January 26, 2012 Lieutenant General David H. Huntoon Superintendent United States Military Academy West Point, New Y ork 10996 Dear Lieutenant General Huntoon, General David Petraeus (Ret.) has been a vocal advocate of the need for our society , and especially our armed forces, to build and maintain bridges of trust into the Muslim community in America and abroad. When an extremist in Florida sought to burn a Koran in a media stunt, General Petraeus ac- curately stated that the act “would undoubtedly be used by extremists in A fghanistan- and around the world- to inflame public opinion and incite violence” and that “Such images could, in fact... put our troopers and civilians in jeopardy and undermine our efforts”. The same could be said regarding Lieu- tenant General William Boykin (Ret.) It has come to the attention of our organization that L TG Boykin has been invited to speak at the USMA prayer breakfast on February 8, 2012. You may not be aware of Lieutenant General Boykin’s history of extremist and hateful comments towards Islam. LT G Boykin has repeatedly characterized our war against al-Qaeda and other extremist groups, a war that we are both Veterans of, as a relig- ious war pitting Christianity against Islam. Boykin claims to have captured terrorists in Somalia solely because the god of Muslims is “an idol”. The Pentagon Office of the Inspector General l ater found that LTG Boykin’s remarks were improper for a military officer. LTG Boykin, since his retirement, has also stated that “there is no greater threat to America than Islam.” LT G Boykin also co-authored a study from the Center for Security Policy that claimed that “most mosques in the United States al- ready have been radicalized, that most Muslim social organizations are fronts for violent jihadists”. These remarks are incompatible with the Army values, and a person who is incompatible with Army values should not address the cadets of the United S tates Military Academy . As has been articulated by GEN Petraeus, these remarks threaten our relationships with Muslims around the world, and thereby , our troops serving in harms way. L TG Boykin’s values are inconsistent even with current Army doctrine that is taught at the Joint Readiness Training Center , National Training Center and the Combined Arms Center which instructs A rmy leaders to respect the Muslim culture as a part of coun- terinsurgency operations. It is counterproductive for our future Army leaders to hear the views of LTG Boykin, a man whose views are inconsistent with the values of the Army as an institution. Not to mention, many Muslim Americans have fought and died in the uniform of the American Soldier in post-9/11 combat, as well as in previous eras. To allow LTG Boykin to address the corps of cadets would be disrespectful to the Muslim cadets currently enrolled at West Po int. It would be a slap to the face to Muslim Americans who have served their country, not to mention those who gave the fullest sacriﬁce for their nation and their comrades. PO Box 10031 Portland, Oregon 92796 T 646.415.8426 F 646.924.3262 [email protected] http://www.votevets.org VOTEVETS.ORG

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January 26, 2012Lieutenant General David H. HuntoonSuperintendentUnited States Military AcademyWest Point, New York 10996

Dear Lieutenant General Huntoon,

General David Petraeus (Ret.) has been a vocal advocate of the need for our society, and especiallyour armed forces, to build and maintain bridges of trust into the Muslim community in America andabroad. When an extremist in Florida sought to burn a Koran in a media stunt, General Petraeus ac-curately stated that the act “would undoubtedly be used by extremists in Afghanistan- and around theworld- to inflame public opinion and incite violence” and that “Such images could, in fact... put our troopers and civilians in jeopardy and undermine our efforts”. The same could be said regarding Lieu-tenant General William Boykin (Ret.)

It has come to the attention of our organization that LTG Boykin has been invited to speak at theUSMA prayer breakfast on February 8, 2012. You may not be aware of Lieutenant General Boykin’shistory of extremist and hateful comments towards Islam. LTG Boykin has repeatedly characterizedour war against al-Qaeda and other extremist groups, a war that we are both Veterans of, as a relig-

ious war pitting Christianity against Islam. Boykin claims to have captured terrorists in Somalia solelybecause the god of Muslims is “an idol”. The Pentagon Office of the Inspector General later foundthat LTG Boykin’s remarks were improper for a military officer. LTG Boykin, since his retirement, hasalso stated that “there is no greater threat to America than Islam.” LTG Boykin also co-authored a

study from the Center for Security Policy that claimed that “most mosques in the United States al-

ready have been radicalized, that most Muslim social organizations are fronts for violent jihadists”.

These remarks are incompatible with the Army values, and a person who is incompatible with Armyvalues should not address the cadets of the United States Military Academy. As has been articulatedby GEN Petraeus, these remarks threaten our relationships with Muslims around the world, and

thereby, our troops serving in harms way. LTG Boykin’s values are inconsistent even with currentArmy doctrine that is taught at the Joint Readiness Training Center, National Training Center and the

Combined Arms Center which instructs Army leaders to respect the Muslim culture as a part of coun-

terinsurgency operations. It is counterproductive for our future Army leaders to hear the views of LTGBoykin, a man whose views are inconsistent with the values of the Army as an institution.

Not to mention, many Muslim Americans have fought and died in the uniform of the American Soldier

in post-9/11 combat, as well as in previous eras. To allow LTG Boykin to address the corps of cadetswould be disrespectful to the Muslim cadets currently enrolled at West Point. It would be a slap to the

face to Muslim Americans who have served their country, not to mention those who gave the fullestsacrifice for their nation and their comrades.

PO Box 10031Portland, Oregon 92796

T 646.415.8426F [email protected]

http://www.votevets.org

VOTEVETS.ORG

http://www.votevets.org/

mailto:[email protected]