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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (4896)	9/4/2006 6:52:35 PM
From: longnshort	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 224718

Islamofascism by any other name TODAY'S EDITORIAL September 2, 2006 This newspaper has printed the words "Islamic fascism" or the variant "Islamofascism" more than 100 times since 2001, so we think we're in a good position to tell Democratic critics and Professor Stephen Wayne of Georgetown University that it's not some focus-grouped buzzword. The term "Islamic fascism" describes a political reality. The cynical claim at present is that the White House "probably had a focus group and they found the world 'fascist.' " Actually, no. On July 20, 2001, our former religion editor, Larry Witham, interviewed the Muslim scholar who is sometimes credited with inventing the term. Daring to question hardline Islam, the German-born Khalid Duran told The Washington Times that Islamism is really "Islamofascism" because it seeks to impose a forceful religious orthodoxy on the state and the citizenry. Use of the term has mushroomed ever since. It's easy to see why. It describes a real phenomenon. But assuming for a moment that all this talk of Islamic fascism is some cynical Republican public-relations ploy, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman must be in on the action. In 2002, he referred to "the Islamic fascism of Osama bin Laden" in an opinion piece on Iran. Also count Robert Wistrich, who holds the Neuberger chair for Modern European History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His evident cynicism led him to pen the essay "The New Islamic Fascism" in the journal Partisan Review in 2001, ostensibly to give the term some academic currency. Even the Brookings Institution's Michael O'Hanlon must be an honorary collaborator; he recently told reporters that while he does not wholly buy into the term's usage, he thinks it "calls attention to the Islamic quality of the movement." This is some conspiracy. It's incredible the depths to which ideologues stoop to prevent accurate language from taking hold. Here's the incorrigible Juan Cole doing his best recently: "Linking Islam... with a pejorative term such as fascism is extremely unfair," he told NPR. "In fact, it is a form of racism." But then, these same critics seem to think it's perfectly fine for Dick Durbin, Illinois Democrat, to compare U.S. soldiers guarding detainees at Guantanamo to Nazis. Do they really think it's alright to compare American soldiers to Nazis, but not terrorist fanatics? The terms Islamic fascism and Islamofascism are here to stay. They describe an actual political phenomenon, like it or not.

To: American Spirit who wrote (4896)	9/5/2006 9:59:32 AM
From: Ann Corrigan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 224718

See 2. "Oppressive, dictatorial control," which definitely describes the Islamic terrorists. Word history..."seeking to gain power through violence and ruthlessness." It's a far more accurate terminology than your silly description of the Bush Adm as Fascist. >>The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. DEFINITION: fascism 1. often Fascism a. A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism. b. A political philosophy or movement based on or advocating such a system of government. 2. Oppressive, dictatorial control. ETYMOLOGY: Italian fascismo, from fascio, group, from Late Latin fascium,fascis, bundle. OTHER FORMS: fas·cistic —ADJECTIVE WORD HISTORY: It is fitting that the name of an authoritarian political movement like Fascism, founded in 1919 by Benito Mussolini, should come from the name of a symbol of authority. The Italian name of the movement, fascismo, is derived from fascio, “bundle, (political) group,” but also refers to the movement's emblem, the fasces, a bundle of rods bound around a projecting axe-head that was carried before an ancient Roman magistrate by an attendant as a symbol of authority and power. The name of Mussolini's group of revolutionaries was soon used for similar nationalistic movements in other countries that sought to gain power through violence and ruthlessness.<<