Lt. General William G. "Jerry" Boykin was recently promoted by Donald Rumsfeld to reinvigorate his "High Value Target Plan" to track down Bin Laden, Hussein, Mullah Omar and other leaders in the terrorism world. Considering Boykin's resume, he sounds like the man for the job, except for the part about being a Christian extremist famous for his habit of making intolerant comments like this one, referring to his 1993 battle with a Muslim militia leader in Somalia:

"I knew that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God, and his was an idol." After the man was captured, Boykin said he told the man, "You underestimated our God."

As this and a long list of similar comments have begun to get widespread attention (including a few gems about George W. Bush being appointed by God, and the real enemy not being Osama bin Laden, but Satan), the Pentagon has gone into spin mode, conferencing with Boykin to produce a series of press statements. His explanation for the above comment?

"My comments to Osman Otto in Mogadishu were not referencing his worship of Allah but his worship of money and power; idolatry," Boykin said. "He was a corrupt man, not a follower of Islam."

If you buy that, give me a hallelujah.

Considering the perception in the Islamic world that America is on a crusade against their beliefs, does it really make sense to fan those flames by appointing a top general who actually is on a crusade against their beliefs?