Thanks for a great and timely piece. As regards the point that "Some of the trappings might have been anti-modernist -- Mussolini looked back to ancient Rome, the Nazis were fascinated by Nordic mythology and other Wagnerian folderol -- but the basic thrust was modern, bureaucratic and rational.", I think there's much to be concerned about these days in the not-so-distant similarities becoming more apparent by the day in these 'modern times' of ours. There's a distinct aura of making non-rational and emotional premises into 'rational' ones these days - i.e. rationalizations rather than reasoning. I'm in agreement as to keeping the word 'fascist' within it's historical references.

Thanks again for a great article; one can hope it'll get the attention it deserves (and one can hope Karl Rove doesn't catch wind of it too soon!).

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Islamo-fascist is a propaganda term used by murderous Christians/Jews to paint Islam believers as scum to be effortlessly killed because they are too different to be counted as real humans. It is religious war writ big, bloody and insane. Its use by the Bushies confirms that they are warmongo-fascists themselves and should be impeached before the human race slaughters one another in devilishly pointless combat. Christians are supposed to be nonviolent which only proves that the Bushies are Christo-fascists intent on continuing mass murder forever in the name of Jesus who would be totally appalled if he could hear.

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I've completely given up on this country, this world, and this planet, and a word to the many humans, subhumans, and other assorted entities watching me and my reactions from around the world; God IS NOT FAR BEHIND.

And get on your knees and thank Him He has far more patience than I, or neither of us would be here right now to debate what little future we have left. I would have pulled the plug one second into "Shock & Awe".

And He SHOULD have. Just keep on making Him wish he did...

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Excellent exposure of a dangerous linguistical slight of hand that can be very incendiary and distructive. This administration has been very effective in wordsmithing to promote its distortions and ideological agenda.
In one label, Islamic fascists, Bush erases all of his failures, his misguided foreign policy and raises the ante on his attacks on an entire culture.

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That is GW Bush and his minions. Notice how prevalent the term Fascism has been used about this administration even by reagan republicans. It surprised even me. There was no effective response from this administration to that accusation, so they turned it around and used the term against their target enemy; the muslims.

This certainly indicates a new phase of attack against those who will not succumb to the elites agenda. Its a genocide pre-language attack. Given what I have seen in Iraq, this is about genocide and clearing the entire population out of Iraq and making those who survive refugees in other countries so that we can have total control of that land mass from which to control the middle east.

It seems so clear to me this is the objective and they simply found another way to justify it to the unthinking sheep.

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With their unbreakable ties to and worship of the corporation, the Bush administration should be careful about calling anyone a fascist.

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Wow, amazing and elegant analysis. And she writes poetry too!

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Fascism: 1 often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
2 : a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control

Based on this definition of fascism, the term "Islamo-fascist" seems perfectly appropriate, but perhaps "democratically challenged" would be less "insensitive" or "hurtful" to all those Jihadis who simply want to force sharia on the world?

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The seminal observation in this excellent article for me is:

"Islamo-fascism' looks like an analytic term, but really it's an emotional one, intended to get us to think less and fear more."

You can't get any more on point than that. It sums up PRECISELY the Bushite strategy used in framing EVERY "debate" in our national dialog!

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Must read:

Israel: Time For Soul-Searching

God, how I wish the war mongers of this country would read this article!

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I agree with Pollitt that we should stop throwing language around like that. Actually, it's the US that seems to mirror certain aspects of fascism. If you haven't checked out Mark Crispin Miller's analysis of the US as a coming christofascist state, he has a lot (sometimes almost too much) to say on the topic.

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Descriptions are most powerful, definitions change sometimes in mid paragraph.

a creator of what is called fascism, Mousolini, described fascism as (a description of a process) the merging of corporate power with power of the state. Again, corporate power with power of the state. Many
Americans know that thousands of our writers and poets and historians, etc., say that this describes the US.

Hitler and Goebbels, who copied/emulated this description, when asked "What about the people?" replied "tell them they are under attack, destroy the credibility of the peace-minded: this works in every country."

In this respect, the US is the fascist participant in these things, to the degree that corporate power has merged with the "power of the state". Our hedgemony processes and oligarchy (or ????archy) appearance to that part of the world is (sadly) seen as much more threatening to their religious, political, and social leaders than here in the continental US, where the merging is seen as unstoppable, and discussing it is often one-sided, or put off with "we can't do anything about that."

Cosimo94707

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If so, that would make us responsible for Guernica, wouldn't it? I suppose we need an Iraqi Picasso to memorialize Fallujah.

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Really... what more do you expect from a bunch of chickenhawks who don't even know or understand history in the first place.

After all.. these were the folks telling us that the Iraqis would greet us as liberators.

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The current Bush regime fits the definition of fascist perfectly. Of course you have violated Godwin's law, as have I by responding.

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Fascism (as properly defined by Il Duce) was actually called "Corporatism" because it was the state working autocratically to realize the goals of corporations and consolidate its own power. Last I heard, the "Islamic fundamentalists" (Thank you Mr. Said) weren't working on behalf of any corporate interests (unless you count the US as one big corporation, in which case, Saudi Arabia could be said to) nor in any unified way with each other, hence this term doesn't make sense. What Buch & Co. are seeking to do is associate Nazism (what most think of when you say fascism)with Islam with Arabs. It's highly irresponsible, racist, anti-Islam, and crude of them to use the term "Islamic Fascist" actually. Additionally...

Last I heard, the real fascists reside in Washington, D.C.! After all, who invaded two countries on bogus pretextes (Afghanistan was not represented by Al Queda (if they even exist) hence invading this country was wrong, and we all know about Iraq); who is currently holding people in prison without charge or right to council; who has currently killed its own citizens under its own "terror laws" (if you'll recall the gentleman shot by an "Air Marshall" in Florida not too long ago); who is currently spying on its own citizens with the assistance of willing corporate companies (!); who has never given an account of its full actions on 9/11 which were either criminal by negligence or by design; and, as the cherry on the cake, successfully stolen two US elections and declared itself above the US Constitution (which a judge has recently disagreed with, btw). No no, if anyone's fascists in 2006 it's Bush!

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In order to justify its actions, the US needs to "demonize" its enemies. Hence, we here of so called "Islamo-fascists," along with "ragheads" for Arabs and other racist words. Arabs and Muslims in America today are treated as immediate suspects, surely "they" must be plotting some kind of terrorist attack. So, we have to pre-emptively watch them, monitor them, deport them and jail them. But the real kicker is what Bush and his neocon buddies have in mind, the attack on Iran. Once demonized enough, they will have been prepped for the waves of US and Israeli F-16's. Of course, when the disasterous consequences unfold, oil goes to $300 a barrel and Hezballah launches rocket attacks into Israel and into the US Green Zone in Iraq, it will just be because those "dirty Arabs," "the Islamo-Fascists" got the better of the USA.

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This article is misleading. Fascist movements in the early 1900s did have a significant Christian component--to such an extent that making any claim otherwise is absurdly ignorant for a journalist. If you doubt this, take a look at the wiki on fascism for a start, then maybe progress to history books.

Again: we deserve better journalists than we have.

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The language issue cuts both ways. Wordsmith/propagandist efforts are everywhere and on all sides.

For Administration critics only too aware of the constant diabolic duplicity of the Rove directed end, it's become effortless to cite everything as a lie. Credibility is shot, but the extreme end of Islam fuels the continued "success" of the fear mongers.

It is tragic that it's only after we're involved in another pointless war, that there's any real beginning to the acknowledgment of USA as empire with it's attendant need to maintain it's economic stranglehold on the rest of the world.

The hatred spawned from that dominance will be with us for a very long time, exacerbated further by our increasingly desperate attempts to maintain the status quo accelerating our economic and cultural decline.

The requisite method for "regime change" would require a very different set of social and political priorities not yet even on our political horizon. Not to mention the looming, now inevitable unpleasantness of adjustment to a new, less optional standard of material existence that is being effectively obscured by this side show engagement.

So, in the glow of having the easy targets that the nightmare cartoonish Administration presently provides characterized by it's increasingly desperate propaganda, the Wahhabi schooled opposition will, with a qualified justification, continue to try to destroy all vestiges of the enemy of Allah. The great material Satan, who r'us, will comply by abandoning the principles of freedom and decency in much the same fashion as post Weimar Germany, with a "new Jew" to blame.

As the Dutch have discovered, cultural tolerance is a prominent early victim of an open society violently confronted by a small, stealthy minority. As we grope for language acceptable to identify the extremes of this expanding conflict, and as we find ourselves in an ever narrowing set of political options, as freedom of movement and freedom of expression curtail, as our economic miracle collapses like the house of cards that it is, the issues of language used to describe who's killing who and why will become moot, and most probably mute.

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Christian theologian and feminist Carter Heyward is quick to call the domination tactics and violent means perpetrated by the religious right in the name of the Christian faith, "christofacism." See her book "Saving Jesus from those who are 'Right.'" Fascism is afoot in the USA these days. We see it in the silencing of dissent and the narrowed agenda of the Right--who are in fact wrongheaded and just plain wrong.
GR

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The Liquid Bomb Hoax: The Larger Implications
by James Petras
www.dissidentvoice.org
August 25, 2006


An analysis of the current state of the investigation raises a series of questions regarding the governments’ claims of a bomb plot concocted by 24 Brits of Pakistani origin.



The arrests were followed by the search for evidence, as the August 12, 2006 Financial Times states: “The police set about the mammoth task of gathering evidence of the alleged terrorist bomb plot yesterday.” (FT, August 12/, 2006) In other words, the arrests and charges took place without sufficient evidence -- a peculiar method of operation -- which reverses normal investigatory procedures in which arrests follow the “monumental task of gathering evidence.” If the arrests were made without prior accumulation of evidence, what were the bases of the arrests?



The government search of financial records and transfers turned up no money trail despite the freezing of accounts. The police search revealed limited amounts of savings, as one would expect from young workers, students and employees from low-income immigrant families.



The British government, backed by Washington, claimed that the Pakistani government’s arrest of two British-Pakistanis provided “critical evidence” in uncovering the plot and identifying the alleged terrorist. No Western judicial hearing would accept evidence procured by the Pakistani intelligence services that are notorious for their use of torture in extracting ‘confessions’...

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It's the media. They allow it.

They no longer filter evil out at all.

They siimply broadcast.

The enemy is in our house all day long.

CABAL NEWS.

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You have in the halls of power in this country people who are true believers in the Book of Revelations. They see the Muslims as the adversary in that fever brained, mythological "final" battle. They actually believe they are doing "the lord's" work and hastening the day of Armageddon after which he will supposedly decend from the sky in a cloud of angels and take them all away. now ask yourselves Metaphorically what that resembles?
A bright cloud that decends from the sky... filled with a vengeful lord's wrath... Then hear them glibly talk of nuclear weapons being "on the table" in any attack on Iran. NUCLEAR WEAPONS! And most of the fat assed TV watching armchair generals in the millions of living rooms in this country cheer and slop beer on themselves. They've been doing that so long it's all one big TV show... one big sporting event... they're just cheering for the side they want to "win", right? So soak it up, my fellow countrymen, learn to hate people you've never met, be led to fear what you don't understand, pay your taxes on time so they can continue to arm for the "Big One." If these clowns manage to stay the course, you won't have long to wait. All religions are stupid and belief blinds you to the rest of what is a miraculous, wonderous universe.. Life as we know it only exists here, people. Lose this place and the creatures who invented the idea of belief will be gone... maybe for the sake of the other life forms here that deserve life every bit as much as humans do, that would be the better situation. Pity that the weapons they embrace will make a Mars of this beautiful, holy place and all life here will lose the only place it can happen as it does..

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Agreed. Bush's language is insanely geared to provoking more trouble. As far as the meaning of ;fascism', who has time to nitpick that issue.
Here's the dilemma: On the one had, we have Bush and his admistration paintpin a bigger and bigger bull's eye on our backs, and on the other hand, we have all these groups hell bent on killing as many of us as possible. These are not warm and cuddly people that will be appeased by a sentimental embracing of their causes. Talkking does not seem to do much good,either. Look at Iran, playing the 'talk to me card' to distract from its activities.
It's easy to point to the misguided efforts to deal with the spread of terrorism so far; it's much harder to find a new way, one that would work.
So, all you experts: ' What should the US do?' Think fast, time is running out

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I thought the MSM was suppsed to ignore stories like this.
But, Yahoo! News via the Associated Press reported it for all to see. Here it is; http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060826/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush

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The previous post asks what we can do, they want to kill us. You can start by tuning out the fear mongering. Iran is vastly outgunned and aggression from them is your last worry. They have no expansionist aims. If you hear non-sense about new caliphates that is war mongering.

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I'm all for free speech but if these nutcases start trying to implement the messages on their signs, I'm for some rapid fire rapidly deployed. All this bullshit over some cartoons. Talk about distorted reality!
http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/muslimprotest.asp

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The protesters in the above photo link pose no threat, that is unless you opt to attack first. Where is your example of Islam expanding and displacing non-islamics?

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. . .We'll fight 'em there, so we don't have to fight 'em here." "Bring 'em on." "Wanted, dead or alive."

Captain cliche to the rescue.

What bothers me the most is the incredibly large number of people who depend upon catch-phrases and cliches as substitutes for thinking. This has been what the "mainstream media" has depended upon to promote their Bush administration propaganda – and it has worked, because we as a nation are intellictually lazy and will not expend the effort to find the lies that hide behind "no-brainer" phrases.

Cliches and catch-phrases are not shorthand for the facts; they are the heavy hands that cover our eyes and ears so that we cannot see or hear the facts, the reality behind the bulls--t being fed to us. With "islamo-fascism," we have reached the level of the truly ridiculous; I just hope that with this silliness, people will finally see through the charade. But I doubt it – because, after all, we "see no evil, hear no evil, nor speak no evil" about our "war president"...or the truth.

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"Islamo-facism and "Christo-fascism" (rwa, Aug. 26 post) are but two of many we must worry about:

"Crimino-fascism". . .the Mafia
"Bankrupto-fascism". . .the credit card industry
"Gridlocko-fascism". . .the highway lobby
"Porno-fascism". . .self explanitory
"Paranoido-fascism". . .the airline security industry/TSA
"Whacko-fascism". . .cable opinion-talk shows
and finally. . .
"Neo(con)-fascism". . .the jerks who gave us "islamo-fascism" in the first place. Guess which one we need be most afraid of?

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As others here have said – “Islamo-Fascist” is an absurd propaganda term. It was designed by a puppet BushCo regime for its corporate cartel string-pullers

Fascism is the merger of secular western state and corporate power and so has nothing whatever to do with native Islamic culture.

Specifically: before the west came in to subvert Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, UAE, Kuwait, Iraq, etc, most Islamic countries were driven by theocratic rule that outlawed fractional usury and most other corporate swindles. While I’m no fan of fanatic Islamic culture – it does have a point on cartel banking scams and other corporate stings.

Hence, the attempt to rewrite the meaning of fascism by some on this thread (one even dredged up a Miriam Webster dictionary whitewash version) is laughable.

The concept of fascism and fascist power was coined by Mussolini. His definition takes precedence over any and all others:

FASCISM:

“FASCISM SHOULD MORE PROPERLY BE CALLED CORPORATISM, SINCE IT IS THE MERGER OF STATE AND CORPORATE POWER.”
BENITO MUSSOLINI (1883-1945)

Complete economic domination is always at the core geo-strategic plan of cartel western elites as they co-opt and lay conquest to any region. Especially the Mid East.

Ex: one of the first acts for Iraq takeover was to institute a fraudulent private central bank to subjugate the Iraqi people (as the “Federal Reserve” Corp. subjugates Americans).

Thus, monopolist economic rule is the most invisible to misunderstood even as it is by far the most powerful and corrupt of all.

Again, “Islamo-fascism” is nonsense that does not and cannot exist in practice. It is an old psyops trick to blame victims of what the conqueror is guilty of. In this case, the west has been officially ruled by fascism since 1913. Hence, old fascism from the west is what rules Iraq and co-opts other Islamic countries.


Griffin on the Federal Reserve Con 1

Griffin on the Federal Reserve Con 2

Federal Reserve by E. Mullins

Freedom to Fascism

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from the article above..
fascist movements of the 1920s and '30s were nationalist and secular, closely allied with international capital and aimed at creating powerful, up-to-date, all-encompassing states.

This definition would suggest we live in a fascist state! Say it ain't so...

Vote for Democracy again in November!

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For someone who is so anxious to have us keep each strand of Islam and its history separate in our minds from all the others, the author exhibits the usual--"flexibility," let's say, in her characterization of the Nazis. We learn here that the Third Reich was "secular"--their adherence to ancient Germanic religious traditions merely for show; "scientific"--though their science was subservient to their ideological aims (and so, how can it still be science?); "rational"--so apparently Hitler and co. had justifiable reasons for trying to exterminate the European Jews?; and "closely allied with international capital"--even though they described interest as slavery and used Jewish control of banks as justification for their anti-Semitic views.

Of course, in the next article you read which mentions the Nazis, you're likely to hear that they're irrational, pagan, anti-moderns. My point being that the term "Nazis," not unlike the broader term "fascist" itself, has come to be largely meaningless--it is simply the repository for whatever qualities or policies the author or speaker opposes or finds distasteful. Bush may be guilty of this with "Islamofascism," but he's hardly unique.

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Here's a real MUST read -

Must Read

Yeah.

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POSTING ALTERNET 270806

The Trouble with Bush's 'Islamofascism'

“"Islamo-fascism" looks like an analytic term, but really it's an emotional one, intended to get us to think less and fear more.” – Katha Pollitt.

Sure. That’s the main effect of the term, to befuddle the collective perception of reality even more.

So now the hegemonic story of the world is about “Clash of civilizations” with “Islamic fascists”? Seems so.

“Islamic fascists” is an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms, and a blatant one. “Fascists” -the original ones in Italy 1922 -1944, Mussolini’s rabble – were explicitly Christian or close to Christians. - Still are, it seems.

Fascism is about holding the state up as an almost divine power, in conjunction with business-corporations. This about as far as on can get from the loosely connected independent guerilla-forces the USA is fighting or opposing in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and elsewhere. But fascism is very close to the Bush-administration’s acts and attitudes.

Bush speaking of “Islamic fascists” makes him an instant instance of his own complaint, as vilification of a designated – usually falsely construed – enemy is a core fascist propaganda strategy.

The Earth’s ruling empire – and thereby all of our collective reality with it – is growing more neurotic, looking in the mirror and seeing signs of the enemy.

Only each of us rooting our selves individually in our own reciprocal connection to our source in nature, can counter that cultural neurosis which is self-perpetrated and personified in Bush. Then we can point to how the facts of the world are falsely forged into flimsy fairy-tales of demons, dragons and poor little US citizens being victims. While the reality is that the Bush-led Western life-styles of belligerent consumerism is killing US.

I’m reminded of Gandhi’s reply to the question: “What do you think of Western civilization?” – “I think that’s a good idea.”

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It's been said that if you disagree with a conservative, he or she will tell you why you are wrong, but that if you argue with a liberal, he or she will tell you you are sick. Nevertheless...the term "Islamofascist" probably is inaccurate or maybe simply redundant. "Islamist" fits nicely enough for those Jihadis who come from all parts of the Muslim world seeking to impose Sharia on us all.

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Thanks for providing such a succinct and clear discourse. This article is heading to everyone on my mailing list.

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Among the rhetoric which will come back to haunt this administration is; “a state within a state.” The Bush administration IS a “state within a state” with its law-breaking with impunity, non-accountability, private contractors, and signing statements. It’s time we voice this reality and return their rhetoric into their laps.

The main difference between the fascist regimes of the past and the Bush regime is that other fascist states in the past were fed by a highly energized and motivated citizenry. The Bush regime is fueled by his supporters’ military-industrial complex operating in a free-space environment by virtue of a disabled and non-engaged populous and a lobotomized house of representatives.

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To Lincoln fan"
Okay, that's a very good positive idea.
We need more ideas for steering our future. Ranting about what's wrong with our present course, without suggesting alternatives gets us nowhere.
Any other takers?

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Speaking of looking backwards, the Bush administration is fond of this mode of thinking as well, when it comes to the law. After all, aren't "strict constructionist" judicial appointees all about interpreting the law as the Founding Fathers would have?

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Katha Pollitt is wrong about Nazi Germany and the Bush administration. First, the Nazi state was not modernist or rational; rather, it relied on religious fervor based on Nordic myth and mysticism, combined with emotional faith in the Leader. They longed for a return to the glorious Aryan past--a kind of Shangri-la before the arrival of "inferior races." It promoted people based on loyalty and ideological purity, not on technical competence. They squandered massive resources on fighting false enemies, especially Jews, which diverted resources away from the war effort. The Nazi war effort never attained anything close to the rational management of Britian and the United States. Such is the nature of fascism: emotional fervor and mythology that supersedes rational thought in order to establish blind faith in a Leader.

In this sense, Islamic extremists are indeed fascist, but so is the Bush administration and many of the people who follow Bush. They long for a kind of Shangri-la they believe existed when the US was a faith-based nation of white true-believing Christians. People who embrace faith based education, faith based politics, and Bush himself who all too readily embraces the end of the world.

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Ignoring the 'fascism' portion of this phrase, let's consider what the Islamo- word is aimed at. The 'intellectual notion' is that a wild-eyed crew of Bin Ladins wants to restore the Islamic caliphate who once ruled a sizable empire reaching from India to North Africa, with much traffic to Spain and Italy. This is the pre-Renaissance history of the region, which is largely glossed over in 'classical education' since no-one wants to admit that the Arabs kept the ideas of the ancient Greeks alive in the face of Roman and Catholic corruption and sloth for some 1,000 years - difficult to reconcile that with the colonial-inspired notions of racial superiority and European priviledge, isn't it?

However, the notion that Wahabi Ikhwan looney man Osama Bin Ladin and his ideological relatives represent mainstream Islam is like saying that Pat Robertson and his '700 Club' speak for all Christians on the planet. If you were to listen to what the most violent and crazy elements of (for example) Southern Baptism have to say, and that's all you knew of Christianity, then you would indeed conclude that Christians are the most dangerous people on the planet. Of course, most Christians are just like other people - take the Methodists, for example. Peace & love - aren't those the Christian values? Or is it all about blood and fire? Depends on who you're talking too...

Every religion breeds extremists, but the US corporate media have done a very good job of whipping up anti-Islamic hysteria by focusing the US popular attention on the craziest of the eye-rolling clerics and the most violent religious adherents of Islam. Yellow journalism in the spirit of Hearst & Co. for the noble goal us supporting a new round of neocolonial oil imperialism... fighting Islamofascist terrorism sounds a lot better than dying for oilfields as a means of geopolitcal and economic advantage, doesn't it?

Karl Rove must have been crowing over Islamo-fascism; the "Islamo" part was aimed at the Christian right (whose central fear is destruction of their religion by homosexuals, liberals, blacks, secularists and evolutionists (in their words)), and the "fascist' part was aimed at so-called "Jewish paranoia" among US Jews; thus one single word could 'bring onboard' both Christians and Jews. The final phrase, "Islamo-fascist terrorism" brought the fear factor of 'terror' into the psychological equation.

Psychological manipulation at it's finest - sure smells like Karl Rove-inspired "Turd Blossom" epithet. The problem is that word 'fascism' - it has too many other connotations, I.G. Farben and Aushwitz, which then reminds one of Bayer International and gene patenting, and Pfizer International and George Bush Sr., and Halliburton, KBR and Cheney, and Enron, Lay and Bush - hmmmm, how about "Corporate Fascism"? That's a more accurate and descriptive term - for example, look at the House of Saud, Aramco, ExxonMobil, Vanguard, Barclays, and Cheney's investment fund (Vanguard) - British-Arabian-American oil fascism! Rumsfeld-Gilead pharma fascism! Schultz-Bechtel-UCCalifornia engineering fascism!

I actually haven't heard them use the word "Islamofascism" much lately.

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(Wishful thinking?)

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What gives you the impression that Muslims have the responsibilty to make apologies for one another as if they are all memebers of a family. Do you make apologies for people who share your religion or race? This is a racist belief hel by simple white people, that all minorities should be responbile for one another. Of course they conveniently exempt themselves from this responsibilty. You are clearly a racist and not very bright to boot since your thinking is not logical. As far as beheading people, Muslims wouldn't behead people if they had American military power or a convenient storage site like Gauntanmo where they could torture endlessly.

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A longer version of this can be found at http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/fasci14chars.html

Early Warning Signs of Fascism

Powerful and continuing nationalism
Disdain for Human Rights
Identification of enemies as a unifying cause
Supremacy of the military
Rampant sexism
Controlled mass media
Obsession with national security
Religion and government intertwined
Corporate power protected
Labor Power Suppressed
Disdain for intellectuals and the arts
Obsession with crime and punishment
Rampant cronyism & corruption
Fraudlent elections


In light of this, who exactly is the fascist? Looking at these posts, I'm certainly not the first to make this observation.

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All a thinking person needs to remember is fascism always revolves around nationalism wedded to corporatism and legitimized by the popular media. But it is always nationalist, you can't have fascism when whoever the enemy might be are all pulling in their own seperate directions.
Think Lene Reifenstahl (I hope I've spelled it right) when you think of the 2004 Republican Convention.
And remember there was another name for Shock and Awe.... Blitzkrieg.

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How many times has our president changed his theme for the war on terror? Now it's all about fighting the "Islamic facists." Did he change the label on the jar to sell us the same old fear package? Did someone in the White House Press Corps rewrite the ad?
I don't think Middle Eastern governments are "fascist" as in what we've seen from Europe in the 1930s. Those governments were nationalist and sought to impose fascism on the world. And not every Arab should be associated with Bush's misappropriated charge.
The USA has its own miscreants who want to harm others as well, so if we've learned from September 11, we better pay more attention to homegrown threats. We could tear this nation apart better than a terrorist can from overseas.
And our president should think before he speak. Islam and fascism are incompatible with each other. It's all in the wording.

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You make some excellent points, but what else should we call Fascism in the name of Islam?

The vast majority of Muslims follow the peaceful parts of the Koran, a minority (probably about 10%) follow more the 2nd half of the Koran, which focuses mostly on the conquest and subjugation of the infidels and un-believers.

This minority would like the whole planet to be under Islamic or Sharia law. Ultimately, by force. That, they believe, is Allah's will.

People who have these goals can fairly be called many things, including 'Fascists'.

If only 1% of the afore mentioned 10% are willing to die for Jihad, then that would be some 1,000,000 potential terrorists.

A couple weeks ago, one of the top C.A.I.R guys said on TV said that both Hitler & Mussolini were Christians, but they weren't called 'Christian Fascists'. He was right, but they weren't called 'Christian Fascists' because they didn't quote the Bible and claim God's Will to justify their ambitions.

The modern day Fascists (who are the minority) claiming the extreme parts of Islam to justify their killing and slavery are a much bigger threat to the world than the people who call them nasty names.

Peace Out!

PS911

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This is the same old game. No surprises here. Whether its dividing up Afrika by ethnic type to hold power, allowing/funding islam to destabilize more secular regimes, funding militarist regimes to counter 'popular' movements, use international finance to ruin countries or create wars, or whatever machinations the internationalist bankers use its all the same game. Get used to it.
1)colonial and post-colonial Afrika
2)serbia conflict (modern and post-modern- with regards to Holy Roman Empire)
3)Tryrolean Partition (sell out)
4) sell out of East Europe at Malta
5) the creation of Israel (Balfour)
6) 100yrs War (speculation and banking interests)
7) WWI
8)WWII
etc etc etc

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The question before the human race is, whether the God of nature shall govern the world by his own laws, or whether priests and kings shall rule it by fictitious miracles?

second President of the United States John Adams 1735-1826 letter to Thomas Jefferson, june 20,1815

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The cunning Christian evangelicals are making every effort to SHIFT the blame of bringing facism to the world from the Christians to Muslims by INVENTING the term Islamo-fascism. But HISTORY will fail these devious Christians!

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Tt last, that horrible nomenclature "Global War on Terror" seems finally to be falling out of use - we all (left and right) agree that you can't fight a war against a tactic (as in, we didn't fight the blitzkrieg in Europe in the 1940s, we fought the Nazis). By pointing specifically and correctly to Islam, use of the term "Islamofascism" is a big, positive step forward toward at least identifying ACTORS instead of tactics. It seems to me, however, that President Bush and others who are using that term are really talking about Islamo-totalitarianism - so, we've moved from war against a tactic to war against an ideology. Close, but no Churchillian cigar. The next and best step can (and, I submit, should) be is to name the giant conflict of our time by referring clearly to ACTORS: let's just call the modern world's war agains the global Islamic jihad The War Against The Global Islamic Jihad and leave it at that. Let's now quit naming it, and get back to fighting it. As Katha Pollitt so wisely advises, On To Tehran - hurry!

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At last, that horrible nomenclature "Global War on Terror" seems finally to be falling out of use - we all (left and right) agree that you can't fight a war against a tactic (as in, we didn't fight the blitzkrieg in Europe in the 1940s, we fought the Nazis). By pointing specifically and correctly to Islam, use of the term "Islamofascism" is a big, positive step forward toward at least identifying ACTORS instead of tactics. It seems to me, however, that President Bush and others who are using that term are really talking about Islamo-totalitarianism - so, we've moved from war against a tactic to war against an ideology. Close, but no Churchillian cigar. The next and best step can (and, I submit, should) be is to name the giant conflict of our time by referring clearly to ACTORS: let's just call the modern world's war agains the global Islamic jihad The War Against The Global Islamic Jihad and leave it at that. Let's now quit naming it, and get back to fighting it. As Katha Pollitt so wisely advises, On To Tehran - hurry!

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Its interesting to hear so many of you say that the US is the fascist dictatorship instead of many countries in the Islamic world. None of you would be able to write the idiodic crap that you jot down on this website if we really lived in a fascist society. In countries where there are actual theocratic dictatorships - most of the Middle East - dissenters are publicly stoned. After all, speaking out against the government is, by definition, speaking out against Allah, who is the supposed source of all legal matters in Arabic society.

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My problem wiht Bush targeting Islamic "fascism" is that it's the pot calling the kettle black. Yes, Islam quickly turned into a warrior religion based on conquest which advocated the taxing/killing of non-believers and the seclusion of women most probably to preserve the unity of the conquering army by stopping distractions and disputes, and it picked up/retained some nasty cultural traditions along the way (ie female genital mutilation) but Christianity hasn't been much better. It's also true that a lot of Muslims, like Christians and Jews, have individually adopted more moderate belief systems. But there does seem to be a lot of Muslim fundamentalists who believe in following Sharia and the Qu'ran to the letter. I'm not sure if more liberal ones just aren't as out-spoken, but it does seem to me that Islam hasn't evolved to a point where there's seperation of "church" and state, and that's a problem.

I'm no fan of fundamentalist Islam (or any other religion at that level for that matter) and I don't feel its oppressive and barbaric ways should be tolerated in the name of diversity. I feel that at the fundamental level, att he level of the Qu'ran and Sharia, what that religion stands for and advocates is contray to democracy, equality, and freedom. However, I don't think Bush and the neocons are in any position to crticize, as I'm sure some of them would like nothing more than to govern a nation by the standards of their religion. I do remember reading somewhere (I think it was counterpunch.org) that the reason an equal rights amendment is opposed is because it goes against religious rules of man as superior.

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Yes, Bush is correct there ARE Islamic Fascists. Bin Laden
and his "Caliphate" is an example. He would want all individuals in California to be OF his Caliphate with the systematic use of force on individuals.

Bush is also a religio-Fascist. He, his administration, is running "classified" programs involving neuroelectronic technologies, without and against the volitional consent of those so targeted, ( the Fascist use of force) and with religio-political, objectives/themes/ hopeful fulfillments according particular interpretations/impetus.. etc to these programs.

He and anyone who supports or participates in such programs are religio-Fascists. This, is intellectual integrity.

href="http://www.alternet.org">http://etisoppa.blogspot.com/

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Sometimes people would rather believe a lie than the ugly truth. The truth about a person’s crime, an angry mobs actions, or the agenda of a government can be so hideous, so vile and unbelievable, so as to appear completely unfathomable. But it still remains the truth !

It may be laughed at as insane ramblings, conspiracy theorist rubbish, or neo-political propaganda……. But it still remains the truth ! Taken serious by you the reader or not………. these questions must, and will be answered. The real investigation into recent global events has to happen. The questions and their truthful answers are not going to just ‘go away’. And neither are we.

There is a vastly growing concern within America, Europe, Australasia, the Pacific Region and the rest of the ‘thinking world’ that we ‘the people’ aren’t stupid ! We want answers now, and don’t appreciate being treated like naïve global children.

We no longer have faith in you the governments to tell us the truth, and solemnly believe you have lost your way, and the ability to see the truth in any event beyond your selfish agenda’s. So we intend to search for the truth ourselves, as ugly, as simple, or as beautiful as that may be. We are not afraid of the truth as you appear to be, and we ‘the people’ deserve no less !

We owe it to no-one but ourselves to search for, understand and come to grips with…….. the truth. When we discover the truth about the what, how, when, and who……… we may never find the why. Nor may we want to believe it when we do.

But the truth will prevail, it always does. Even if our grandchildren find out in 50 years time when documents become public, and long since forgotten events raise from their graves……..The truth will be revealed. Presidents, administrations, and even Nations come and go. But the truth stands through the ages, and will still be there long after the Pax American Corporation and it’s C.E.O. are nothing but dusty pages in the history books of our future generations.

We, the people of this world, believe we need the truth now, in our lifetimes, to both understand the cause of, and stop the bloodshed, loss of innocent life, destruction of limited global resources, and proliferation of hatred towards races of people who don’t deserve that hatred.

We the people of this world, will not sit on our hands again and watch our globe being divided into sections with chasms of hatred in between those divisions. We clearly see through the veils of religion, culture, fear and false patriotism that are being used to cloud the real issues. We see right through the guise of your strategic Racism.

We are waking up, and we are opening our eyes. We are searching, seeing, and understanding the truth. We are now in the midst of the “War against truth”.

We are beginning to actually ‘think’ for ourselves, and we are not afraid !

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" . . . fascism is a phenomenon of Western industrial states in which racists and militarists join hands with conservative parties and the military industrial complex to form the fascist, corporate state." This is a direct quote from an article at Common Dreams. Does that mean US? (the question is rhetorical).

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