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Army General Receives Support of Christian Groups
Aired October 24, 2003 - 15:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Now to a controversy playing out at the Pentagon. Aides to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld say that his personal office is being flooded with phone calls about William Boykin. He's the general under fire for making remarks about Islam.
Let's bring in our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.
Barbara, these calls generally supportive of the general?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Judy.
Today, the whole playing field really changed here at the Pentagon, because the Christian conservative movement is now weighing in on this entire subject. As you say, the group called Focus on the Family, which is a nationwide Christian conservative group, began a phone campaign today directly to Don Rumsfeld's office. Sources in the Pentagon tell us it was 7:00 a.m. this morning, when Don Rumsfeld's office opened up, that the phones started ringing.
And it has not stopped, because on their Web site, they published the direct phone number to his office. And people started calling in from across the country, most of them, of course, finding the phone number on this Christian conservative Web site, calling in with their calls of support for General Boykin.
But what is happening, of course, is that now changes the landscape of this entire issue for the Pentagon, for the White House. It now really does become much more of a political issue across Washington. Coincidentally today, Senator John Warner, the Republican of Virginia, the powerful chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, came here to the Pentagon for a private, unannounced lunch with the secretary of defense.
The two men talked privately, we're told, on a wide range of issues. Aides will not say whether the issue of General Boykin came up. But one aide told us that the conversation was a productive and frank discussion of views. As it looks now, both men are holding firm to their position, Don Rumsfeld saying General Boykin will remain in place, pending the outcome of an inspector general investigation, Senator Warner saying he believes General Boykin needs to step aside temporarily while that investigation is going on, while everybody has a look at whether any rules or regulations were broken -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: So, Barbara, given all this, how does the Pentagon deal with General Boykin at this point?
STARR: At this point, he remains in place. He is the deputy assistant secretary -- undersecretary for intelligence. He remains in his job as a top intelligence analyst and official for the secretary of defense in the global war on terrorism.
By all accounts, we must tell you, General Boykin himself is very sad, very distressed about how all of this is turning out. People do remind us, the man has a long, distinguished military career. He has more than 30 years of service in the special forces. And there is no question -- there has never been a question about whether General Boykin, as an American, of course, like everyone else, has the right to express his religious views.
This move today by the Christian conservative element is putting it all, however, on a political footing and bringing it more and more to the attention of the White House and Congress.
WOODRUFF: All right, Barbara Starr, with some last-minute reporting there at the Pentagon -- thank you, Barbara.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 24, 2003 - 15:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Now to a controversy playing out at the Pentagon. Aides to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld say that his personal office is being flooded with phone calls about William Boykin. He's the general under fire for making remarks about Islam.
Let's bring in our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.
Barbara, these calls generally supportive of the general?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Judy.
Today, the whole playing field really changed here at the Pentagon, because the Christian conservative movement is now weighing in on this entire subject. As you say, the group called Focus on the Family, which is a nationwide Christian conservative group, began a phone campaign today directly to Don Rumsfeld's office. Sources in the Pentagon tell us it was 7:00 a.m. this morning, when Don Rumsfeld's office opened up, that the phones started ringing.
And it has not stopped, because on their Web site, they published the direct phone number to his office. And people started calling in from across the country, most of them, of course, finding the phone number on this Christian conservative Web site, calling in with their calls of support for General Boykin.
But what is happening, of course, is that now changes the landscape of this entire issue for the Pentagon, for the White House. It now really does become much more of a political issue across Washington. Coincidentally today, Senator John Warner, the Republican of Virginia, the powerful chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, came here to the Pentagon for a private, unannounced lunch with the secretary of defense.
The two men talked privately, we're told, on a wide range of issues. Aides will not say whether the issue of General Boykin came up. But one aide told us that the conversation was a productive and frank discussion of views. As it looks now, both men are holding firm to their position, Don Rumsfeld saying General Boykin will remain in place, pending the outcome of an inspector general investigation, Senator Warner saying he believes General Boykin needs to step aside temporarily while that investigation is going on, while everybody has a look at whether any rules or regulations were broken -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: So, Barbara, given all this, how does the Pentagon deal with General Boykin at this point?
STARR: At this point, he remains in place. He is the deputy assistant secretary -- undersecretary for intelligence. He remains in his job as a top intelligence analyst and official for the secretary of defense in the global war on terrorism.
By all accounts, we must tell you, General Boykin himself is very sad, very distressed about how all of this is turning out. People do remind us, the man has a long, distinguished military career. He has more than 30 years of service in the special forces. And there is no question -- there has never been a question about whether General Boykin, as an American, of course, like everyone else, has the right to express his religious views.
This move today by the Christian conservative element is putting it all, however, on a political footing and bringing it more and more to the attention of the White House and Congress.
WOODRUFF: All right, Barbara Starr, with some last-minute reporting there at the Pentagon -- thank you, Barbara.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
