I was puzzled by Dubya's use of the term "Islamic Fascists" when describing the suspects in this latest foiled airliner plot. He has always freely used the word "terrorists", and that is the proper description in this case. These are religious extremists. "Fascist" describes Dubya much better than it applies to these people, even though he is also a bit of a religious extremist (Amurican Taliban), but he is more of a corporatist than these people... so why switch out the term "terrorists" in favor of "Islamic Fascists"? I have to think that the speech writers made this conscious decision since Dubya is almost completely inarticulate. I wonder if his administration is trying to connect the term "fascist" in the minds of the American people to them, since it is so often associated with him. I know that Islamofascism [Wiki] is a term that's used in the media.
I'm not the only one took note of the use of this term. From the LA Times:
Muslims upset by Bush's remarks
President Bush was widely criticized by Muslim leaders Thursday for saying that the breakup of an alleged plot to blow up airliners over the Atlantic Ocean was a triumph in the "war against Islamic fascists."
Muslims, already resentful of the scrutiny they have been under since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, said the politically charged phrase unfairly connected one of the world's great religions with Nazism and totalitarianism — and fueled hostility against Islam and Muslims in America. They said it also contradicted Bush's earlier statements that Islam was a religion of peace.
"There's nothing Islamic about fascism," said Edina Lekovic, communications director for the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles. "Suggesting there is only over-politicizes things in a way that does not accurately describe the criminal adversaries we face at the moment."
"Islamic Fascists" is offensive and inappropriate, in my opinion, but a great improvement over "evildoers". Sweet Jeebus, that one's got as many conceptual definitions as there are people, and would also describe the one who uttered it in many of them. Of the 3 terms (Islamic fascists, terrorists, and evildoers), at least Islamic fascists does not describe the speaker, since he is not Islamic.
- Islamofascism - Bush - Fascism -
3 comments:
He probably heard somebody say Islamic fascists on Fox News (Faux News), but googling "fascist" brings HIM up about as often as Mussolini.
When I read this quote, that all too familiar line came to mind..."just when you thought things couldn't get any worse" -and then Bush opens his mouth!
I, too, thought the use of that term was a bit over the top. I wouldn't necessarily equate non-state-sponsored terrorism as fascism. If it were state-sponsored, then it could be a portion of a fascist regime's repertoire. But the stuff we're talking about isn't state-sponsored to my knowledge.
My guess is this is part of the info ops to tie terrorism to Iran, which will be the de facto state sponsor du jour. I suspect we'll begin to hear it more and more as the Israel-Hezbollah conflict rides on (assuming the alleged cease fire doesn't hold, which I fully expect it not to) and as the winds of war blow more fervently toward the east.
The damn Bush administration just doesn't seem to have a clue that using a term such as Islamic Fascism will only enflame hatred toward the U.S., especially since that term seems to corollate Islam with fascism. Are all Muslims fascists? One might think so when hearing Bush use that term.
And is only Islamic Fascism - whatever that means - bad? Is it worse than other kinds of fascism? Should we not be concerned with ALL kinds of fascism? So many questions. So few good answers. Once again, the Bush administration defies logic or common sense. Ay carumba!
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