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Whose god is 'real' and
'bigger'?
By Ehsan Ahrari
The man in charge of hunting down Osama bin
Laden has bin Laden's exact frame of reference regarding
the "enemies" of his religion, and about the
mega-conflict that has intensified since September 11.
That man's name is William "Jerry" Boykin.
Boykin holds the rank of lieutenant-general, and
also serves as deputy under-secretary of defense for
intelligence. According to published reports, he is a
much-decorated veteran, and was twice wounded during
covert operations.
Boykin's comments caught the
attention of the international media when he expressed
his evangelical Christian views regarding Islam, Muslims
and the global "war on terrorism" once too often.
According to one source, Boykin "believes that Islam is
an idolatrous, sacrilegious religion against which we
[the United States] are waging a holy war". If Boykin's
views were stated to an audience with a slight
modification (ie, by altering the name of the religion
and without identifying the source), the listener could
confidently relate those comments to those of bin Laden.
As an evangelical Christian, Boykin believes -
according to a statement that he made to a religious
audience - that radical Islamists hate the US "because
we're a Christian nation, because our foundation and our
roots are Judeo-Christian ... and the enemy is a guy
named Satan". Bin Laden made very similar statements
describing why the US "hates" Islam, and why Muslims
should cooperate with him in his fight against the
"super-Infidel". Bin Laden regularly couches the current
conflict as being between Islam and the
"Judeo-Christian" West.
Boykin has dropped other
pearls of wisdom as well. Discussing the US military
entanglement with one of Somalia's warlords, Osman Atto,
in the early 1990s, he described it to a religious
audience as a contest between two gods, and added, "I
knew my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was
a real God and his was an idol." Last year, Boykin also
stated, "We in the army of God, in the house of God,
kingdom of God, have been raised for such a time as
this." There is also an entity called the Army of God in
Lebanon that is popularly known by its Arabic name,
Hezbollah (translation: Army of God). The US officially
labels it a terrorist group. However, I am sure Boykin
is not referring to that army.
It is also
interesting to note what Boykin thinks of his
commander-in-chief, President George W Bush. Last June,
Boykin observed, Bush "is in the White House because God
has put him there". One wonders what grudge God held
against Bush's opponent, Al Gore, in the last
presidential election.
Thinking about Boykin's
supercilious worldview, I am reminded of another episode
when Bush, soon after the September 11 terrorist
attacks, stated that he was on a "crusade" against bin
Laden. But he soon apologized for that phraseology when
his aides made clear to him the implications of that
phrase for the Muslim world. Ever since then, his
administration has maintained the correct posture of
insisting that America's fight is not with Islam or with
Muslims.
One is tempted to dismiss Boykin's
blather as an utterly lopsided view of a religious
extremist or fundamentalist. But come to think of it,
America's "war on terrorism" is also being fought
against that very similar frame of mind from the Muslim
side. More to the point, the man behind that chatter is
also a US government official, who deals with Muslim
leaders and seeks their cooperation in this "war against
terrorism".
What is bizarre is that Secretary of
Defense Donald Rumsfeld, on October 16, dismissed
Boykin's religious drivel as his exercise of freedom of
expression in a democracy. But wait a minute. Boykin
also represents the US government abroad. In that
capacity, is he also expressing the real views of the
Bush administration? I am sure Rumsfeld would hasten to
say no, but that question is already being asked in the
Muslim world: "Whose god is real, and whose god is
bigger?" Bin Laden has been answering those questions
all along. His answers are very similar to the
utterances made by Boykin. Or, is it the other way
around?
Given the worldwide press coverage to
his unmistakable denigration of Islam, Boykin was
squirming. On October 18, he asserted that his comments
were "misconstrued". Then he said, "For those who have
been offended, I offer a sincere apology." Regarding his
statement that God had installed Bush in the White
House, Boykin's latest amendment was that God "had done
the same for Bill Clinton and other presidents".
Despite his flimsy explanations and apologies,
there is little doubt that damage to US interests has
been done. Adel al-Jubair, an advisor to the Saudi Crown
Prince Abdullah, called Boykin's comments "outrageous"
and "certainly unbecoming of a senior government
official."
Bush's national security adviser,
Condoleezza Rice, in an interview on October 19,
reiterated her boss' position that the US is not at war
with Islam. However, she did not answer the question
whether Bush would condemn Boykin's statements made in
and out of uniform, in churches and elsewhere. At the
same time, there is no anticipated move to remove him
from his current sensitive post.
A number of
newspapers in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Kuwait and Iraq
reported Boykin's earlier remarks without comment. One
can ignore Boykin's lack of knowledge about Islam as a
private person. But there is no excuse for using his
public position and visibility to spread hatred and
disinformation about a great religion, such as
describing Islam as an "idolatrous" religion, which goes
against its very grain as a monotheistic faith. Equally
important, this certainly is not the time to raise
questions about whose god is "real" or whose god is
"bigger".
Ehsan Ahrari, PhD, is an
Alexandria, Virginia, US-based independent strategic
analyst.
(Copyright 2003 Asia Times Online
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