Pentagon under attack from right wing, over Boy Scout decision

[Cocoa]

http://washingtontimes.com/national/20041118-120306-2962r.htm

A lawmaker and veterans are calling on Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to reverse administration lawyers who agreed to warn military bases against officially sponsoring the Boy Scouts of America as part of a settlement of a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Critics of the settlement said that the Pentagon caved to the ACLU, which said the government improperly supported a group that requires belief in God, and that it was particularly offensive after the Nov. 2 elections, when the most pressing voter issue was the country's values.

"The voters of this nation, if it's a choice between expanding NAMBLA and preserving the scouting movement, the voters of America want to defend the scouting movement," said Rep. J.D. Hayworth, Arizona Republican and an Eagle Scout, referring to the North American Man/Boy Love Association.

The ACLU defended NAMBLA in a wrongful-death suit brought by the parents of a 10-year-old Massachusetts boy slain by a member of the association.

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