Happy Ramadan

I loathe Paul Krugman. That said, I totally agree with most of his column in the New York Times yesterday. I think the Bush administration has made a lot of mistakes in the war on terror when it comes to showing the Muslim world that we aren’t at war with Islam.

General Boykin should have been fired or moved to a lower profile position as soon as the Administration heard about what he has been saying while in uniform:

Boykin has made a practice of speaking about his job from the pulpit while wearing his uniform. The Los Angeles Times reported last week that he had told a congregation in Oregon that he was leading a “spiritual battle” against Satan. The only way for the United States, “a Christian nation,” to defeat terrorists is to “come against them in the name of Jesus,” he said.

Another part of his “sermon” was to show a picture he took over Somalia during the conflict there. He pointed to a weird looking streak on the picture and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your enemy. It is the principalities of darkness. It is a demonic presence in that city that God revealed to me as the enemy.”

I have no problem with the General believing these things but a powerful public official who represents our military shouldn’t have put himself in a situation where he could be accused of undermining the stated purpose of our war on the Islamic fundamentalists who are behind terrorism against our country. The last thing we need is for our enemies to make the now justifiable claim that the U.S. is in a war against all Islam. From what I’ve read, Boykin is well qualified for the postition he holds. It is too bad he has made himself an issue with his poorly timed comments.

The Administration’s seemingly unqualified support of everything the Sharon government in Israel does is another mistake.

The Bush administration has been supportive of Israel in its fight against the slimy thugs who are Hamas, Al Aqsa Martyr Brigade, and the other terrorists who target civilians. That is admirable. They have been very foolish about not speaking out against the continued building of settlements in the occupied territories. This activity is offensive. The U.S. should be very clear in their objections to what the Israelis are doing to the Palestinians and need to point out that they aren’t supportive of everything Sharon does.

The U.S. needs to show the Islamic world that we are not a threat to their way of life as long as they don’t present themselves as a threat to ours. We aren’t doing that as effectively as we should.

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