The controversy followed reports on the October 22 “NBC Nightly News” and in the Los Angeles Times a day later citing Lt. Gen. William Boykin, an evangelical Christian, speaking in uniform to church audiences over the last two years.

Boykin is a highly decorated Special Operations officer who was recently confirmed for the appointment of Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence. He heads a special unit at the Pentagon in charge of tracking down Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, and others on Washington’s hot list of “terrorists.”

Speaking at the Good Shepherd Church in Sandy, Oregon, June 21, Boykin said that radical Muslim groups in the Middle East hate the United States because “we’re a Christian nation, because our foundation and our roots are Judeo-Christian…. That means we’ve got a commitment to Israel. That means it’s a commitment we’re never going to abandon…. Our religion came from Judaism, and therefore these radicals will hate us forever.”

In another appearance, Boykin said “the enemy that has come against our nation is a spiritual enemy. His name is Satan.” The general added that our “spiritual enemy will only be defeated if we come against them in the name of Jesus.” Boykin declared that Bush “is in the White House because God put him there,” and that “we in the army of God… have been raised for such a time as this.”

Boykin also spoke at the First Baptist church in Daytona, Florida, January 28. In that appearance he described a battle between U.S. military forces and guerillas in Somalia, largely populated by Muslims. Referring to Osman Atto, a Somalian whom U.S. troops eventually captured and Boykin ordered held in a Sea Land container, the Pentagon officer said, “I knew my god was bigger than his. I knew that my god was a real god and his was an idol.”

The timing of the publication of Boykin’s remarks was somewhat embarrassing for Bush who was on a tour of Asia that included a stop in Indonesia—a country with the world’s largest Muslim population. Bush told a meeting of Muslim clerics in that country that Boykin’s statements didn’t reflect his views nor those of his administration. U.S. national security advisor Condoleeza Rice commented, “This is not a war between religions. No one should describe it as such.”

Republican senator Lincoln Chafee called the remarks “deplorable.” Sen. John Warner, a Republican who heads the Senate Armed Services Committee along with Carl Levin, his Democratic counterpart, sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld asking the department to conduct an internal investigation of Boykin’s remarks.

Rumsfeld, however, has so far refused to dissociate from the statements and praised Boykin as “an officer that has an outstanding record.”

Pentagon spokesman Larry DiRita added, “Nobody’s thinking about asking him to step aside.”

Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, quipped that “at first blush” he did not think Boykin’s remarks had violated any military rules.

Under growing pressure, Boykin issued a statement of apology reportedly written with the “assistance” of the Pentagon’s media and legal staffs. “I do believe that radical extremists have tried to use Islam as a cause to attack America,” the statement said. “They are not true followers of Islam… they are terrorists, much like the so-called ‘Christians’ of the white supremacy groups.”

Asked about the Pentagon’s hand in writing the apology, Rumsfeld snapped back, “It is not our statement. It is his statement… And that is what it is.”

Whether Boykin will be able to hold onto his job is yet to be determined. His remarks have been condemned in editorials, articles, and news reports throughout the Middle East and Asia and by prominent Muslim groups in the United States.
 
 
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