religious nut running us military

They should lock this guy up in a padded room not put him in charge of miliaty operations.





Senior U.S. general says Muslims worship 'idol'

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By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld declined on Thursday to criticize a senior Pentagon intelligence official who has told Christian gatherings that Muslims worship an "idol" and not "a real God," and instead praised the general's "outstanding" military record.

Army Lt. Gen. William Boykin, deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence and war-fighting support, has used speeches at churches and prayer breakfasts to portray the U.S. battle with Islamic radicals as a fight with "Satan," saying they sought to destroy America "because we're a Christian nation."

NBC News broadcast videotapes of Boykin, an evangelical Christian, giving a number of speeches while wearing his military uniform at Christian functions around the country.

In one speech, Boykin recalled a Muslim fighter in Somalia who said U.S. forces would never get him because Allah would give him protection. "Well, you know what I knew, that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God, and his was an idol," Boykin told his audience.

At a Pentagon briefing, Rumsfeld declined to answer when asked whether it was appropriate or advisable for a high-ranking Pentagon official to make such remarks in public, and did not say whether he would investigate.

"We do know that he is an officer that has an outstanding record in the United States armed forces," Rumsfeld said.

"There are a lot of things that are said by people in the military, or civilian life, or in the Congress, or in the executive branch, that are their views. And that's the way we live. We're a free people," Rumsfeld said.

"Saddam Hussein could do it pretty well, because he'd go around killing people if they said things he didn't like."

"The only thing I would say is there is a very wide gray area on what the rules permit," said Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

'THE ENEMY IS A GUY CALLED SATAN'

"At first blush, it doesn't look like any rules were broken," Myers added.

Rumsfeld said he had not seen the videotapes and "I simply can't comment on what he said" in part because he did not know "the full context" of Boykin's remarks.

In another speech, Boykin said God selected George W. Bush as president.

"Why is this man in the White House? The majority of Americans did not vote for him. Why is he there? And I tell you this morning that he's in the White House because God put him there for a time such as this."

Describing America's fight with Islamic extremists, Boykin also said, "The enemy is a spiritual enemy. He's called the principality of darkness. The enemy is a guy called Satan."

Myers said that if a member of the military was speaking "in a private capacity, it's probably appropriate not to wear a uniform, but there are always exceptions to that." Myers noted that he has spoken at a prayer breakfast in uniform.

Rumsfeld also reminded reporters that Bush has said "the war on terrorism is not a war against a religion."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based civil rights group, called Boykin's comments "bigoted," and demanded the Pentagon reassign him.

"Putting a man with such extremist views in a critical policy-making position sends entirely the wrong message to a Muslim world that is already skeptical about America's motives and intentions," said Nihad Awad, the group's executive director.

Boykin has a long military record and has been involved in noteworthy covert operations in the past.

Boykin took part in the failed mission by the Army's elite Delta Force to rescue American hostages in Iran in 1980, searched for Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar in 1992, commanded the 1993 raid in Somalia in which U.S. troops were ambushed in Mogadishu and commanded Army Special Forces.