Rumsfeld Says Anti-Islam Aide Is 'Outstanding'
October 17, 2003
THE MILITARY
By REUTERS
WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 (Reuters) - Defense Secretary
Donald H. Rumsfeld declined on Thursday to criticize a senior
Pentagon intelligence official who has told evangelical gatherings
that Muslims worship an "idol" and
not "a real God," and instead praised the general's
"outstanding" military record.
Lt. Gen. William Boykin of the Army, deputy under secretary
of defense for intelligence and war-fighting support, has used
speeches at churches and prayer breakfasts to portray the
American battle with Muslim radicals
as a fight against "Satan," saying militant Islamists sought to destroy
America "because we're a Christian nation."
NBC News broadcast videotapes of General Boykin, an evangelical
Christian, giving a number of speeches while wearing his military uniform at
religious functions around the country.
In one speech, the general recalled a Muslim fighter in Somalia
who said American forces would never get him because Allah would give him
protection.
"Well, you know what I knew - that my God was bigger than his,"
General Boykin told his audience. "I knew that my God was a real God, and his
was an idol."
At a Pentagon briefing, Mr. Rumsfeld declined to answer when asked
whether it was appropriate or advisable for a high-ranking Pentagon official to
make such remarks in public, and did not say whether he would investigate.
"We do know that he is an officer that has an outstanding record
in the United States Armed Forces," Mr. Rumsfeld said.
"There are a lot of things that are said by people in the military,
or civilian life, or in the Congress, or in the executive branch, that are their views,
and that's the way we live," Mr. Rumsfeld said. "We're a free people."
"Saddam Hussein could do it pretty well, because he'd go around
killing people if they said things he didn't like," he added.
"The only thing I would say is there is a very wide gray area on
what the rules permit," said Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff. "At first blush, it doesn't look like any rules were broken."
In another speech, General Boykin said God had selected
George W. Bush as president. "Why is this man in the White House?" he asked. "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."
Describing America's fight with Islamic extremists,
General Boykin also said: "The enemy is a spiritual enemy.
He's called the principality of
darkness. The enemy is a guy called Satan."
General Myers said that if a member of the military was speaking
"in a private capacity, it's probably appropriate not to wear a uniform, but there
are always exceptions to that." He noted that he has spoken at a prayer breakfast in uniform.
Mr. Rumsfeld also reminded reporters that Bush has said "the war
on terrorism is not a war against a religion."
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based
civil rights group, called General Boykin's comments "bigoted," and demanded
that the Pentagon reassign him.
"Putting a man with such extremist views in a critical policy-making
position sends entirely the wrong message to a Muslim world that is already
skeptical about America's motives and intentions," said Nihad Awad, the group's executive director.
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