WASHINGTON, Aug 19 (AFP) - An army general who likened the war on terrorism to a struggle with Satan in speeches to church groups violated Defense Department regulations on public speaking and the reporting of travel expenses, a Pentagon probe has found.
The findings of the Pentagon's inspector general's investigation into Lieutenant General William Boykin were referred to acting Army Secretary Les Brownlea for "corrective action," a senior defense official said.
A copy of the report was leaked to the Washington Post but Pentagon spokespersons said the report would not be made public until Brownlead had reviewed it.
The defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the violations as "minor" infractions of bureaucratic rules, particularly when set against the media firestorm touched off by Boykin's speeches to church groups last year in which he cast the war on terrorism as a Christian battle against Satan.
Boykin's comments drew attention because he is a top Pentagon intelligence official in charge of the hunt for Osama bin Laden, and because they undercut the administration's insistence that the war on terrorism was not directed against Muslims.
In a speech to a group in Oregon in June 2003, Boykin said radical Islamists hated the United States "because we're a Christian nation, because our foundation and our roots are Judeo-Christian ... and the enemy is a guy named Satan".
In another speech describing a battle with a Somali warlord, he said, "I knew my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol."
The inspector general faulted Boykin for not clearing his speeches ahead of time with public affairs officials, and for failing to make a disclaimer in the speeches that the views he expressed were his own and not necessarily those of the department.
It also found that on one occasion he failed to report on financial disclosure forms a payment he received from a group to cover travel expenses.
The defense official said Boykin had accepted no fees for the speeches he made to some 23 groups, and had violated no rules in accepting money to cover travel expenses.
"He also made good faith efforts to consult with legal authorities with respect to his personal speaking engagements," the official said.