Gates Cleans House

[DoYouEverWonder]

New Pentagon chief is expected to oust the U.S. general involved in the Somalia strikes.

Jan. 9, 2007 - Air strikes this week on alleged Al Qaeda figures in Somalia may prove to be one of the last counterterrorism operations associated with a controversial Pentagon general who has overseen the deployment of secret U.S. Special Ops teams against suspected terror plotters, defense experts close to the Pentagon and intelligence community tell NEWSWEEK.

Lt. Gen.William Boykin and his boss, soon-to-depart Defense Undersecretary for Intelligence Steve Cambone, have guided or taken part in the planning of such covert operations against Al Qaeda-linked groups in several countries since 9/11. There is no indication that new Defense Secretary Robert Gates disagrees with the Somalia operation this week. But Boykin has long been a divisive figure. A devout evangelical Christian, he achieved notoriety in October 2003, when he was videotaped telling a church audience that the god of a Muslim warlord was "an idol" and that "my God was a real God." Boykin and Cambone have also generated controversy by allegedly seeking to wrest control of intelligence-gathering from the CIA. Gates has said he is especially determined to improve cooperation between the Department of Defense and the CIA. In written testimony during his confirmation process last fall, Gates said he was "unhappy about the dominance of the Defense Department in the intelligence arena"-a key element of Cambone's and Boykin's approach.

While Cambone's departure has been announced, Boykin's has not. A Defense Department spokesman would not confirm Wednesday that Boykin was planning to retire, but he declined to deny it either. "There have been no announcements about his retirement," said the spokesman, Maj. David Smith. A U.S. intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity owing to the sensitivity of the subject, said that Boykin currently was still on the job. But word around the Pentagon was that Gates would ask Boykin to go, this official said. Consultants who work with the intelligence and Special Operations community said it was all but certain that Boykin was following Cambone out the door. "If you're getting rid of Cambone, you almost certainly have to get rid of Boykin," says Philip Giraldi, a former CIA counterterrorism official who stays in touch with the community. "They're hand in glove. Gates feels it all went out of control, that they're doing too many things in too many places."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16549316/site/newsweek/

[derby378]

1. "And I'll pray to a Big God...as I kneel in the Big Church..."

Yep. That sounds about right.

[mikeytherat]

9. "And my heaven will be a big heaven,

and I will walk through the front door."

Big time.

mikey_the_rat

[Fridays Child]

2. That nutcase Boykin is behind the Somalia strikes? It figures.

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. Why am I not surprised?

Glad to see that nutcake might be retiring. The sooner the better.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

8. Are you saying you believe that these strikes were not approved by the White House and the planning,

scheduling and execution was not done under the stringent control of the Pentagon? I don't know but the impression I get is that this was controlled by the military without civilian over-site or are these guys just scape goats?

[Fridays Child]

13. The lunatics are clearly in charge of the asylum.

[MidwestTransplant]

4. Boykin was in charge of the hunt for Pablo Escabar back during Bush I

[bobthedrummer]

7. Yes, in 1993 but he was the combat commander in Somalia before

that-during the BlackHawk Down incident also in 1993.

William G. Boykin profile from SourceWatch.org
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=William_G._Boykin

edited to fix hyperlink

[DoYouEverWonder]

10. What a wack job

with a crappy track record. Looks like his latest venture will be another unmitigated disaster.

[MidwestTransplant]

14. No administration in history has rewarded failure like this one.

[lovuian]

5. Running a military like a corporation is not good

doing so many things NOT WELL is the ultimate failure

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

6. Boykin gave new meaning to the saying...

"Off The Reservation". One gets the feeling that this Somalian Op was not run by anyone higher up the 5-Sided Food Chain. Which is pretty much the style that has been in fashion the last 6 years. Cowboys everywhere.

[DoYouEverWonder]

11. It was probably a going away present for him

One last chance to kill more brown people for Jesus.

[leesa]

12. Well, this would be a silver lining...however, Boykin won't be going away.

He's way too nuts to be dismissed by this maladministration. What will he be incompetent at next?

[donkeyotay]

15. Couldn't they just give him a gold watch? BBC said 70 dead Somalis

Everyone of them innocent, since none of them were tried. BBC will show pictures of the humans we kill; our media just crows about it. We're always getting #2 or #3 al-qaeda. Never a child or a brother or a poor person just trying to get by. No, we're always so awesome and shocking with our smart bombs and precision strikes that if they're dead, they're #2 or #3 al qaeda or insurgents or terrorists.

I sincerely hope that Boykin's God smites his ass but good.