When generals attack!

Want to ask that girl in your English class for a date? Don't start a conversation by saying, "Hey! I hear you put out!"\nNeed help from the nerdy guy who sits next to you in Chemistry? He'd be more likely to help you if you don't tell him how much you hate smart people.\nOr maybe you're looking for something simpler, like assistance from the governments of predominantly Muslim nations in your campaign against international terrorism. \nIn that case, I wouldn't recommend telling them Allah is a false god.\nSo why did Lt. Gen. William Boykin say just that?\nIn speeches before church groups this year, Boykin, deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence, made comments that will hurt U.S. anti-terror efforts. \nDescribing a hunt for a terrorist in Somalia a decade ago, Boykin, who today coordinates U.S. anti-terror operations, said, "Well, you know what I knew, that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God, and his was an idol."\nAsked why terrorists wanted to destroy the U.S., Boykin replied: "They're after us because we're a Christian nation."\nBoykin has an impressive resume. According to MSNBC, which first reported the general's comments, he's the former head of the Army's Special Forces, he's served in Iran, Grenada, Panama, Colombia and Somalia and he's been wounded twice in combat. \nThe issue isn't Boykin's right to free speech or his religion. Like all Americans, Boykin can believe in any god or gods he wants. And he is free to express his belief that the War on Terror is really a war between the U.S. and Satan.\nNor is the issue whether he's a good soldier. He clearly is -- MSNBC called him a "warrior's warrior."\nBut when an officer puts on general's stars, he has to be doubly careful about what he says. Inevitably, his words will be construed as official policy.\nBoykin neglected that duty.\nAmericans will pay for that neglect in blood and treasure.\nAs the Daily Times of Pakistan asked in an editorial, "If the administration's war is really not against Islam, Boykin should be asked to pack his bags. Mr. Bush cannot afford to have people like him playing the final battle between the forces of 'good and evil.' Isn't that bin Laden's job?"\nThe White House has so far offered only weak criticism of the general's remarks, which isn't improving most Muslims' opinions of the U.S.\nThe U.S. needs the help of Muslim countries like Indonesia, Qatar, Egypt and Pakistan to catch international terrorists. Comments like "my God was bigger than his" can only hinder the goals of American policy.\nThe controversy over Boykin's comments comes as the War on Terror is running into problems. In a candid memo leaked last week, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld asked his top commanders, "Are we winning or losing the Global War on Terror? ... We are having mixed results with al Qaeda, although we have put considerable pressure on them -- nonetheless, a great many remain at large."\nBoykin's comments will help al Qaeda and other anti-American groups recruit new members. Worse, it will make it harder for moderate Muslim governments to cooperate with us. Even if Boykin didn't mean his comments to portray American policy as a war against Islam, that's the way many people will interpret them.\nWords have meaning. Words can kill. Reflecting on his pro-revolutionary play "Cathleen ni Houlihan," which partly inspired the disastrous and bloody 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin, Irish poet and playwright W. B. Yeats wrote, "Did that play of mine send out / Certain men the English shot?"\nLike Yeats, Boykin will someday wonder: Would keeping his mouth shut have saved lives? \nYes.