Sen. Allen Recommends a Rule Breaking Crusader to the Pentagon

By: Rob
Published On: 4/4/2006 1:00:00 AM

Incompetence?  Pandering?  Plain ol' stupidity?  I don't know.  But George Allen is at it again:

A Senate Republican wants an Army general who drew criticism for church speeches casting the war on terrorism in religious terms to lead the U.S. special operations command.

In a letter to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Sen. George Allen, R-Va., recommended Lt. Gen. William G. (Jerry) Boykin, currently the Pentagon's deputy undersecretary for intelligence, for the post in Tampa, Fla. . . .

What exactly did this guy do wrong?

In 2003, Boykin gave speeches at evangelical Christian churches in which he painted the war on terror as a Christian fight against Satan and suggested that Muslims worship idols. Boykin later apologized for his characterizations as conservatives rushed to defend him.

A Pentagon investigation the following year found that Boykin violated regulations by failing to make clear he was not speaking in an official capacity when he made the speeches, sometimes wearing his Army uniform. The probe also found Boykin violated Pentagon rules by failing to obtain advance clearance for his remarks.

Wonderful.  A guy that equates the war on terror to a Christian war against Islam.  A guy that repeatedly breaks Pentagon protocol.  Allen wants this guy to be in charge of Special Operations Command?  SOC is the part of the military that coordinates "global operations against terrorist networks" and implements "combat ready special operations forces to combatant commands."  You know, missions that need strict, by-the-book leaders that understand our strategic objectives.  In addition, someone who understands that such missions have a directly bearing on our military's mission to "win hearts and minds" in the Middle East.

Instead, Allen is strongly advocating a guy that waxes poetic about the Crusades and has shown little respect for military regulations. 

Even fellow Virginian Republican Sen. John Warner is not impressed:

Sen. John Warner, the Republican chairman of that committee and Virginia's senior senator, does not agree with Allen's suggestion.

"Senator Allen is entitled to his views. He did not consult with me on this matter, but this officer would not be among those whom I would recommend for this position," Warner said in a statement to the AP.

No kidding.  What is Allen thinking here?

Comments



Sometimes I think Al (K - 4/4/2006 11:34:37 PM)
Sometimes I think Allen proves there is life on other planets, and that they use our planet as their dump for rejects.


I'm sure this is ver (Rebecca - 4/4/2006 11:34:37 PM)
I'm sure this is very calculated on Allen's part. This is an appeal to the religious nutcase base. He probably thinks this will earn him more political capital than worrying about Republican crime.


Call Allen's Office (Styve - 4/4/2006 11:34:37 PM)
Call Allen's Office [1-888-355-3588]and tell him to focus on Abramoff, rather than trying to ensure more Abu Ghraib treatment of Muslims!!
-------------------------
After reading ThinkProgress, and being disgusted by the Allen/Boykin blurb, I just called Allen’s office to tell him that he should be paying more attention to the ever-creeping Abramoff scandal and stop doing stupid things like promoting Boykin (religious crusade against Satan) to head of the Special Ops in Iraq. I said that we do not need more religious nutcases trying to destroy this country.

Funny thing…I didn’t even know of particular Allen involvement with Abramoff…just assumed?!?!  Googled "Abramoff Allen" and voila!!  http://www.raisingkaine.com/1292

It’s nice to have truth and justice on our side!

Styve



More info on Boykin (Rebecca - 4/4/2006 11:34:37 PM)
More info on Boykin and Abu Ghraib:

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0520-03.htm



There is also specul (Rebecca - 4/4/2006 11:34:37 PM)
There is also speculation that Boykin had something to do with the Abu Ghraib torture scandal, but I don't have the facts on that so don't quote me. This is a sad day for the future of the Republican party. I think they may be digging their own grave. Not that it bothers me much.


What is Allen thinki (Teddy - 4/4/2006 11:34:38 PM)
What is Allen thinking? Other than sucking up to the Right Wingnuts? I think he is planning on being in a position, if necessary, to call for a military coup and encourage the meddling of our military in domestic politics.

My father, a career Army officer, always said the great thing about America's military was its total subordination to the control of elected political leaders unlike, say, Latin America and elsewhere. Bush has exploited the military(Mission Accomplished), fawned over them, cashiered honest generals who disagreed with him, promoted ass-kissers. Things are in flux, and I don't like any of this.