[Mb-civic] NYTimes.com Article: Holding the Pentagon Accountable: For Religious Bigotry

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Holding the Pentagon Accountable: For Religious Bigotry

August 26, 2004
 


 

The first reports sounded like an over-the-top satire of
the Bush Pentagon: the deputy secretary of defense for
intelligence - the ranking general charged with the hunt
for Osama bin Laden - was parading in uniform to Christian
pulpits, preaching that God had put George Bush in the
White House and that Islamic terrorists will only be
defeated "if we come at them in the name of Jesus." But now
a Pentagon inquiry has concluded that Lt. Gen. William
Boykin did indeed preach his grossly offensive gospel at 23
churches, pronouncing Satan the mastermind of the
terrorists because "he wants to destroy us as a Christian
army." 

It was stunning last fall, after the general's lapse into
brimstone bigotry became public, when Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld, far from disturbed, praised General Boykin
for an "outstanding record" and kept him at the highly
sensitive intelligence post during the inquiry. Now it is
simply mind-boggling that Pentagon reports suggest the
general may survive with only a reprimand for having failed
to clear his remarks in advance. 

General Boykin has to be removed from his current job. He
has become a national embarrassment, not to mention a
walking contradiction of President Bush's own policy
statement that the fight against terror is bias-free and
not a crusade against Islam. (General Boykin preached of a
1993 fight against a Muslim warlord in Somalia: "I knew
that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a
real God, and his was an idol.") 

The sense of offense among Islamic Americans is already
deep. Removal of the preacher-general should be a
no-brainer, however much the president's campaign generals
might fear offending the Christian right voting bloc. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/26/opinion/26thurs2.html?ex=1094543838&ei=1&en=2cd5055ab5389fa1


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