This Opinion Piece Was Endorsed by God
Muslim fears justified by religious zealotry in White House

By Kurt Poeltl
Opinions Editor

The vast majority of people in the Middle East view the war in Iraq as a religious struggle ­ a crusade against Islam. I'm not so sure it isn't.

According to the Associated Press on Monday October 20, President Bush expeditiously attacked the racist comments of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Earlier in the week, the prime minister had said, "Jews rule the world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them." On Bush's recent junket, he personally condemned the comments as being "wrong and devisive." National Security advisor Condoleezza Rice told reporters that Mohamad's sentiments were "hateful, ...outrageous." So far, so good.

Except it was only the day before that Bush was considerably less convincing when it came to light that one of his own, Army Lt. General William G. Boykin also purported the conflict in religious terms, "a battle with Satan." Boykin, the newly-appointed deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence, regularly ad- dresses evangelical Christ- ian groups and offers his doctrine for doing battle with Muslim warlords, "I knew my God was bigger than his God. I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol." This is the general we assigned to intelligence?

Boykin also gave Al- Jazeera-watching Muslims this little nugget to codify their struggle: "We're a Christian nation, because our foundation and our roots are Judeo Christian...and the enemy is a guy named Satan."

This time when directly questioned as to whether Boykin would be reprimanded, Rice responsed for the president by sidestepping the issue. "The president's views on this are absolutely clear... This is not a war between religions," she said. If the president's views are so clear, what happened to words like "hateful, outrageous, and reprehensible"? Where was the president? If we are serious about showing Muslims how misguided they are about us, how about a statement from Bush like "Excuse me General Boykin, I'm sorry but you're f__ing fired."

Conservative politicians raced to Boykin's side. Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld asking him to "not in any way, intimidate the free religious exercise of his faith." Unfortunately, this is not about freedoms but rather the beliefs of those fighting the so-called war on terrorism and how that translates into foreign policy. Doesn't providing the Arab street with pious rhetoric seem more detrimental to national security than a couple a dozen peace signs on San Francisco's Market Street?

Perhaps the president was initially silent because he agrees with General Boykin. "We do not claim to know all the ways of providence, yet we can trust in them, placing our confidence in the loving God behind all of life and all of history," Bush said in the 2003 State of the Union Address. Now I've been through Providence on the way to Boston, so I'm not exactly sure what he means, but for some reason it scares the proverbial hell out me. The main reason to publicly embrace your own religion is to exclude others.

Bush shows almost a daily apathy for other faiths. From his extreme judicial nominees to the selection of his Attorney General, whatever Bush cannot say himself his disciples say for him. "America has been different. We have no kings but Jesus," John Ashcroft said as he accepted an honorary degree from the infamous racially divided Bob Jones University in 1999.

What frightens me is that for those who want to believe this is the Second Coming of the Crusades, it is. Since Bush has brought "faith-based" initiatives through the backdoor of government, Christian charities now receive tax dollars in eerie correlation to their aggregate support. We no longer have a situation where Christian organizations only fund the GOP, but now the GOP can directly finance the Christian agenda. Is this the freest nation on earth or one "under God"? It can't be both.

Personally I'm not a believer in grand conspiracies, only small ones, so I'm not sweating whose Almighty is bigger. But then again, I have a job, enough to eat, only five quarts of oil, and my country is not occupied ­ well...

Proposition H Would Bring Accountibility to S.F. Police

By Edward Hu
Guest Writer

The breakdown of San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) oversight has led to an erosion of accountability. Sustained misconduct charges have been dropped, and accusations of excessive force have fallen on deaf ears. The city controller, the Office of Citizen Complaints, the Civil Grand Jury, and the American Civil Liberties Union have all documented these shortcomings. The Civil Grand Jury found that the SFPD's delays in investigations "contribute to the eventual dismissal of valid citizen complaints because the investigation could not be concluded within one year."

Prop H, on the November 4 ballot, will set right a system so clearly gone wrong by increasing accountability and streamlining the investigation process of misconduct charges.

Currently, the five members of the Police Commission, the civilian oversight body charged with overseeing the SFPD, serves at the will of the mayor; they can be removed at any time for any reason. As it is structured, the Commission lacks independence and is unresponsive to community requests to hold hearings on important issues. The chang -es contained in Prop H are based on what has worked in other jurisdictions and are designed to create a more independent and less politicized police oversight system. According to the city controller, "The Police Com-mission has structural weaknesses that should be addressed by changing the criteria for appointment and the terms of service by the Commissioners, strengthening the appointment and removal process..." Accord-ing to national policing expert Samuel Walker, quot-ed in the same report, "Members should be ap-pointed by both the mayor and city council. This guarantees that all parts of the community will be represented and that no one person or faction will control the Board."

Prop H follows best practices by dividing appointment power between the mayor and supervisors and will lead to a more effective and representative commission. The current system also prevents the Office of Citizen Complaints (OCC), the independent agency for investigating misconduct cases, from doing an effective job. In a report released earlier this year, the OCC documented a "pattern of obstruction and delay" in regards to SFPD investigations.

These misconduct cases (including excessive force) must be by law concluded within a year. Sustained cases get dropped because of the chief of police's failure to act and because documents are not being turned over in a timely manner.

Currently, the OCC does not have the power to file

formal charges and can only make recommendations to

the chief. Prop H changes this by empowering the OCC to take cases to the commission if the chief fails to act or seeks to impose nominal discipline because of favoritism.

PropH also clarifies the OCC's power to access all necessary documents in conducting investigations.In opposing Prop H, the Police Officer's Association (POA) has resorted to scare tactics, spending hundreds of thousands if not millions of dol -lars on misleading television commercials and mailers. The POA says that Prop H is political, despite being based on the result of three independent studies. The POA falsely claims that it will put the Supervisors in control of the police department despite the mayor retaining the majority of appointments on the police commission and the unfettered power to fire the chief. The reports and fact findings are available to the public; don't be misled by the special interest groups opposed to much needed police reforms.

San Francisco deserves the best in policing and police accountability. Prop H is good for law enforcement and good for the community. It will bring integrity to the police oversight system and result in a more effective, less political police department. PropH is supported by a wide range of individuals and organizations including all three candidates for District Attorney and Public Defender Jeff Adachi. We deserve the best from our police department. Join us in voting Yes on Proposition H.

Edward Hu is a SFSU student. Hu is working on "Yes on H" campaign. For additional information about Prop H visit www.policereform.com