take a while"? He
ended up having to back away from that term because some in the Islamic world were taking it as confirmation that the War or Terror is, in fact, a religious war and that the "Christian" America was going to try and kill or convert all Muslims.
That was just one word. Boykin has given entire speeches filled with messages that Islamic nations are after us because we're a "Judeo-Christian" land, with an obligation to protect Israel, and that since our land follows the "real" God while our enemies worship idols, we will be granted the victory under our God-appointed leader. By claiming that the "real enemy" is Satan, Boykin conflates Islam with Satanism, and paints the terrorists who are attacking us as Satan's minions - his weapon - though which he is striking at the heart of righteousness. Boykin gives these speeches while wearing his uniform, something that may be perceived by other nations as an indication that he is speaking on behalf of the military - if not the government itself.
What is worse is that, so far, Rumsfeld is giving this man his support.
Asked about this Thursday, Rumsfeld told reporters he had not seen the videos and did not know the "full context" of Boykin's remarks. But the secretary did say, "We do know that he is an officer that has an outstanding record in the United States armed forces."
[...] "There are a lot of things that are said by people that are their views," he said, "and that's the way we live. We are free people and that's the wonderful thing about our country, and I think for anyone to run around and think that can be managed or controlled is probably wrong."
Of course, when it was soldiers speaking out against the Pentagon leadership, there was no problem with "managing" or "controlling" what was being said.
"None of us that wear this uniform are free to say anything disparaging about the secretary of defense, or the president of the United States," said Gen. John Abizaid, the head of U.S. Central Command.
These rules, and others that serve to limit the freedom of speech a soldier may have, exist to help ensure unit cohesion and prevent a breakdown of discipline and morale, so that our troops will be able to do their jobs as well as they possibly can. Logically, I would think that these rules would also apply to making other kinds of public statements that could potentially lead to problems with unit cohesion, disciplinary issues or lowered morale.
Comments like those made by Boykin can be misconstrued by our enemies or provoke them in such a way that it makes it easier for them recruit more soldiers to fight against us. They can also strengthens the enemy's resolve to defeat us. In addition, they can be taken by soldiers as indicating disapproval of who they are or what they believe, leaving them unsure as to how it might affect their careers in the military. And, of course, they can contribute to an atmosphere where there is hostility between soldiers of different religions. These are all definitely factors that can affect cohesion, discipline and morale.
Fortunately, Boykin now seems to understand that such comments are likely to be counterproductive.
Boykin tells NBC News that, given his new assignment, he is curtailing such speeches in the future. He says, "I don't want ... to be misconstrued. I don't want to come across as a right-wing radical."
Unfortunately, his understanding has come too late. His comments are already out there - and he's already shown himself to be a right-wing radical, and while he's said that "
he respects Muslims and believes the radicals who attack America are "not true followers of Islam," his comments make it clear that he views America's "Judeo-Christian values" as being key to our success in this war and that he considers this to be, first and foremost, a religious war. Given the repercussions as discussed above, I feel that he should resign or face disciplinary action from the military. While some may think that recommending he leave the military is to harsh, I'm sure if he made similar comments about Israel or Judaism, conservatives would have him drummed out of the corps in a heartbeat.
UPDATE 11:02pm: As I was hitting the "Publish" button on this piece, my little MSNBC pop-up news thingy started flashing, and it turns out there's a new story out about this subject. You can find it at: http://www.msnbc.com/news/981411.asp?0na=x2301582-.
I haven't had a chance to read it yet, and after working on this thing for the last 2 hours, I need a break, so I'm going to go play my guitar and stuff for a bit before I go through it - but if anything else I've said here needs to be updated based on any new information, I'll do another entry later this evening.