Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, in an interview on October 19, reiterated her boss' position that the US is not at war with Islam. However, she did not answer the question whether Bush would condemn Boykin's statements made in and out of uniform, in churches and elsewhere. At the same time, there is no anticipated move to remove him from his current sensitive post.
A number of newspapers in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Kuwait and Iraq reported Boykin's earlier remarks without comment. One can ignore Boykin's lack of knowledge about Islam as a private person. But there is no excuse for using his public position and visibility to spread hatred and disinformation about a great religion, such as describing Islam as an 'idolatrous' religion, which goes against its very grain as a monotheistic faith. Equally important, this certainly is not the time to raise questions about whose god is 'real' or whose god is 'bigger'.
Bush's reaction to the Boykin comments are going to be read in the Muslim world. So are his somewhat different reactions to the Mahathir comments.
I'd blog more, but my head is still spinning on how size can be a relevant characteristic of a transcendent divinity.
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