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August 30th, 2006

Long before the President and his underlings starting using the term facsism to describe the threat facing us, conservative pundits were claiming the "War on Terror" was a misnomer. Terror, they claimed, was simply a tactic that Islamist fascists used to advance their agendas. This is utterly ridiculous. On 9/11/2001, terrorists were able to fly planes into the Pentagon and both towers of the World Trade Center, killing thousands and sending a message to the world. The only threat to our country is that this will happen again on our soil. It has happened again on the soil of our allies.

The threat is NOT that Islamist fascists will invade the U.S. and force the women to wear burkas and the men to grow beards. Prior to 9/11, no good conservative Republicans would have suggested a military crusade to rid the world of undemocratic governments. Most of them could not even be brought to vote for economic sanctions against South Africa during Apartheid. Yet now, as an effort to repackage Bush's foreign policy, the War on Terror has become the War Against Islamist Fascism?

Fascism is a vague term that can be interpreted many ways. According to its literal meaning that people become stronger when they band together, the military, most sports teams and most corporations are fascist organizations. Even when factoring in the commonly recognized attribute of central authority, these organizations still qualify. Fascism has also taken on the popular interpretation of undemocratic or, in the case of the Nazis, even genocidal.

The U.S. has strong relationships with many nations who lack democratic governments. In fact, President Bush will soon welcome to the White House the President of Kazakhstan, who our own State Department has criticized as being an autocrat [more]. And what about Libya, an admitted collaborator in the Lockerbie terrorist attacks? Far from becoming a democracy, Bush has nonetheless welcomed them back into the fold.

Administration officials haven't started using the term Islamic Fascism because we really care how third world countries are governed. We don't. Cooperate with us on trade and don't mess with our interests and you're fine. No, that term is being used purely for PR purposes. After all, no one likes a fascist, however you define it. Bush, Kerry, Gore, Iraq, Al Qaeda, Politics, Stem Cells, Abortion