27Oct03-Cynthia Tucker-Boykin's bizarre beliefs: General's bigoted comments give aid and comfort to the enemy
Universal Press Syndicate
10.27.03 Printer-friendly version
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Boykin's bizarre beliefs
General's bigoted comments give aid and comfort to the enemy
Is this how the Bush White House hopes to win hearts and minds in the Islamic world? By supporting a small-minded general with a schoolboy's view that his God can beat up their God?
The Bush administration's hatchet men (and women) have been quick to browbeat critics of the reckless invasion of Iraq -- questioning their patriotism and even accusing them of treason. But there has been no reprimand of Lt. Gen. William "Jerry" Boykin, a high-ranking Pentagon official who has ridiculed Islam as "Satan" and dismissed Muslims as idol worshippers.
Instead, defense chief Donald Rumsfeld has initiated a low-profile "internal investigation" of Boykin's speeches, while praising the general's "outstanding" military record. But there seems little to investigate. Boykin's comments are on the record (and first reported by military affairs analyst William Arkin, writing in the Los Angeles Times).
If anyone has given aid and comfort to the enemy, Boykin has. During the past several months, the general -- who is deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence and charged with finding high-profile targets, such as Osama bin Laden -- has appeared at conservative Christian pulpits around the country, often in uniform, to declare the war on terror a "spiritual battle." His foolish, bigoted remarks will be repeated ad nauseam on Arab TV and used to buttress the view of Islamic extremists, who insist the United States has launched a latter-day crusade against Islam. If you listen to Boykin, perhaps we have.
Last January, speaking of the search for Somali warlord Osman Atto, Boykin told a congregation that Atto had appeared on CNN to taunt American soldiers, declaring that "Allah" would protect him. (Atto was later captured.)
"Well, you know what?" Boykin continued. "I knew that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol."
On other occasions, Boykin has described the war on terror as a "spiritual battle. Satan wants to destroy this nation, he wants to destroy us as a nation, and he wants to destroy us as a Christian army."
And in a particularly bizarre episode in June 2002, he showed a congregation photographs of Mogadishu, Somalia, taken from an Army helicopter in 1993, shortly after the disastrous mission memorialized in "Black Hawk Down." Back in the United States, he said, he had the photos blown up and noticed what at first seemed a dark blemish over the city.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Boykin told the church, "this is your enemy. It is the principalities of darkness. ... It is a demonic presence in that city that God revealed to me as the enemy."
Let's leave aside, for a moment, the question of whether top-secret intelligence-gathering should be left in the hands of a man who sees the mark of Satan hovering over Mogadishu. There are other equally troubling facets of Boykin's beliefs.
They are clearly at odds with his commander in chief, who has gone out of his way to discourage the view that the war on terror is a clash between Islam and Christianity. The president has invited Muslim imams to the White House; he has criticized ultraconservative Christian ministers who have dismissed Islam as dangerous and violent; he has made pointed distinctions between mainstream Islam and the extremists who preach jihad.
Boykin's remarks contradict -- and perhaps overwhelm -- that message. Indeed, for a high-ranking military officer, his beliefs are surprisingly benighted.
"It is not a matter of worshipping different gods," said Dr. Richard C. Martin, Emory University professor of Islamic studies. "The Arabs who are Christians use the word 'Allah' for God. We start out with the notion we are not talking about three different religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) with three different gods."
Boykin can hardly hide behind his right to free speech; the oath of military service constricts that right considerably. Besides, the Bush administration has had no trouble ousting other high-ranking officials who contradicted its public message. President Bush should promptly demote Boykin and lose him in the anonymous Pentagon bureaucracy, where his ignorance will do less harm.
Cynthia Tucker is editorial page editor for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She can be reached by e-mail: cynthia@ajc.com.
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