Almost 10 months to the day after Donald Rumsfeld announced a Pentagon investigation into Lt. Gen. William G. “Jerry” Boykin, deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence, we learn what was pretty obvious all along — Boykin was violating military guidelines for official conduct.
Boykin, you may recall, caused a bit of a stir last fall when media researchers discovered that Bush had asked a man to coordinate our military intelligence in the war on terror who also happened to be an anti-Muslim religious zealot.
When Boykin’s record of rhetorical excesses reached the public, it sparked outrage around the world. In addition to the public relations nightmare Boykin sparked, there was also a problem relating to the Military Code of Conduct, which prohibits soldiers from making appearances in uniform “when participating in public speeches, interviews, picket lines, marches, rallies, or public demonstrations, except as authorized by competent authority.” Boykin, of course, was sharing his vitriol in public appearance in his military uniform.
Today, we finally learned that Pentagon investigators have concluded that Boykin was in the wrong.
A Defense Department investigation has determined that Lt. Gen. William G. “Jerry” Boykin, the Pentagon’s senior military intelligence official, violated three internal regulations while delivering controversial speeches that linked the war on terrorism to what he depicted as an enduring battle against Satan, according to a copy of the probe obtained yesterday by The Washington Post.
The 10-month internal investigation, conducted by the department’s deputy inspector general for investigations, confirmed news accounts that Boykin said in his speeches that President Bush had been placed in his post by God, that radical Muslims hate America because it “will never abandon Israel” and that the U.S. military is recruiting a spiritual army that will draw strength from a greater power to defeat its enemy.
The inspector’s report…found that Boykin failed to obtain clearance for his remarks, failed to clarify that his remarks were personal and not official, and failed to report reimbursement of travel costs from one of the sponsoring religious groups.
It’s about time.
Obviously embarrassed, Rumsfeld has dragged his feet on this to an almost comical degree. In April, the Pentagon announced the investigation would be concluded in “a couple of weeks.” In June, they announced the outcome was near.
Yet the Pentagon continued to sweep the matter under the rug. Even today’s revelation came by way of a leaked report from the inspector generals’ office that has not yet officially been released.
While Boykin seems to have been caught violating a series of regulations, it’s unlikely he’ll face any kind of serious punishment.
“We recommend that the Acting Secretary of the Army take appropriate corrective action with respect to LTG Boykin,” the report says. But it adds that the Army should also take into consideration as a “mitigating factor” that Boykin said he repeatedly asked military lawyers about the propriety of making the speeches and he recalled no one advising him to obtain advance clearance for his remarks.
The report said investigators accepted that Boykin made these legal consultations in “good faith.”
I wonder if the pun was intentional.