Posted on 10/19/2003 12:53:02 PM PDT by Bobby777
WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites)'s national security adviser insisted Sunday that the U.S. fight against terrorism is not a war between Christianity and Islam, despite a top general's comments that seemed to say it is.
But Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) twice avoided a question about whether Bush will condemn statements by Army Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin, the deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence.
"The president has been absolutely clear that this is not a war of religions," Rice told ABC's "This Week."
"Islam is a peaceful religion. The president is respectful of those who practice the Islamic faith," Rice said from Thailand, where Bush was attending a summit of Asian and Pacific nations.
The Pentagon (news - web sites) released a statement by Boykin late Friday in which he apologized for his characterizations of Islam and said he never meant to offend Muslims.
"I am not anti-Islam or any other religion," Boykin said. "I support the free exercise of all religions. For those who have been offended by my statements, I offer a sincere apology."
Rice was asked on ABC whether Bush would condemn Boykin's comments, in which he seemed to describe monotheistic Islam as a religion whose followers worship idols.
She replied by outlining the president's views of the religion, the fastest-growing religion in the United States. She said terrorists targeted in the U.S. anti-terrorism campaign are "people who murder and maim and in fact pervert Islam."
Asked again whether Bush would condemn Boykin's comments, she said: "The president's views on this are absolutely clear, and I think the president is very clear on what he means here. This is not a war between religions. No one should describe it as such."
A furor arose after reports were published about the statements by Boykin, in and out of uniform, in churches and elsewhere. Since the reports appeared, Boykin has told his superiors he will curtail his speechmaking.
After a 1993 battle with Osman Otto, a Muslim warlord in Somalia, Boykin said: "I knew that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God, and his was an idol." After Otto's capture, Boykin has said he told Otto, "You underestimated our God."
Boykin's statement said the comment was misinterpreted, that he spoke of Otto's "worship of money and power; idolatry," not of his religion. "He was a corrupt man, not a follower of Islam," Boykin said.
Pentagon officials issued Friday's statement after hours of debate over ways to put aside the stir over Boykin, whose job forces him to deal with security services in many Muslim states.
As long as the koran calls on its believers to wipe their behinds with their left hand, Islam is my enemy....
As long as the koran calls murderers of non-muslims, "holy" ... islam is my enemy.
THERE ARE THOUSANDS of reasons why islam is my PERSONAL enemy. However, the majority of the reasons are dead Israelis in Israel and Munich or the enslaved or dead Christians in the Sudan."
..and as long as there is a special place in the "islumic" hell for Christians and Jews juts because they are Christians and Jews, islum is my enemy.
It is a cult based on barbarism, torture and oppression....oh, and don't forget ignorance.
This is the kind of stuff that, deep down, makes me not trustful of the GOP regarding the WOT.
I've also seen Republicans on FR make direct comparisons between conservative Christians and al Qaeda/the Taliban, which only increases the distrust.
To deny that Islam is at the root of the terrorism against the United States and the rest of the free world is to gamble with innocent human lives.
The side of Good is going after the terrorist Islamists and their supporters, not Muslims who wish no harm on us.
But the anger towards their culture is understandable in that the terrorists sprouted up *among* them but little was done to try to stomp them out.
If Islam was truly a "peaceful religion", those who abide by it would have put down the presumed heretics (fanatical Islamists) a long time ago and we would not be engaged in this current conflict.
If Islam was truly a "peaceful religion", Muslims everywhere would be marshalling their own forces to serve justice to their terrorist brethren, instead of conceding such actions to the western world.
If Islam was truly a "peaceful religion", one would not need to wonder whose side his Muslim neighbor is really on.
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