Army general offers apology to Muslims

Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — A senior Pentagon official under fire for his comments about Islam said yesterday that he never intended to denigrate the Muslim faith, and is not a "zealot or an extremist."

In his first comments on the controversy, Army Lt. Gen. William G. "Jerry" Boy-

kin, deputy assistant secretary for intelligence, said that his earlier statements had been misconstrued. He said he did not believe the Bush administration's "war on terrorism" was a conflict between Christianity and Islam.

"For those who have been offended, I offer a sincere apology," he said in a statement.

A highly decorated special operations soldier and born-again Christian, Boykin has spoken about his faith and Islam in a series of appearances before Christian groups. The comments appeared to undermine President Bush's arguments that the American anti-terror effort is not aimed at Islam.

Last year, for example, relating how he had fought a Somali warlord, Boykin told an audience: "My God was bigger than his ... I knew that my God was a real God and that his was an idol."

In another speech, he said some Muslims hated the United States "because we're a Christian nation, because our foundation and our roots are Judeo-Christian ... and the enemy is a guy called Satan."

Boykin also told a gathering that Bush was in the White House although "the majority of Americans did not vote for him. Why is he there? He's in the White House because God put him there for a time such as this."

But Boykin said yesterday that he had been misunderstood.

When he spoke of the Somali warlord, he did not mean that the Somali's god was Islam, but rather "his worship of money and power — idolatry." Boykin said he did believe that "radical extremists have sought to use Islam as a cause of attacks on America."

As for his statement that God had installed Bush in the White House, Boykin said he meant that God had done the same for "Bill Clinton and other presidents."

Though he defended his comments, Boykin has told others at the Pentagon that he will stop making speeches to religious groups and will try to tone down his remarks on the sensitive subject of religion. Defense officials said his job was not in jeopardy.

While senior Pentagon and White House officials have sought to minimize damage from the episode, it is clear that some Muslim audiences are angry.

Adel Al-Jubeir, a foreign-policy adviser to Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, told reporters in Washington yesterday that Boykin's comments were "outrageous" and "certainly unbecoming of a senior government official."

White House spokesman Trent Duffy referred questions about the general's remarks to the Pentagon. Duffy noted Bush has said the United States is not at war with Islam.

Boykin spent much of yesterday with Pentagon lawyers and public relations officials fashioning his statement. One official said he had seen five versions of the statement.

Eugene Fidell, a military law specialist in Washington, said he was unaware of any law or rule that Boykin had broken. But he said the general's comments posed a "management problem" for Boykin's superiors because they appeared to reflect "profoundly poor judgment."

"Can this genie be gotten back in the bottle, in terms of its effect on foreign listeners?" he asked. "What to do is a challenge."