October 23, 2003
Source: The New York Times
On October 23, 2003 the The New York Times reported that "President Bush said on Wednesday that he disagreed with comments by a top Pentagon general who had cast the war on terrorism in religious terms, but the Defense Department said the officer would not be reassigned. The comments by Mr. Bush were his first in public about Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin, the deputy under secretary of defense for intelligence and war-fighting... Mr. Bush, speaking before a group of moderate Muslims during a stopover in Bali, Indonesia, said the general's comments 'didn't reflect my opinion,' adding, 'Look, it just doesn't reflect what the government thinks.'"