Posted on 10/16/2003 5:06:23 AM PDT by SLB
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has assigned the task of tracking down and eliminating Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and other high-profile targets to an Army general who sees the war on terrorism as a clash between Judeo-Christian values and Satan.
Lt. Gen. William G. "Jerry" Boykin, the new deputy undersecretary of Defense for intelligence, is a much-decorated and twice-wounded veteran of covert military operations. From the bloody 1993 clash with Muslim warlords in Somalia chronicled in "Black Hawk Down" and the hunt for Colombian drug czar Pablo Escobar to the ill-fated attempt to rescue American hostages in Iran in 1980, Boykin was in the thick of things.
Yet the former commander and 13-year veteran of the Army's top-secret Delta Force is also an outspoken evangelical Christian who appeared in dress uniform and polished jump boots before a religious group in Oregon in June to declare that radical Islamists hated the United States "because we're a Christian nation, because our foundation and our roots are Judeo-Christian and the enemy is a guy named Satan."
Discussing the battle against a Muslim warlord in Somalia, Boykin told another audience, "I knew my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol."
"We in the army of God, in the house of God, kingdom of God have been raised for such a time as this," Boykin said last year.
On at least one occasion, in Sandy, Ore., in June, Boykin said of President Bush: "He's in the White House because God put him there."
Boykin's penchant for casting the war on terrorism in religious terms appears to be at odds with Bush and an administration that have labored to insist that the war on terrorism is not a religious conflict.
Although the Army has seldom if ever taken official action against officers for outspoken expressions of religious opinion, outside experts see remarks such as Boykin's as sending exactly the wrong message to the Arab and Islamic world.
In his public remarks, Boykin has also said that radical Muslims who resort to terrorism are not representative of the Islamic faith.
He has compared Islamic extremists to "hooded Christians" who terrorized blacks, Catholics, Jews and others from beneath the robes of the Ku Klux Klan.
Boykin was not available for comment and did not respond to written questions from the Los Angeles Times submitted to him Wednesday.
"The first lesson is to recognize that whatever we say here is heard there, particularly anything perceived to be hostile to their basic religion, and they don't forget it," said Stephen P. Cohen, a member of the special panel named to study policy in the Arab and Muslim world for the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy.
"The phrase 'Judeo-Christian' is a big mistake. It's basically the language of Bin Laden and his supporters," said Cohen, president of the Institute for Middle East Peace and Development in New York.
"They are constantly trying to create the impression that the Jews and Christians are getting together to beat up on Islam We have to be very careful that this doesn't become a clash between religions, a clash of civilizations."
Boykin's religious activities were first documented in detail by William N. Arkin, a former military intelligence analyst who writes on defense issues for The Times Opinion section.
Audio and videotapes of Boykin's appearances before religious groups over the last two years were obtained exclusively by NBC News, which reported on them Wednesday night on the "Nightly News with Tom Brokaw."
Arkin writes in an article on the op-ed page of today's Times that Boykin's appointment "is a frightening blunder at a time that there is widespread acknowledgment that America's position in the Islamic world has never been worse."
Boykin's promotion to lieutenant general and his appointment as deputy undersecretary of Defense for intelligence were confirmed by the Senate by voice vote in June.
An aide to the Senate Armed Services Committee said the appointment was not examined in detail.
Yet Boykin's explicitly Christian-evangelical language in public forums may become an issue now that he holds a high-level policy position in the Pentagon.
Officials at his level are often called upon to testify before Congress and appear in public forums.
Boykin's new job makes his role especially sensitive: He is charged with speeding up the flow of intelligence on terrorist leaders to combat teams in the field so that they can attack top-ranking terrorist leaders.
Since virtually all these leaders are Muslim, Boykin's words and actions are likely to draw special scrutiny in the Arab and Islamic world.
Bush, a born-again Christian, often uses religious language in his speeches, but he keeps references to God nonsectarian.
At one point, immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the president said he wanted to lead a "crusade" against terrorism.
But he quickly retracted the word when told that, to Muslim ears, it recalled the medieval Christian crusaders' brutal invasions of Islamic nations.
In that context, Boykin's reference to the God of Islam as "an idol" may be perceived as particularly inflammatory.
The president has made a point of praising Islam as "a religion of peace." He has invited Muslim clerics to the White House for Ramadan dinners and has criticized evangelicals who called Islam a dangerous faith.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Bush keeps calling Islam a religion of peace - when will he wake up and realize there will never be peace with them?
He's running both.
Alas, it's too late. That is how the Muslims who have declared war, quite explicitly, on Western Civilization, have defined it. The General simply understands that.
Perhaps his language is not very diplomatic. He is not a diplomat. But he is right, this is a struggle against pure, unapologetic evil hiding behind religion. It is up to the Muslims to make a discernable distinction between themselves and the Jihadis, and that means taking sides with us against Militant Islam.
I don't think they will do it. It's against their religion. So the monsters we must crush define the religion in the absence of more moderate voices. So be it.
It’s the right thing to say. We don’t have enough unity, support or troops to convince 1.5 billion people to abandon their religion.
This story is an example of the importance of civilian control of the military. Both have different responsibilities requiring different talents. Words that motivate and sustain men in combat are not the same that persuade a world of envious fence sitters that supporting the war on terror is in their best interests.
True, true, Satan is a VERY busy guy. But why, pray tell, distinguish between the LA Times and the radical Muslims?
I think General Boykin is onto something that the Bush administration doesn't want to admit politicaly but personally they all know and believe. The radical Muslim elements certainly cannot be confused with Jesus, now can they?
I thought the Crusades were a way for Europeans to grab land and riches in the name of Christianity. I guess they were more benevolent and generous than I thought.
They don’t have the power to declare war for a large portion of Muslims. But if these words came from the leader of Western Civilization, it would go a long way towards their adoption.
Excellent insights!!! I often wonder why the Muslims so quickly decry their persecution but alas never seem to confront the violent antagonists within their very faith, antagonists who are the very cause of this war and suspicion of their "faith".
How sincere, how true is that?
They prey upon the remnants of our cultural Christianity that lingers in our Constitution and our Bill of Rights. The real Christians understand the battle lines as they are being drawn and see Satan for who he is, but the cultural Christians see nothing.
And the LAtimes thinks I should worry that this man is a leader ?
I don't think so
I thank God for him.
Nope
"Crusades were started to root out Muslim tyranny from Europe and North Africa"
But I want a guy like this taking the battle to any of them, or any one else, who threatens us.
My SOB is gonna kick the hell out of their's!
And when we are victorious this man will give glory and thanks to God...as it should be!
We will vanquish this foe as long as the devil within our shores is kept out of power. I like the way this domestic battle/war is being coined by Laura Ingraham and others: America is in a domestic war against "the elites".
Wow, all those crusaders with such noble motivation.
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