There is huge coverage of the capture of Saddam at the InstaPundit, and the Corner. However, one seemingly overlooked sidebar is this: the controversial General William (Jerry) Boykin (My Christian god is tougher than Allah!) has probably bought himself a bit of job security. Based on various reports, his group was involved in the capture of Saddam.
We find this in the recent New Yorker, by Seymour Hersh:
The Bush Administration has authorized a major escalation of the Special Forces covert war in Iraq. In interviews over the past month, American officials and former officials said that the main target was a hard-core group of Baathists who are believed to be behind much of the underground insurgency against the soldiers of the United States and its allies. A new Special Forces group, designated Task Force 121, has been assembled from Army Delta Force members, Navy seals, and C.I.A. paramilitary operatives, with many additional personnel ordered to report by January. Its highest priority is the neutralization of the Baathist insurgents, by capture or assassination.
And, after a long skip, we get this:
One of the key planners of the Special Forces offensive is Lieutenant General William (Jerry) Boykin, Cambone’s military assistant. After a meeting with Rumsfeld early last summer—they got along “like two old warriors,” the Pentagon consultant said—Boykin postponed his retirement, which had been planned for June, and took the Pentagon job, which brought him a third star. In that post, the Pentagon adviser told me, Boykin has been “an important piece” of the planned escalation. In October, the Los Angeles Times reported that Boykin, while giving Sunday-morning talks in uniform to church groups, had repeatedly equated the Muslim world with Satan. Last June, according to the paper, he told a congregation in Oregon that “Satan wants to destroy this nation, he wants to destroy us as a nation, and he wants to destroy us as a Christian army.” Boykin praised President Bush as a “man who prays in the Oval Office,” and declared that Bush was “not elected” President but “appointed by God.” The Muslim world hates America, he said, “because we are a nation of believers.”
There were calls in the press and from Congress for Boykin’s dismissal, but Rumsfeld made it clear that he wanted to keep his man in the job.
Well, if there was any thought of easing him out gracefully, now would be the time - mission accomplished, and good-bye. However, the mission is not accomplished in Iraq - there is still a lot of work to do in battling the Iraqi insurgency, and we still want Osama. I expect the General will be with us for a while, and we hope he can keep up the good work.
P.S. Yes, I am trying very hard not to laugh out loud here.
MORE: NY Times coverage of the intel operation, with a favorable mention of Task Force 11 Squared.
Comments