Top Official: terrorism war clash between Christians & Satan

Re: Top Official: terrorism war clash between Christians &am

Somehow I just knew that Satan was mixed up in all this.

I wouldn't term it as a war against Satan. However, IMO the basic motivation of the Moslems is their religion.

joe.... I love "a guy named Satan" too....

God put Bush in charge, says the general hunting bin Laden
God put Bush in charge, says the general hunting bin Laden
By David Rennie
(Filed: 17/10/2003)

The general leading the hunt for Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein has publicly declared that the Christian God is "bigger" than Allah, who is a false "idol", and believes the war on terrorism is a fight with Satan, it emerged yesterday.

Investigative reporters from the Los Angeles Times and NBC television have dug up two years' worth of seemingly incendiary comments from Lt Gen William "Jerry" Boykin, the newly promoted deputy undersecretary of state of defence for intelligence.

Gen Boykin has repeatedly told Christian groups and prayer meetings that President George W Bush was chosen by God to lead the global fight against Satan.

He told one gathering: "Why is this man in the White House? The majority of Americans did not vote for him. He's in the White House because God put him there for a time such as this."

In January, he told Baptists in Florida about a victory over a Muslim warlord in Somalia, who had boasted that Allah would protect him from American capture. "I knew my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real god and his was an idol," Gen Boykin said.

He also emerged from the conflict with a photograph of the Somalian capital Mogadishu bearing a strange dark mark. He has said this showed "the principalities of darkness. . . a demonic presence in that city that God revealed to me as the enemy".

On the Middle East, Gen Boykin told an Oregon church in June that America could not ignore its Judaeo-Christian roots. "Our religion came from Judaism and therefore [Islamic] radicals will hate us forever."

In the same month, Gen Boykin told an Oklahoma congregation that Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein were not the enemy.

"Our enemy is a spiritual enemy because we are a nation of believers. . . His name is Satan."

The disclosures will doubtless be seized on by Muslim critics as proof that the US-led war on terrorism is a crusade against Islam. It is a charge that Mr Bush has worked hard to refute.

Though careful to respect minority religions within its ranks, the US military is strikingly devout from top to bottom. Mr Bush and several key figures in his administration are staunch Christian conservatives.

Few outside the Pentagon noticed when Gen Boykin, a 13-year member of Delta Force, the top-secret commando unit modelled on the SAS, was promoted this summer, with responsibility for speeding the flow of top-secret intelligence to commandos hunting bin Laden and other high-value targets.

At a routine press conference yesterday, Donald Rumsfeld, the normally confident defence secretary, appeared wrong-footed by the controversy. He hailed the general's "outstanding record" and said his comments were made "in his private capacity".

However, Mr Rumsfeld was careful to cite Mr Bush's injunctions against viewing Islam as the enemy.

Gen Boykin told NBC that he would be curtailing his speeches to religious groups. "I don't want to come across as a Right-wing radical," he said.
---------------------------------------------

23 September 2003: Reagan and Thatcher: 'linked by the Lord'
4 May 2003: Campbell interrupted Blair as he spoke of his faith: 'We don't do God'
22 February 2003: Williams worried by leaders' religious rhetoric
18 January 2002: Blair calls on faiths to understand each other

Although he hasn't been as straightforward as Gen.Boykin, Bush IMO is of the same mind. Has he not invoked Jesus and God in his ramblings? A religious fanatic will eventually show his true colors.

Pentagon Tries to Calm Storm Over General's remarks
Oct 17, 2003
Pentagon Tries to Calm Storm Over Officer Who Said War on Terrorism Is Battle Against Satan
By Pauline Jelinek, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - A top Pentagon general has said he will tone down his rhetoric after being criticized for casting the war on terror as a religious battle, officials said Friday.
But Defense Department lawyers, public affairs officials and others were meeting Friday to try to figure out whether that would be enough to calm the storm of criticism surrounding Army Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin, who has said the counterterror war is a battle with Satan.

His comments came in speeches - some made in uniform - at evangelical Christian churches.

Critics said the remarks could undermine a more than two-year Bush administration effort to promote good relations with Muslims in America, as well as play into the hands of those who have fanned anti-Americanism abroad by casting the counterterror war as an attack on Islam.

Boykin, the new deputy undersecretary for intelligence, has told Pentagon officials that he will curtail his speechmaking, officials said. He was expected to issue a written statement Friday.

A decorated veteran of foreign campaigns, the three-star general said of a 1993 battle with a Muslim militia leader 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."

He did not respond Thursday to a request for comment.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Thursday he had not seen Boykin's comments, but he praised the three-star general as "an officer that has an outstanding record in the United States armed forces."

Despite repeated questions at a Pentagon press conference, Rumsfeld declined to condemn Boykin's statements or to say whether he would take any action.

Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he had spoken in uniform at prayer breakfasts, adding he did not think Boykin broke any military rules by giving talks at churches.

"There is a very wide gray area on what the rules permit," Myers said. "At first blush, it doesn't look like any rules were broken."

But Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee, R-R.I., said that if media reports accurately quoted Boykin, the general's comments were deplorable.

And a Muslim rights group called for Boykin to be reassigned from his job, which includes evaluating and providing resources for the intelligence needs of military commanders.

"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, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Awad's statement noted that a verse in the Quran says Muslims believe in the same God as Jews and Christians.

"A man who sees the conduct of U.S. foreign policy as some sort of Christian religious crusade should not be making policy," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, an advocacy group.

Boykin's church speeches, first reported by NBC News and the Los Angeles Times, cast the war on terrorism as a religious battle between Christians and the forces of evil.

Appearing in dress uniform before a religious group in Oregon in June, Boykin said Islamic extremists hate the United States "because we're a Christian nation, because our foundation and our roots are Judeo-Christian. ... And the enemy is a guy named Satan."

Rumsfeld on Thursday repeated the Bush administration position that the war on terrorism is not a war against Islam but against people "who have tried to hijack a religion."

The defense secretary said he could not prevent military officials from making controversial statements.

The Bush administration has gone to some lengths to court Muslim organizations since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks set off the U.S. war on terror. Muslim leaders have been invited to the White House, and President Bush declared late last year that Islam is a peaceful religion, seeking to distance himself from remarks by conservative Christian leaders Pat Robertson and the Rev. Jerry Falwell.

This story can be found at: http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAMLH6JWLD.html

The Honorable Donald H. Rumsfeld
Secretary of Defense
The Pentagon
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1000

Dear Mr. Secretary:

I am writing to express my extreme displeasure over Lieutenant General William Boykin's remarks about the war and the Muslim religion. Lt. Gen. Boykin serves as deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence and is charged with heading a Pentagon office that focuses on finding Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and other targets. This is 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 military.

Lt. Gen. Boykin's remarks over the past few years, including remarks that Islamic extremists hate the United States because "we're a Christian nation," that "our spiritual enemy will only be defeated if we come against them in the name of Jesus," that President Bush "is in the White House because God put him there," and that Boykin's "god was a real god and [the Muslim god] was an idol," are disgraceful and wholly inappropriate for a man in his position. These remarks are inflammatory to Muslims in our communities and abroad.

While every American has the freedom to speak his mind and express his opinion, it is essential that those who hold high profile, policymaking positions in our government exercise judgment in their public speaking. Lt. Gen. Boykin clearly lacks such judgment. I urge you to reassign or reprimand him; we cannot afford to have such an extremist speaking on behalf of our nation and our military.

Sincerely,

John Conyers, Jr.
Ranking Member

cc: The Honorable F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr.
Chairman
U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary


from: Buzzflash

wow he's got the hair thing going too

The Real One True God.
With God on OUR side how can we lose?

General Won't Quit Over Islam Remarks, Officials Say
washingtonpost.com
General Won't Quit Over Islam Remarks, Officials Say
Reuters - Friday, October 17, 2003; 3:32 PM
By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior Pentagon intelligence official facing criticism for his comments that Muslims worship an "idol" does not plan to quit his post and believes his remarks have been taken out of context, U.S. defense officials said on Friday.

Army Lt. Gen. William Boykin, deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence and war-fighting support, has "decided to tone things down" although he "feels that his comments have been taken out of context," said one defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Boykin has used speeches at churches and prayer breakfasts to portray the U.S. battle with Islamic radicals as a clash with "Satan," saying they sought to destroy America "because we're a Christian nation." Referring to a Muslim fighter in Somalia, Boykin said that "my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God, and his was an idol."

A senior Democratic member of the House of Representatives, Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, asked Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to discipline Boykin.

"I urge you to reassign or reprimand him; we cannot afford to have such an extremist speaking on behalf of our nation and our military," Conyers wrote in a letter to Rumsfeld.

"This is 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 military," Conyers added.

Rumsfeld on Thursday declined to criticize Boykin's remarks and praised the three-star general's military record, and Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he did not think Boykin broke any rules.

NBC News this week broadcast videotapes of Boykin, an evangelical Christian, giving speeches while wearing his Army uniform at Christian functions around the country.

Defense officials said Boykin was expected to issue a written statement later on Friday.

One defense official said, "I would not expect him to engage in those sorts of speaking engagements in the future."

The official did not make clear in what ways Boykin would "tone things down," nor did the official state whether Boykin's decision was prompted by anyone in the Pentagon leadership.

Two officials said Boykin is not expected to leave his Pentagon post.

White House spokesman Trent Duffy, asked to comment on the general's remarks, referred questions to the Pentagon and pointed out that President Bush has said the United States is not at war with Islam.

Boykin's remarks have been criticized by some civil rights and religious groups.

The Interfaith Alliance, a Washington-based organization that promotes religious tolerance, asked that Boykin be reassigned. John Peterson, a spokesman for the group, questioned why Boykin did not get a strong rebuke from Rumsfeld and Myers.

"If he were a Muslim officer who made similar comments about evangelical Christians, the administration would have been all over him," said John Peterson, a spokesman for the group.

"The Army is one of the most religiously diverse groups in the country. And their own military chaplain code of ethics talks about sensitivity and faith practices that are respectful of other religious bodies. His remarks are the polar opposite," Peterson added.

I'm rootin' anyone who stands tall against those self-described Christians. Satan can't do any worse harm than they've done.

If Boykin wants a "Holy War" he should lead the New Crusade himself. Pick up a rifle and fight along with the Perles and Feiths that push for it.

Hmm, maybe bringing back the draft isn't such a bad idea after all.

Butrflynet
Butrflynet, now you know these hot to trot to war types, including our president and vice president, never have to do the fighting when they can send the lower and middle classes to die for them. Some things never change.

BBB

Religous Fanatics, Extremist, Fools
These folk are the most dangerous ones on the planet, maybe even more so than seriel killers.

I don't think the forefathers meant that freedom of religion meant only Christianity. These zealots will go back to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Federalist Papers and other documents when it seems to fit their myopic view of the world but conveniently reject any ideas that maybe they're wrong. There's dissagreement within Christianity as to what is true Christianity. To even hint that this is a Holy War is irresponsible and a person's credentials do not excuse them from critcism -- in fact, it makes it worse. Wake up and smell the coffee -- not everyone believes in the Judeo Christian God or Jesus although they may believe in the basic principals. The Koran portrays Christ as a great prophet but doesn't subscribe to the notion of resurrection or that he is the son of God. Apparantly this is a case of "Animal Farm:" all of us are born equal but some are more equal than others.

(Hint: Timothy McVeigh was a Christian).

[In best dubbed Japanes Samurai movie voice]: "My god bettah than yours! We will destroy you!" [Lips still moving, but saying nothing comprehensible].