National Security & Defense

MADem

(135,425 posts) Fri May 23, 2014, 12:57 PM May 2014

Exclusive: Lt. Gen. William Boykin, past Delta Force commander, hit with Army reprimand

Just desserts, and past due....!!!! Another one of those a-holes who thinks he doesn't have to follow the procedures because he's "special."

I am pleased that Delta Force regards him as "persona non grata." He's an idiot. The crime is that he was promoted repeatedly instead of being tossed out on his ass.

When retired Lt. Gen. William “Jerry” Boykin, the former commander of the U.S. Army’s elite and secretive Delta Force, published a book in 2008, it detailed some of the Pentagon’s most sensitive operations of the 20th century. Among them were the 1979 hostage crisis in Iran, the 1989 hunt for Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega and the tragically flawed 1993 mission in Somalia that killed 18 U.S. troops and was later depicted in the book and movie “Black Hawk Down.”

Retired military personnel who write about such sensitive issues commonly submit their works to the Pentagon for advance review to ensure that they don’t divulge classified information. But Boykin declined to do so, forging ahead with publication of “Never Surrender: A Soldier’s Journey to the Crossroads of Faith and Freedom.”

The Army struck back last year, quietly issuing him a scathing reprimand following a criminal investigation that concluded he had wrongfully released classified information, according to an Army document obtained by The Washington Post through a Freedom of Information Act request.

According to the Jan. 23, 2013, memorandum, the Army determined that Boykin’s book disclosed “classified information concerning cover methods, counterterrorism/counter-proliferation operations, operational deployments, infiltration methods, pictures, and tactics, techniques and procedures that may compromise ongoing operations.” .... The general, who retired in 2007, has a history of making controversial statements in which he has depicted U.S. military operations against Islamic extremist organizations such as al-Qaeda as a Christian fight against Satan, riling religious rights groups and organizations dedicated to the separation of church and state. The investigation by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command into Boykin’s book ended Feb. 7, 2012, as his planned speaking engagement the following day at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., faced a groundswell of opposition from religious watchdog groups and some veterans organizations due to previous comments he had made.

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***Exclusive: Lt. Gen. William Boykin, past Delta Force commander, hit with Army reprimand*** (Original Post) MADem May 2014 OP

Wasn't he that religious nutbar that was forcing recruits to accept his beliefs? VanillaRhapsody May 2014 #1

I know the little fuck put on his uniform and preached from a pulpit in direct contravention of MADem May 2014 #3

agreed....I am still scratching my head that I remembered his name.... VanillaRhapsody May 2014 #4

Yep that was him... VanillaRhapsody May 2014 #2

Bush "distanced himself" but at the same time his Pentagon refused to call the bastard to account. MADem May 2014 #5

VanillaRhapsody

(21,115 posts)

1. Wasn't he that religious nutbar that was forcing recruits to accept his beliefs?

Reply to MADem (Original post)

Fri May 23, 2014, 01:00 PM

May 2014

He was virulently anti-muslim and believed in a culture war with them if I am not mistaken...

MADem

(135,425 posts)

3. I know the little fuck put on his uniform and preached from a pulpit in direct contravention of

Reply to VanillaRhapsody (Reply #1)

Fri May 23, 2014, 01:04 PM

May 2014

DOD directives...and he should have been, pardon the expression, "nailed to the cross" for it.

I really think this asshole Peter Principled out during the Carter administration. He should have been dumped after Desert One. He's been in the middle of more fuckups than you can shake a stick at. He's incompetent; bad news, IMO.

VanillaRhapsody

(21,115 posts)

4. agreed....I am still scratching my head that I remembered his name....

Reply to MADem (Reply #3)

Fri May 23, 2014, 01:09 PM

May 2014

that is how egregious what he was doing was....it made that much of an impression on my brain...

VanillaRhapsody

(21,115 posts)

2. Yep that was him...

Reply to MADem (Original post)

Fri May 23, 2014, 01:02 PM

May 2014

Boykin, a born-again Christian has gained attention for his Christian Fundamentalist views over the years and some of his public remarks which cast the War on Terror in religious terms have generated considerable controversy.[9] A Pentagon investigation concluded in 2004 that he had violated regulations by failing to explain these remarks were not made in an official capacity.[10]

In an October 15, 2003 speech to a community church in Oregon, Boykin was recorded stating that Islamic extremists hate the United States "because we're a Christian nation, because our foundation and our roots are Judeo-Christians. ... And the enemy is a guy named Satan.".[9][11] William Arkin,[12] military analyst for NBC News, was the source of the video and audiotapes of Boykin. The following day the Los Angeles Times ran a piece on Boykin. Among several quotes, the article revealed Boykin giving a speech about hunting down Osman Atto in Mogadishu: "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.' Well, you know what? I knew that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol." [13] Boykin later clarified this statement, saying that he was implying that Atto's true "god" was money.[14]

Boykin's remarks were widely denounced. Arab and Muslim organizations within the US were highly critical of the comments; James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute,[15] and the Council on American-Islamic Relations and a number of commentators called for his resignation.[16] Several publications, such as Newsweek,[17] carried articles calling for his resignation, while Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (D-CT) were quick to denounce the remarks. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner (R-VA) and Democrat Carl Levin both urged Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to launch an investigation.[15] Rep. John Conyers (D-MD) and 26 supporters put forward H. RES. 419 "Condemning religiously intolerant remarks and calling on the President to clearly censure and reassign Lieutenant General Boykin".[18]

President George W. Bush distanced himself from the statements, saying that Boykin didn't "reflect my point of view or the point of view of this administration." [19] Donald Rumsfeld defended Boykin, describing him as "an officer that has an outstanding record in the United States armed forces", and that the War on Terrorism was "not a war against a religion".[20]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_G._Boykin#Religious.2FPolitical_views_and_comments

MADem

(135,425 posts)

5. Bush "distanced himself" but at the same time his Pentagon refused to call the bastard to account.

Reply to VanillaRhapsody (Reply #2)

Fri May 23, 2014, 01:11 PM

May 2014

Because Obama hung on to Gates, who was a Bush asset, Boykin didn't get the military justice he deserved. The politicization of Boykin's "case" occurred because of Dumbya--Gates couldn't very well reverse himself without looking weak, so attention to this matter dropped in priority until Hagel came on the scene.

If I ruled the world, I'd recall his ass to active duty, courts-martial him and drop him a few paygrades. I think he's a pisspoor example; he has zero integrity.

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