The Smokescreens of War

Link: Imraan Siddiqi: The Smokescreens of War.

The Smokescreen of Islamic-Fascism:

This is the du jour label that the news outlets such as Fox and CNN have been throwing around at the behest of Israeli and America's right-wing hawks. The term fascist is most often used as a parallel for what the Nazis did in Germany during the Holocaust. Fascism summons images of Stalin, Mussolini, or Franco---individual ideologues whose ultimate goal was not rooted in faith, but power alone. Coupling the word Islam, with the word fascist is a clear attempt to embed seeds of hatred towards Muslims worldwide. The use of the terms Islam and fascist together is a deliberate attempt to incite hate towards the religion of Islam as a whole. The implication is that the religion teaches fascist ideas, and that a fundamental following of Islam equates into a fascist ideology. How can a religion that has been around over 1400 years be labeled as a precursor to fascist behavior? Now if you are going to give a laundry list of totalitarian Muslim countries that have committed atrocities, be prepared to recite an equally long list of fascist theocracies based in Judeo-Christian beliefs. How can such an irresponsible term be used, when the actual fascist tactics are being used on the other side of the equation? In present day society, there is only one country that is building walls between religious groups, forbidding entry and development of religious groups creating refugee populations based on ethnic demographics---that country is Israel.

The term "Islamic-Fascism" itself, has been created and put into play by right-wing talking heads such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and the rest of the Fox News crew---unacceptable, but expected verbiage coming from these guys. But when you hear CNN's "golden," or should I say "Platinum-boy" Anderson Cooper using the term loosely, you know the term is getting out of control. During a recent interview with Israel's U.N. Ambassador Dan Gillerman, Cooper refers to the speech given by Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah as "something that Hitler very well could've said." Cooper then utters "it sounds like Islamic-fascism to me." Gillerman just smiles and nods in agreement, thinking to himself "that's my boy." Even though CNN has shown degradation in quality and an increase in editorialization of is reporting, this display is a clear example of the desperation to keep up with the Fox News crowd.

Comments

[Kaj]

Naming their campaign the “War on Terror” was probably one of the Bush administrations greatest mistakes. Starting a war on a type of war tactics seems diffuse, to say the least. The Right’s recent use of the term “Islamic Fascism,” on the other hand, offers the public exactly what it tends to desire: simplicity. Misunderstand me correctly, but it’s probably the warmongers’ smartest move in a long time.

I live in Sweden, but I follow the American news channels almost every day. I find it particularly interesting to watch Fox, and I’m not surprised that their rates are sensational. They have an aura of potency and self-confidence, and they take pride in their anti-intellectualism (one of O’Reilly’s standard comments is, after all, “I’m not the smartest guy, but…”). Fox is in the business of simplifying, and it does it better than the Left. Maybe because the Left cannot simplify without ceasing to be left?

The first time I heard Bush say that “we have to attack the ROOT CAUSE (in the war between Israel and Hezbollah),” I almost pissed in my pants; “Finally!” I thought. But then I heard the rest: “… and the root cause is that Hezbollah attacked Israel.” Okay. Where would a socialist trace the roots of conflict? 50-60 years of settlement and resettlement? European imperialism and redrawn borders without consideration for history and ethnicities? Oil? (Semi-)Apartheid politics? And then I haven’t even mentioned the big C-word that ends with apitalism. Would anyone listen? Or more importantly: would anyone understand?

Simplicity good, complexity bad. “Islamic Fascism” sounds catchy I’m afraid.