Hey thanks E72521,
You’ve a point, still, since the CJCOS has himself in the past addressed prayer breakfasts in Uniform it’d be a bit surprising if they did an about face on Boykin.
I don’t think Boykin (or the US Army) cares much if he irritates Somali warlords (Which is WHO he was addressing with his “My god is greater than yours” comment). It’s about context. He was speaking to an enemy combatant, not an Islamic prayer group or a group of Mullahs. He then retold the anecdote at various times to make a point to the people to whom he was speaking. He wasn’t addressing the General Assembly of the United Nations. He was speaking to evangelical christians.
If you take the comment out of context, away from both the time it was spoken and the person(s) to whom it was spoken, then you can spin it all kinds of ways. It’s hate speech, it’s this speech, it’s that speech. But the problem with that of course is that we could all go rushing around finding comments from anyone on just about anything and spin it into some sort of “hate speech”.
Which is pretty much what has happened here.
“My comments to Osman Otto in Mogadishu were not referencing his worship of Allah but his worship of money and power; idolatry. He was a corrupt man, not a follower of Islam.”
…“I’m sad to say a lot of Somalis were killed as we went after Osman Atto.
But we missed him by seconds. He walked out of the facility that we raided, he walked down the street and blended in with the crowd and we missed him.
“And then he went on CNN and he laughed at us, and he said, ‘They’ll never get me because Allah will protect me. Allah will protect me.’”…Three days later we went after him again, and this time we got him. Not a mark on him. We got him… "I looked at him and said, ‘Are you Osman Atto?’ And he said ‘Yes.’ And I said, ‘Mr. Atto, you underestimated our God.’”
He was basically giving an “in your face” type comment to a captured warlord. A man who is probably responsible for the deaths of thousands or even tens of thousands of people in his own country. He then retold that story to others. If being sassy to a captured warlord is the worst of Boykins crimes on this planet than he probably a better man than most of us here.
Still, I take your point that someone somewhere might find something anyone says at any time to be offensive. Because effectively, isn’t that’s what you’re saying? The complaint seems to be “don’t give them another excuse to hate us”. But the thing is, that those who hate us will hate us regardless of any member of the military (or even civilian politicians). It gets into why they hate pluralistic societies, and that’s a debate for another time. But the point is that no matter what you do, or how you gag Boykin (or anyone else) they will STILL find a reason.
As for me, while I don’t share his views, I’d rather have him fighting for us than not on a purely selfish, practical level. He has the training, skills, and experience. He can do damage to our enemies, and that’s what we pay him and the Army for. Further, I doubt any Muslims are going to change their minds about the US or the West based on him. Those who want to use it as an excuse will. But, as above, they would anyways. If he were a deaf mute then it’d be Bush, if not Bush, then Rumsfeld, and if not Rumsfeld… well. the list goes on and on.
Thanks for the polite commentary.
Regards,
-Bouncer-