Free Republic

She was called the diarist, the grande dame, the confidante of the Civil War. She moved in the highest circles, and was personally acquainted with Varina Davis, wife of the president of the Confederacy. Mary Boykin Chesnut was all that and more: She brought the war to life as did no other of the time. For her writings and her insight at the most critical time in the history of the United States, she is a heroine of the Confederacy. She was born to Southern aristocracy: Her father was Stephen Decatur Miller, a lawyer and later governor of South Carolina...

Tired of seeing the New York Times getting all the headlines with their treason, the Washington Post has decided to join in the fun of betraying its country's most vital national secrets.This self-styled military expert, William Arkin, must surely be aware it is a gross and illegal violation of national security to release code names. (Ask Kissinger about "Umbra.") Of course that didn't stop him from writing a book that does just that a year ago, either.In fact, Mr. Arkin considers himself more of an activist than a journalist. (Not that there is any discernible difference in our one party...

Omega Letter Christian Intelligence Digest Ten Congress Members Call For Boykins' Removal They Were Appalled By His Mention Of GodCommentary on the NewsSaturday, September 04, 2004OL StaffTen members of Congress wrote a letter to President Bush stating that Lt. Gen. William Boykin should be dismissed as the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence. In case you don't remember, Boykin is the man in charge of hunting for Osama and was caught speaking to a church while in uniform. The letter states that Boykin has offended Muslims and he lacks objectivity. They seem to be overlooking the fact that it...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army has taken action against Lt. Gen. William Boykin, who embarrassed the Bush administration by giving speeches in which he described the war on terrorism as a Christian battle against Satan. Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Richard Cody declined to give any details of the action taken in response to Boykin's remarks, which violated Pentagon (news - web sites) rules, but said it was not "significant." "I took the appropriate action based on the recommendations of the Inspector General," Cody told Reuters while attending the annual meeting of the Association of the U.S. Army....

Gen. says he didn't mean to malign Islam WASHINGTON -- The three-star U.S. general who made church speeches casting the war on terrorism in religious terms said Wednesday he did not mean to denigrate Islam. "I'm not anti-Islam, I'm not anti-Allah," Lt. Gen. William Boykin said in an interview broadcast on CBS' "60 Minutes." Boykin, a senior intelligence official, stirred controversy with speeches he made at evangelical Christian churches. He said that America's enemy was Satan, that God had put President Bush in the White House and that one Muslim Somali warlord was an idol-worshipper. A Pentagon investigation concluded last...

On September 2, eleven members of Congress, led by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), submitted an official 'Dear Colleague' letter to President Bush calling on the dismissal and firing of Lt. Gen. William Boykin as Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence for his anti-Muslim remarks made while in official military uniform. The letter reads, in part: "One such step…is for you to dismiss Lt. Gen. William Boykin as the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence. We were appalled when we learned of the comments General Boykin had made invoking religion in an inflammatory and inappropriate way while in uniform. Many of...

WASHINGTON - A group of congressional Democrats is asking President Bush (news - web sites) to dismiss a senior military intelligence officer who made church speeches that included inflammatory religious remarks while discussing the war on terrorism. In a letter to Bush released Thursday, Rep. Barney Frank (news, bio, voting record), D-Mass., and 10 others said action in the matter of Lt. Gen. William Boykin is long overdue, and he must be removed from his post as deputy undersecretary for defense. A Pentagon (news - web sites) investigation concluded that Boykin violated regulations by failing to make clear he was...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Army general violated Pentagon rules by failing to properly clear speeches in which he described the war on terror as a Christian battle against Satan and should be punished, according to an inspector general's report obtained by Reuters on Wednesday. The Department of Defense's watchdog agency said Lt. Gen. William Boykin, a top-ranking intelligence officer, used official data in some of the 23 religious-oriented speeches he gave after January 2002 which should have been cleared. Boykin touched off a firestorm last October after giving speeches while in uniform in which he referred to the war...

Retired Army lieutenant colonel, popular author of “Private Sector” and news commentator Brian Haig tells NewsMax that the pillorying and investigation of beleaguered Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin is “a waste of time” as well as a tragic fate for one of the country’s greatest living warriors. Several Islamic and other groups criticized Boykin, the deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence, last month when reports surfaced of comments he made during speeches at evangelical Christian churches. Among other things, Boykin said the enemy in the war on terrorism was Satan and that God had put President Bush in the White...

Many readers complain that I never find one good thing to say about President George W. Bush. Well, this is your lucky day. I agree with President Bush in his double denunciation of remarks made by Gen. William “Jerry” Boykin. “He doesn’t reflect my point of view or the point of view of this administration,” the president told reporters in the Rose Garden, having earlier dumped on Boykin during his visit to Malaysia. Boykin’s supporters immediately accused the president of turning his back on an American hero and a true Christian warrior. But they are wrong. A 30-year veteran, Boykin...

The latest proposed victim in our struggle against terrorism is Army Lt. General William G. "Jerry" Boykin, recently named Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence. His mission is to reinvigorate the search for bin Laden, Mullah Omar and other leaders of global terrorism. By training and experience he is marvelously prepared for his new duties -- having risen from a Delta Force commando to top-secret Joint Special Operations Command, through the CIA, to command of the Army's Special Forces. For a quarter century he has been fighting terror with his bare hands, his fine mind and his faith-shaped soul. It...

Apology to Muslims and censure of Boykin: Resolution H. Res. 419, introduced by Rep. John Conyers Please write your congressional representative about Resolution H. Res. 419, introduced by Representative John Conyers (D-MI). Click here for the Congress.org link. The language concerning “religiously intolerant remarks” amounts to censorship of Christian, as well as other beliefs. The resolution is a knee-jerk reaction to Lieutenant General William “Jerry” Boykin’s exercise of Free Speech and Freedom of Religion in his own church. Proposing such a bill is the worst kid of appeasement to a group that is aggressively intolerant to non-Muslims around the...

Thursday, October 30, 2003 Boykin vs. Beelzebub John W. Whitehead: Should we not give the Devil his due? “The enemy that has come against our nation is a spiritual enemy. His name is Satan.”—Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin, U.S. Army These words, along with others recently spoken by Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin, have caused a media tremor by those who believe his remarks to be overtly religious and, thus, highly inappropriate. It is possible that much of what he said may be construed as inappropriate because of his position in the military. However, in this chaotic world filled with...

Is Bill Clinton still president? Consider the following: - A US army officer saves the lives of his men by forcing an Iraqi terrorist to talk before the Americans are ambushed and murdered. The US Army files a criminal assault charge against him. - One of the nation's most senior special operations generals, a Christian soldier if there ever was one, is under official investigation because he went to church in uniform and expressed his religious views. - A Muslim Brotherhood operative and al Qaeda funder established the military's Muslim chaplains corps. His group and Saudi-funded entities vet and train...

Confused over the Lt. Gen. William Boykin furor? There may come a time when the future's historians explain the controversy this way: "The 'war on terror,' later rechristened -- sorry, renamed -- the 'war for Muslim outreach,' began on Sept. 16, 2001, the day President George W. Bush carelessly spoke of a 'crusade.' His remark was heard neither as an echo of Dwight D. Eisenhower's World War II book 'Crusade in Europe,' nor as a sober pledge to avenge thousands of American dead still smoldering at Ground Zero -- victims, as Muslims on the outer reaches would reveal, of a...

Suffering intolerance in the name of tolerance Posted: October 31, 20031:00 a.m. Eastern By William J. Federer© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com In Islamic countries, there is an intolerance toward Judeo-Christian expression. Public execution may be one's fate for openly sharing faith in Christ. A "fatwah" – a call by Islamist leaders for one's death – may be made against one accused of opposing Allah. In the United States, there is an intolerance toward Judeo-Christian expression. Lt. General William G. "Jerry" Boykin is facing near public execution for sharing his faith in Christ. Indeed, the politically correct, left-leaning media, along with several Democrat presidential candidates,...

Sen. Chuck Schumer from New York can't handle it. Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois comes near soiling himself at the thought. And even the least harmful of Democratic senators – Joe Lieberman – is bothered by it. What is "it"? An effective leader, with demonstrable skill in their chosen area of vocation, and a solid conviction to the faith of their heart. Following a predictable pattern, Sens. Schumer and Durbin, who both sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee, were languishing this week over their imagined pain at having to (bite lip here and look sympathetic) filibuster yet another of President...

The Truth About General Boykin’s Comments on Islam By Paul StrandWashington Sr. Correspondent October 30, 2003 Chuck Holton, a former Army Ranger who has covered adventure stories for CBN, recently heard Boykin at a church service in Maryland. Holton served under Boykin in Somalia. CBN.com – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lieutenant General William Boykin is under siege for comments he made during speeches at various churches. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have criticized the decorated combat veteran for alluding to the war on terror as a religious struggle. Even the President has distanced himself from Boykin. But Boykin's defenders...

<p>AT A TIME when one violent attack after another points up the failure of US military intelligence in Iraq to gather information about the shadowy forces mounting the assaults, the Defense Department should at least make sure that its top intelligence officer can work well with officials from Iraq and neighboring countries. But the deputy undersecretary for intelligence is Lieutenant General William Boykin, who has made a practice of slandering the Islamic faith.</p>

Capitol Hill (CNSNews.com) - A small group of liberal House Democrats announced a resolution Wednesday condemning remarks by a U.S. Army general that they believe were "religiously intolerant." The group is demanding that President Bush censure the frequently decorated special operations veteran and reassign him from his current position as deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence and war fighting support at the Pentagon. U.S. Army Lt. Gen William Boykin can be seen in a number of videotaped speeches given in Christian churches across the U.S. expressing his personal opinions about the war on terrorism and the Islamist extremists behind the...

President Bush said Tuesday that controversial remarks by Lt. Gen. William G. "Jerry" Boykin about Muslims and Islam do not "reflect my point of view, or the view of this administration" — sharp language from an administration that tends to circle the wagons when a member is under attack. Bush's move to distance himself from the outspoken general was the strongest administration response to date to disclosures of Boykin's frequent appearances before religious groups at which he characterized the war on terrorism as a battle between Judeo-Christian tradition and "Satan." His remarks have put the president in a difficult spot.

<p>President Bush yesterday reiterated his position that the comments of Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin, who has spoken at Christian gatherings about a religious dimension to the war on terrorism, do not represent the views of the administration.</p> <p>Citing the review of the highly decorated three-star general by the inspector general of the Defense Department, Mr. Bush said Gen. Boykin "doesn't reflect my point of view or the point of view of this administration."</p>

<p>Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and the head of the Senate Armed Services Committee "agree to disagree" over whether Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin should resign temporarily while his actions are under review, says an official close to Mr. Rumsfeld.</p>

Could the Boykin problem really have been a surprise? The remarks that landed Lieut. General William "Jerry" Boykin in so much trouble last week —his attaching a Christian mission to the war on terrorism—were part of a message he has been delivering in his dress uniform for more than a year. And one signal that these views could trip him up as the man charged with pursuing Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein came only six months ago. As Pentagon leaders were busy directing U.S. tanks into downtown Baghdad last April, Boykin planned to play host to a gathering of...

Their Finest Hour Lieutenant General “Jerry” Boykin has been battered with unprecedented criticism for his description of the War on Terror as a battle between Christianity and Satan. Most notably (and most hypocritically, for a group that promotes a fundamentalist religious agenda) CAIR is demanding his dismissal and/or reassignment, so that he can’t bring this conviction to bear against their terrorist masters.Reader Daniel A. sent me a very interesting email, pointing out that in World War II, military and political leaders frequently used strongly religious imagery and references when speaking about the conflict, and no one thought twice.For example,...

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 is conducting a low-profile...

LIEUTENANT GENERAL William Boykin, deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence and a highly decorated officer, has intimated that the United States is a Christian country and that he is, himself, a Christian. Journalists across the nation are shocked and horrified. Apparently the general has been traveling around the country speaking in churches, and has gone so far as to suggest that all religions are not equivalent and that, while he relies on his own God, the one bloody-minded terrorists praise and celebrate must be a different and a false one. Naturally he has apologized (to "those who have been offended...

Lt. Gen. William Boykin, the officer leading the hunt for Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, told evangelical Christian audiences last week that God was on the side of America's war on terrorism and said that Muslims worship an "idol." And that the Muslims' God is not a real God. I know, being a Muslim myself, that I don't worship an idol, and my God is the same God who created us all. And I don't think that God all of the sudden has taken sides in killing and slaughter done in his name. Only people with serious delusions and...

<p>Sooner or later, we're going to have to get serious about the war against terrorists.</p> <p>That means, as painful as it may be for this president or whoever follows after, to take an unflinching look at the enemy, and recognize him for who he is. We should show our own troops the respect we pay to those, such as our Saudi "allies," who only pretend to be our friends.</p>

The Witless Battle Over General Boykin By David Kelley TOC Executive Director dskelley@objectivistcenter.org The crackle of small-arms fire you hear about General William Boykin is the sound of the latest skirmish in America’s culture wars. Boykin is the Pentagon’s head of intelligence in the war on terrorism. He is also an evangelical Christian who has told church groups that Muslim terrorists hate the United States because it is a “Christian nation,” that our real enemy is not Osama bin Laden but Satan, and that we will prevail only if “we come against them in the name of Jesus.” It gets...

CORRECTION ON BOYKIN [NR Editors] National Review, in the issue out today, runs an editorial paragraph that it did not mean to run. We had a debate among the editors--as we debate many things--about Gen. William Boykin, who recently made some highly provocative remarks about the war on terror. Some editors felt that he should be fired forthwith; others demurred. A draft editorial paragraph was prepared, stating the position that Boykin should be fired; at just about the last minute, we decided to withhold judgment--to see how the investigation into the general’s behavior proceeded, and to reach a conclusion then....

Everywhere we turned this week, religion was on the front burner. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was chastised by President Bush for saying that Jews run the world. The Supreme Court is preparing to decide whether the words "under God" should be excised from the Pledge of Allegiance. And a general in the Army, William Boykin, was pilloried for his comments to religious groups in Oregon and elsewhere that militant Islam has it in for the U.S. because America is a "Christian nation." When it comes to drawing outrage, Christians take the cake from Jews, Muslims and atheists nearly every...

An Army general is under attack from the media. His offense: saying God deals in the affairs of man. Lt. General William G. Boykin, a decorated U.S. Army officer, is in trouble for remarks he made about Islam and Christianity. The media have stirred up a firestorm of criticism against Boykin, a strong evangelical Christian, who is quoted discussing a 1993 battle with a Muslim militia leader saying, "I knew my God was bigger than his." American Values President Gary Bauer called the media attack nothing less than religious persecution. "He talked about the War on Terrorism in terms of...

This week Democratic senator and presidential wannabe Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut told a captive audience of Associated Press writers and editors in Washington that Army Lt. Gen. William Boykin, deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence, should be reprimanded for his so-called criticism of Muslims. Lieberman is the latest political figure to pile on Boykin following a report last week by the Los Angeles Times that the general had the audacity to say the current battle with Islamic fanatics is a battle between Christianity and "a guy named Satan." There was little new in Lieberman's attack. He was using a tired,...

Osama and Saddam pose real threats, but the Bush administration may be too incompetent -- and too arrogant -- to stop them. Editor's note: National security expert William M. Arkin delivered this speech on Sept. 25 to the U.S. Naval War College. Oct. 11, 2002 | Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said last week that those who know about the war plan for Iraq aren't talking, and those who are talking don't know. So I'm grateful to be invited here to deliver this first lecture at the Naval War College tonight. I guess the Secretary was busy. Rumsfeld has more...

The Daily Imus Democratic Presidential Candidate and Senator Joseph Lieberman will join Imus at 7:29am ET. This will be a must-see interview. Senator Lieberman is in the headlines for comments he made about a top Army general. Senator Lieberman said Lt. General William Boykin should be reprimanded for criticizing Muslims. Gen. Boykin, the deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence characterized the war on terror as a battle between Christianity and “a guy named Satan.” Besides calling for a reprimand of the general, Senator Lieberman also said President Bush was slow to respond to Boykin’s comments. Hear the Senator’s own...

Just what did Lt. Gen. William G. "Jerry" Boykin say that he should be apologizing for? Just what did the former commander of the Delta Force say that he should be investigated for? Just what did the military leader of the mission to find Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden say to warrant so many calls for his ouster from that position? I'll tell you what he did: He gave speeches representing a mainstream, evangelical worldview. And that is his "rime." I see the attacks on Boykin as another manifestation of anti-Christian persecution and bigotry rampant through the elite cultural...

Is President Bush Really "One Of Us?" By Chuck Baldwin Food For Thought From The Chuck Wagon October 24, 2003 As Jimmy Carter had done before him, G.W. Bush won the White House, in part, due to his Christian profession. Christians nationwide regard President Bush as "one of us." They believe that he shares their Christian principles and values. Why, then, does President Bush use the power of his office to publicly condemn those Christians who courageously champion Christian principles? Time and again, President Bush has publicly repudiated the statements or actions of principled Christians as they attempted to stand...

In an emerging scandal, NBC News has produced tapes proving beyond deniability that the new deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence is ... a Christian. Lt. Gen. William G. "Jerry" Boykin has been captured on a series of grainy tapes, attesting to his faith at churches and prayer breakfasts. Having driven the Judeo-Christian value system out of the public square, the classrooms and the Alabama Supreme Court, liberals now want to drive it out of church. In one "inflammatory" remark, Boykin said that the enemy was not Osama bin Laden or Saddam Hussein, but "is a spiritual enemy. He's...

<p>Nothing is more predictable than hysteria when Democrats say boo to a certain species of Republican. Sen. John Warner of Virginia, like a horse-country gent arriving late to the fox hunt, yesterday joined the hue and cry to take out Lt. Gen. William Boykin for his remarks, already widely distorted, decrying radical Islam's violent expression of a hijacked faith.</p>

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Joe Lieberman said a top Army general should be reprimanded for his criticism of Muslims, calling those comments the "mirror opposite" of Osama bin Laden's vilification of Christians and Jews. In an interview with Associated Press reporters and editors, Lieberman said Army Lt. Gen. William Boykin should be held to account for casting the United States' fight against terrorists in religious terms with comments that were "wrong theologically" and "very bigoted." The general, deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence, has come under widespread criticism since the Los Angeles Times reported last Thursday that he...

EDITOR'S NOTE: This appears in the Nov. 10, 2003, issue of National Review. During the Korean War, Douglas MacArthur wanted to attack Manchuria, and he let that be known to everyone who would listen. That was not U.S. policy, however, and President Truman promptly sacked the great man. During the Cold War — in fact often pretty hot — NATO general Edwin Walker was instructing his troops in the theorems of the John Birch Society. That the U.S. government was 60 percent under Communist control was not the view of the Kennedy administration, and Walker was gone. Flash forward to...

<p>AT FIRST it sounded like satire. My God is bigger than yours? Did General William Boykin actually taunt his Islamic enemy with that muscular divinity? Not my weapons are bigger than yours.</p> <p>Not my battalions are bigger than yours. My God is bigger. It sounded like some e-mail that got through the morning spam filter: Click here if you want your God to be three inches bigger.</p>

Who Is William Arkin?A look at the Greenpeace activist cum L.A. Times military affairs columnist who's taking after Gen. Jerry Boykin. by Hugh Hewitt 10/23/2003 12:00:00 AM Hugh Hewitt, contributing writerWHO IS WILLIAM ARKIN? For starters, he is the scribbler who launched the assault on Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin a week ago by providing NBC with tapes of Boykin speaking in churches, and then followed with a Los Angeles Times op-ed that accused the general of being "an intolerant extremist" and a man "who believes in Christian 'jihad'" (Arkin later admitted on my radio program that Boykin never used the...

Remarks about religion by Lt. General William G. Boykin drew the disapproval of President Bush, who told a gathering of moderate Muslims in Bali, Indonesia, that the general's comments "didn't reflect my opinion ... it just doesn't reflect what the government thinks." Gen. Boykin, deputy under secretary of defense for intelligence and war-fighting, had been quoted as comparing the war against Islamic militants to Christianity’s struggle against Satan and had told evangelical gatherings that a militant Muslim militia leader in Somalia worshiped an "idol" and not a "real God." According to the New York Times, the general has been...

Lieutenant General Jerry Boykin, deputy undersecretary of Defense for intelligence, ignited an international firestorm. Addressing a religious group in June 2003, Boykin said radical Muslims hate us "because we're a Christian nation, because our foundation and our roots are Judeo-Christian . . . and the enemy is a guy called Satan." Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Joseph Lieberman asked President Bush to denounce Boykin's "hateful remarks," adding, "The war on terrorism is a war on terrorists, not religions. The Bush administration, which claims to understand that, needs to condemn anyone who says otherwise." Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., said, "It is outrageous...

<p>A senior Saudi Arabian official last night said Lt. Gen. William Boykin's remarks about Islam were "outrageous" sentiments worthy of Osama bin Laden, the Saudi-born terrorist who has been hunted by the U.S. military since his group carried out the September 11 attacks.</p>

WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on Wednesday he disagreed with a senior military intelligence official's comments that Muslims worship an idol and not a "real God" but a top Pentagon aide said there were no plans to oust him. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Tuesday announced an internal Pentagon investigation into the propriety of comments by Army Lt. Gen. William Boykin, deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence and war-fighting support, while in uniform at churches and prayer breakfasts. Lawrence Di Rita, Rumsfeld's chief of staff, on Wednesday praised Boykin's "very distinguished" military career. He said...

Song of Roland BitPig (B-Chan) • 2003.10.22 In a recent column, John Mark Reynolds of californiarepublic.org asks the obvious question: “Why is it suddenly a crime to think your own religion is true? Lt. Gen. William G. “Jerry” Boykin had the nerve to express traditional Christian theology in public. That makes him unfit to be a member of the elite, as defined by the Los Angeles Times [see “Can the Crusader”, editorial 9/16/03]. Why? Boykin believes his religion to be correct, which by extension means he thinks other religions to be (at least somewhat) incorrect. Basic logic would indicate that...

Pentagon Probes General's Church Speeches By MATT KELLEY ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon will investigate a general's church speeches casting the war on terrorism in religious terms, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Tuesday. The announcement came days after two prominent senators asked Rumsfeld to launch a probe of Army Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin. Several Islamic and religious freedom groups criticized Boykin last week when reports surfaced of his comments during several speeches at evangelical Christian churches. Boykin said the enemy in the war on terrorism was Satan, that God had put President Bush in the White...