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Sent: Thu, 16 Nov 2006 11:06 AM
Subject: Rumsfeld's Number Two: "OUR God, Jesus, Will Kick YOUR God's Ass"
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2006/11/the_coming_purge_at_defense_in.html
William M. Arkin on National and Homeland Security
The Coming Purge at Defense Intelligence
Appointed Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Warfighting
Support on July 23, 2003, Lt. Gen. William G. ("Jerry") Boykin has surely got
to be the longest serving military officer in any posting anywhere.
Boykin's three and a half years on the job as putative number 2 man to Under
Secretary Stephen A. Cambone is highly unusual for a military that moves
general officers from assignment to assignment every 18 months or less.
But ever since Boykin was outed as a fundamentalist Christian by yours truly
in the Los Angeles Times in October, 2003, he has been stuck in his current
job, unpromotable and unmovable.
Now there is speculation that with Boykin's protector leaving the Pentagon,
the new Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates will clean house, focusing on
defense intelligence and the Rumsfeldian encroachment into the territory of the
civilian agencies.
Boykin should go, but I'm not so sure that the conventional wisdom on military
intelligence is on the mark.
In October, 2003, I wrote an article in the Los Angeles Times and worked with
NBC News to expose what I thought were the extremist views of Boykin, who had
recently been promoted and assigned to the Pentagon as the man in charge of
intelligence and warfighting policy with regard to the war against terrorism.
In a variety of speeches at evangelical churches around America, Boykin, often
wearing his military uniform, opined that Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein,
Somali warlords, even Kim Jung Il of North Korea hated America because it was a
Christian nation, a nation of believers.
This "spiritual enemy," Boykin said in one talk, "will only be defeated if we
come against them in the name of Jesus."
Boykin praised the leadership of President George W. Bush, saying that God
appointed Bush as president for "such a time as this."
"George Bush was not elected by a majority of the voters in the United
States," Boykin said. "He was appointed by God."
It was Boykin's view, though, that his belief in Christianity had trumped
Muslims in battle that became the focus of the international media. Describing
his experience in Somalia, Boykin said that he knew that "my god was a real
god" and that the god of his Islamic opponents "was an idol." The general's
personal beliefs seemed to form a world view that undermined and contradicted
the arguments of the administration that it was not engaged in a clash of
civilizations, that it was indeed not fighting Islam at all.
On Oct. 17, after the Los Angeles Times and NBC revelations, the Pentagon
issued a statement in which Boykin said he was "not anti-Islam" and apologized
"to those who have been offended."
The chairman and minority member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen.
John W. Warner of Virginia and Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, wrote to Rumsfeld
that "public statements by a senior military official of an inflammatory,
offensive nature that would denigrate another religion and which could be
construed as bigotry may easily be exploited by enemies of the United States."
Boykin was defended for his "personal" beliefs, and though the administration,
including Rumsfeld, were blindsided with the news of his many church
appearances, characteristically the pugnacious defense secretary decided not to
yield to public opinion, and a subsequent Inspector General report as to
whether Boykin had violated any regulations or laws delivered a scant slap on
the wrist.
In Washington, the Boykin scandal went away, but out there in the world,
Boykin continues to symbolize the war against Islam that the propagandists of
the other extreme claim the United States is waging.
Jerry Boykin continued on as the top defense policy-maker in charge of the
global war on terrorism, specifically the hunt for high value targets. Yet
despite the fact that the Pentagon defended Boykin's right to preach and hold
whatever personals views he wanted, Boykin also went silent. Since 2003, Boykin
has appeared very seldom in public, has given few speeches and has granted
fewer interviews. He has become invisible.
Now General Boykin will likely become the public face of any purge, and if and
when he leaves, the act will be seen as "reigning in" defense intelligence.
When Boykin leaves though, if he leaves, it should just be seen as the end of
an assignment for a Rumsfeld guy and not the end of some era of defense
intelligence. Bob Gates no doubt will want to have his own people and set
his own agenda, but much of the criticism of what the defense department is up
to is more in the category of not playing well with others.
Another element of the Rumsfeld era is that the Rumsfeld stiff-arm has led to
polarization and massive misunderstanding. Thank goodness that's over. But
I'm mighty uncomfortable with the impulse some have to advance and promote the
CIA as some liberal alternative to the big bad Pentagon. The post-September
11, 2001 crime, not just perpetuated by Rumsfeld, has been a level of messianic
pursuit of mission and hyper-secrecy that is at the root of overreach.
It will be interesting to see whether the American holy war is indeed over.
I wish Jerry Boykin the best in his next career.
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