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October 22, 2003

NYT joins call for Boykin's dismissal

The New York Times has an editorial today calling for this dismissal of General Boykin in light of Rumsfeld's announcement that there will be an investigation into Boykin's comments.

This is not a debate about General Boykin's religious views, as his conservative defenders say, or about free speech. The question of what military rule he may have violated — which is what the Pentagon inquiry may seize on — is a distraction.

General Boykin was not exercising the free speech rights of a private citizen. Speaking as he did in uniform the day after he was appointed deputy under secretary was indefensible. Not only did a high-ranking government official make remarks that espoused a single religious view and denigrated others, but he damaged the national security policy of the United States.

[...] Mr. Rumsfeld did not need a personal hearing earlier this year to chastise the Army chief of staff for differing with him on the war in Iraq, and to question the patriotism of retired generals who critiqued his war strategy on television. Unlike General Boykin, they did not have the backing of conservative Christians, a key constituency for Mr. Bush's re-election.

The editorial also notes that Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia, who has been roundly - and rightly - criticized for his anti-Semitic comments earlier this week, is now using Boykin's comments about Islam in trying to point out the Bush Administration's hypocrisy.

That right there is another reason why Boykin needs to go - keeping him on in a policy-making position and involved in the War or Terrorism undermines the Bush Administration's ability to point out hate speech by other leaders by being willing to tolerate it within their own ranks. We already have enough of a credibility problem, this is just one more thing we don't need.

Posted by thorswitch at October 22, 2003 01:34 PM

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