|
American Muslim organizations
call for removal of Gen. Boykin
AMV Report
American Muslim organizations have denounced the anti-Islam and anti-Muslim comments by Lt. General William Boykin who was recently appointed as Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and called for his removal from this sensitive office.
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), while denouncing General Boykin’s anti-Islam speeches, called for the reassignment of a top U.S. general who says he is in “the army of God” and claims Muslims worship an “idol.”
When describing his battle with a Somali Muslim warlord, Boykin said to a group of Evangelical Christians, "I knew that my God was bigger than his God. I knew that my god was a real God and his was an idol." Boykin has also made several statements indicating that America's enemy was "a spiritual enemy...called Satan," and that "radical Muslims" hate the United States, "because we're a Christian nation, because our foundation and roots are Judeo-Christian and the enemy is a guy named Satan."
“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 the CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad.
“Everyone is entitled to their own religious beliefs, no matter how ill-informed or bigoted, but those beliefs should not be allowed to color important decisions that need to be made in the war on terrorism. General Boykin should be reassigned to a position in which he will not be able to harm our nation’s image or interests,” he added.
CAIR welcomed the Pentagon's willingness to investigate General Boykin's extremist remarks about Islam but reiterated its call for his reassignment to a position that will not provide an opportunity to further harm America's image in the Muslim world.
American Muslim Voice, in a statement, said that General Boykin’s speeches against Islam and Muslims are provocative and irresponsible.
Ms. Samina Faheem, the American Muslim Voice Executive Director, said while every American has the freedom to express his opinion but it is essential that those who hold high policymaking positions should exercise judgment in their public speaking and Lt. Gen. Boykin clearly lacks such judgment.
She added that as the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, General Boykin holds a critical policymaking position and it is outrageous that someone who holds such extreme, closed-minded, zealous views would be allowed such a prominent position in our government at a time when America's position in the Islamic world has never been worse.
“The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), is outraged that the inflammatory, hateful and totally inappropriate comment made General William Boykin, have gone un-condemned by Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld or President Bush”, an MPAC statement said.
MPAC said that Boykin is a former commander and 13-year veteran of the Army's top-secret Delta Force, and took over in June as deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence. “ It is therefore impossible that the Bush administration was unaware of his repeated, unambiguous and apocalyptic opinions that cast a Judeo-Christian America against the Muslim world. MPAC finds his narrow views not only offensive as American Muslims, but offensive as Americans who advocate a celebration of our nation's diversity.”
MPAC called on President Bush to remove Boykin immediately from this position, and conduct a thorough review of administration officials who may hold similar views about Muslims and Islam.
The MPAC statement said: MPAC believes that the Department of Defense could not have picked a more inappropriate person to put in such a high-profile position at a time when Bush's commission on public diplomacy found that in nine Muslim and Arab countries, only 12% of respondents surveyed believed that "Americans respect Arab/Islamic values." As Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria published in today's Washington Post, "A few more of these (comments) and Osama bin Laden won't need to make videos anymore. He can just put together the greatest hits of Boykin, Franklin Graham, Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell and they will make his point nicely - that Americas see all Muslims as enemies."
Executive Director of MPAC Salam Al-Marayati said, "it is appalling that while President Bush rightly condemned extremely offensive, anti-Semitic comments made by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahatir Mohamad, which suggested that Jews ruled the world, he has been silent on the equally offensive comments made by a member of his own administration. As Bush continues to condemn Malaysia, Muslims around the world will be sure to notice his silence on Boykin.
Al-Marayati continued, "Boykin's comments make him a member of an unsavory group of world-wide extremists who want to bring about a medieval clash of civilizations between religious groups. In an age where America's security is at risk, such irresponsible attitudes and rhetoric will harm our interests tremendously. This appointment is shameful and totally irresponsible."
Reuters – May 4, 2004
Probe of General's Anti-Islam Remarks Drags On
By Andrea Shalal-Esa
WASHINGTON - Arab and Muslim Americans are increasingly frustrated by the Pentagon's failure to discipline a top U.S. general who said Muslims do not worship "a real God," and say it raises questions about whether the so-called war on terrorism is not a war on Islam.
Army Lt. Gen. William Boykin, head of military intelligence, touched off a brief firestorm last October after publicity about speeches he gave while in uniform that referred to the war on terrorism as a battle with "Satan" and said America had been targeted "because we're a Christian nation."
In one speech, Boykin, an evangelical Christian, belittled a Muslim fighter who said Allah had protected him from U.S. forces. "I knew ... that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God, and his was an idol," said Boykin, a much-decorated veteran of covert military operations.
Since then, an internal investigation into the affair has worked its way slowly through the Pentagon bureaucracy. A spokeswoman said there was no deadline for its completion.
"I don't think the administration understands how much damage Boykin has done," said James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, an advocacy group. He cited a recent poll that showed Arab-Americans in four key U.S. states would choose Democrat John Kerry by a wide margin over Bush if the election were held now. "They could stop the hemorrhaging at any time, but they allow this to continue to occur so the wound continues to stay open," Zogby said. "It's just not taken seriously."
At the time, President Bush said Boykin "didn't reflect my opinion," but the Pentagon said there were no plans to fire the general. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called Boykin -- who played a role in the 1993 clash with Muslim warlords in Somalia and the ill-fated attempt to rescue U.S. hostages in Iran in 1980 -- "outstanding."
Sources familiar with the investigation said Boykin would probably not face disciplinary action, noting that officials had signaled that Boykin's remarks fell into a "gray area" in rules governing the public speeches of military personnel.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=5035323
|
