MRFF and Veterans Group Object to Boykin Speaking at West Point

by Sheila Musaji

Faiz Shakir reports on the background of this issue:

On Feb. 8, 2012, the United States Military Academy at West Point is planning to host a National Prayer Breakfast featuring ret. Lt. Gen.  William “Jerry” Boykin, an individual who has a long record of issuing hate-filled rhetoric about Muslims.

Here’s what Boykin has said about Muslims in the past: there should be “no mosques in America“; Muslims worship an “idol“; “Islam is a totalitarian way of life, it’s not just a religion”; “it should not be protected under the First Amendment”; Muslims operate “under an obligation to destroy our Constitution.”

In the early days of the Iraq war, Boykin served in the Defense Department as a senior intelligence officer. Around that time, he appeared in full military dress at various churches, spouting bigoted rhetoric that casted the military conflicts as part of a religious crusade between Christians and the devil. In a 2004 report, the Pentagon Inspector General admonished Boykin for violating numerous internal regulations. “We recommend that the Acting Secretary of the Army take appropriate corrective action with respect to Lt. Gen. Boykin,” the report said.

Boykin has a lengthy entry in our TAM collection of Islamophobic statements made by elected representatives, government officials and military leaders.  With all of the scandals currently swirling around various anti-Muslim training programs and trainers in government and law enforcement agencies, the invitation of Boykin just adds one more concern.  Muslim groups, including CAIR have objected to inviting Boykin to speak at this event, but they are not alone.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) sent the following letter objecting to this invitation to Ret. Gen. Boykin

John McHugh
Secretary of the Army
101 Army Pentagon
Washington, DC 20310-0101

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) unequivocally condemns the outrageous and scandalous decision to invite the rabidly Islamophobic retired Lieutenant General William Boykin to speak before the National Prayer Breakfast at the United States Military Academy at West Point. The event, which is scheduled to occur on February 8, 2012, must not be used as a forum for the backwards and disgusting hate speech of virulent anti-Muslim extremists such as retired Lt. Gen. Boykin. Our civil rights foundation demands that the Pentagon rescind its invitation to this notorious and noxious fundamentalist Christian supremacist immediately and without delay.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation represents over 26,000 aggrieved soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, cadets, midshipmen, and armed forces veteran clients, 96% of whom are Christian. This outrageous invitation to Boykin stands as a shameful testament to the fact that the ranks of the U.S. military have been possessed and inundated by the dangerous national security threat of evangelical fundamentalist fanaticism which Boykin represents, with grave consequences for servicemembers’ morale. In 2010, this travesty was made abundantly clear by the fact that another infamous, unapologetic Islamophobe, Franklin Graham, was invited to be the keynote speaker at the Pentagon’s National Day of Prayer event. Then, as now, we at MRFF immediately cited the heinously illicit and inappropriate nature of such an endorsement by military officials and effusively called for the Department of Defense to distance itself from its affiliation with bigots and bullies such as Graham, or face the immediacy of pending, aggressive Federal Court litigation.

At West Point alone, MRFF represents 27 faculty members and 74 cadets on this very matter of Boykin’s invitation; all but 7 of these West Point MRFF clients are either Protestant or Roman Catholic. The scandalous invitation to Boykin is but one symptom of a much broader affliction which has struck the once-prestigious institutes of higher learning within the U.S. Armed Forces – and indeed, the entirety of our once-secular American military. Today’s military is regrettably being transformed into a stomping ground for fundamentalist, Bible-thumping charlatans who have created an intolerable and wholly unconstitutional climate of religious oppression and tyranny for fellow members.

First and foremost, the invitation to Boykin represents a cruel insult to the thousands of honorable Muslim-Americans serving in the U.S. military and a desecration of the memory of those pristinely loyal and patriotic American soldiers of the Muslim faith who have fallen in battle or who have suffered injury in their service to this country. The galling and disingenuous claims that Boykin is being invited in the interests of “Pluralism” and “broadening intellectual horizons” simply don’t merit even the most cursory consideration. Instead, it is obvious that his views fan the flames of vulgar and pernicious religious discrimination and profound ignorance. Boykin himself is an outspoken and unabashed representative of the lunatic fringe of anti-Muslim hysteria. Additionally, Boykin’s feverish brand of fundamentalist Christian militarism is ingrained with a virulent theological hostility towards the cherished blessings of democracy and religious freedom, as embodied and guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, which generations of service members have shed precious blood to protect.

According to a West Point faculty member and MRFF client who wishes to remain anonymous, “though it violates our United States Constitution and the sworn oaths we all took to support and defend it, West Point has an ‘official religion’ and it’s evangelical/fundamentalist Christianity. And THAT is precisely why this prejudiced racist Boykin has been invited to disgrace our Academy with his Islamophobic filth at this religious event.”

The faculty member continued: “Suffice it to say that the horrible consequences of the prejudiced message sent ‘round-the-world by this official West Point invitation to Boykin is all but incalculable. The true price to be exacted, by granting this high profile speaking engagement to the bigot Boykin, will shamefully be paid in blood, and the blood of innocents. The President of the United States, the Secretary of Defense, and the most senior U.S. Army leadership have made it absolutely imperative to win the hearts and minds of our Islamic allies, and potential allies, by making it clear that Americans are NOT Christian crusaders who hate Muslims.”

Indeed, the invitation to Boykin comes mere days after President Barack Obama, Commander-in-Chief of the United States Armed Forces, issued his State of the Union Address where it was noted that the guiding principle of American policy both foreign and domestic would be to “stand for the rights and dignity of all human beings – men and women; Christians, Muslims and Jews. ” The brazenly counter-intuitive extension of this invitation to Boykin can only be viewed as a seditious attempt to undermine the stated policy of the present administration as well as the critical ongoing efforts to “reset” relations with the Muslim world.

It is absolutely no exaggeration to say that the militant evangelical/fundamentalist Christian fanaticism that Boykin represents mirrors the militant Wahhabi-jihadist extremism of those whom the U.S. military is fighting in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation stands alongside the constituencies of our 101 clients at West Point, the patient and honorable community of Muslim-American armed forces members, and all democratically-minded military service personnel in demanding that the West Point National Prayer Breakfast be an event which is welcoming and inclusive to all members of the Academy’s faculty, staff, and Corps of Cadets. In this spirit, we repeat our demand that Boykin’s invitation immediately be revoked. Boykin and his fellow evangelists of putrescent fundamentalist religious bigotry must not use the United States Military Academy at West Point as a venue for ignorant, racist displays of sectarian hatred and disgusting religious supremacy and exceptionalism.

Michael L. “Mikey” Weinstein, Esq.
Founder & President
Military Religious Freedom Foundation

Note:  You can click here for the full text of the letter from this anonymous West Point faculty member

VoteVets issued this press release:

WEST POINT, NY - Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are writing to the Superintendent of the Military Academy at West Point today, to request that he retract an invite to Lt. Gen. William Boykin (Ret.) to speak at a prayer breakfast at the academy on Feb 8.

Boykin has made a name for himself with incendiary rhetoric regarding Islam and Muslims, even characterizing America’s wars as Christianity versus Islam. The veterans wrote that statements like Boykin’s are incompatible with Army values, and only put our troops in danger.

“As has been articulated by GEN Petraeus, [statements similar to Boykin’s] remarks threaten our relationships with Muslims around the world, and thereby, our troops serving in harm’s way. LTG Boykin’s values are inconsistent even with current Army doctrine that is taught at the Joint Readiness Training Center, National Training Center and the Combined Arms Center, which instructs Army leaders to respect the Muslim culture as a part of counterinsurgency operations. It is counterproductive for our future Army leaders to hear the views of LTG Boykin, a man who’s views are inconsistent with the values of the Army as an institution,” wrote Jon Soltz, Iraq War Veteran and Richard Allen Smith, Afghanistan War Veteran, who serve as Chairman and Vice Chairman of VoteVets.org, respectively.

Soltz and Smith concluded in their letter to the Superintendent, “Sir, as Veterans, we have the utmost faith in your leadership. As Veterans of these wars and men who have served in combat alongside Muslim Americans, we respectfully request that you retract LTG Boykin’s invite to the USMA Prayer Breakfast. The presence of LTG Boykin at West Point would violate Army Values, as well as potentially be used as propaganda by the enemy and endanger our troops in combat.”

Founded in 2006,  and backed by over 100,000 members, the mission of VoteVets.org is to use public issue campaigns and direct outreach to lawmakers to ensure that troops abroad have what they need to complete their missions, and receive the care they deserve when they get home.  VoteVets.org also recognizes veterans as a vital part of the fabric of our country and will work to protect veterans’ interests in their day-to-day lives.  VoteVets.org is committed to the destruction of terror networks around the world - with force when necessary - to protect America.  While non-partisan, the group is the largest progressive organization of veterans in America.

The full text of the veterans’ letter is below.

Dear Lieutenant General Huntoon,

General David Petraeus (Ret.) has been a vocal advocate of the need for our society, and especially our armed forces, to build and maintain bridges of trust into the Muslim community in America and abroad. When an extremist in Florida sought to burn a Koran in a media stunt, General Petraeus accurately stated that the act “would undoubtedly be used by extremists in Afghanistan- and around the world- to inflame public opinion and incite violence” and that “Such images could, in fact… put our troopers and civilians in jeopardy and undermine our efforts.” The same could be said regarding Lieutenant General William Boykin (Ret.).

It has come to the attention of our organization that LTG Boykin has been invited to speak at the USMA prayer breakfast on February 8, 2012. You may not be aware of Lieutenant General Boykin’s history of extremist and hateful comments towards Islam. LTG Boykin has repeatedly characterized our war against al-Qaeda and other extremist groups, a war that we are both Veterans of, as a religious war pitting Christianity against Islam. Boykin claims to have captured terrorists in Somalia solely because the god of Muslims is “an idol.” The Pentagon Office of the Inspector General later found that LTG Boykin’s remarks were improper for a military officer. LTG Boykin, since his retirement, has also stated that “there is no greater threat to America than Islam.” LTG Boykin also co-authored a study from the Center for Security Policy that claimed that “most mosques in the United States already have been radicalized, that most Muslim social organizations are fronts for violent jihadists.”

These remarks are incompatible with the Army values, and a person who is incompatible with Army values should not address the cadets of the United States Military Academy. As has been articulated by GEN Petraeus, these remarks threaten our relationships with Muslims around the world, and thereby, our troops serving in harm’s way. LTG Boykin’s values are inconsistent even with current Army doctrine that is taught at the Joint Readiness Training Center, National Training Center and the Combined Arms Center which instructs Army leaders to respect the Muslim culture as a part of counterinsurgency operations. It is counterproductive for our future Army leaders to hear the views of LTG Boykin, a man who’s views are inconsistent with the values of the Army as an institution.

Not to mention, many Muslim Americans have fought and died in the uniform of the American Soldier in post-9/11 combat, as well as in previous eras. To allow LTG Boykin to address the corps of cadets would be disrespectful to the Muslim cadets currently enrolled at West Point. It would be a slap to the face to Muslim Americans who have served their country, not to mention those who gave the fullest sacrifice for their nation and their comrades.

Sir, as Veterans, we have the utmost faith in your leadership. As Veterans of these wars and men who have served in combat alongside Muslim Americans, we respectfully request that you retract LTG Boykin’s invite to the USMA Prayer Breakfast. The presence of LTG Boykin at West Point would violate Army Values, as well as potentially be used as propaganda by the enemy and endanger our troops in combat.

Sincerely,

Jon Soltz, Iraq War Veteran, Chairman, VoteVets.org
Richard Allen Smith, Afghanistan War Veteran, Vice Chairman, VoteVets.org