IslamoFascism and Dragons (Reposted From 2006)

Authors Note: I originally wrote this about five years ago for a community blog site that no longer exists. Despite the age of the piece, much of the rhetoric which inspired it remains relevant, and as the Republican Primaries kick into high gear the militant, fight fire with fire attitude toward terrorism is likely to intensify. The players may have changed, but the game remains the same.





Our President tells us that "We are at war with the Islamic Fascists." We are told that they are a serious threat that can cause massive destruction through fiery blasts, which may be mostly true, but the same has been said of dragons. We are told that they want to destroy our freedoms, which are extremely valuable to Western civilization, while dragons were notorious for destroying the innocence of maidens. Negotiating with the "Islamic Fascists" has never been an option, and negotiations with dragons only occurred in stories meant to be funny. Finally, and most importantly, neither dragons nor Islamic Fascists really exist.

The fact that there are no Islamic Fascists does not mean that there are no members of fanatical sects of Islam who use violence and intimidation to attempt to achieve their goals. There are. Some of them may be determined to destroy Western civilization and impossible to reason with. But they are not Fascists.

Fascism requires that citizens value the State above everything else, and the militant extremists behind terrorist plots tend to value religion far above any national allegiance. While Al-Qaeda is notorious for suicide attacks, "The Fascist accepts life and loves it, knowing nothing of and despising suicide." (From Mussolini's Fascist Doctrines) Fascism dictates that the ideal state needs to fight like the shark needs to swim, while I'm sure that most of Al-Qaeda would prefer peace if their enemies are destroyed or at least defeated. Is more proof really necessary?

I have no problem with al-Qaeda being called evil. You can call them dangerous extremist lunatics, and I will agree with you. But don't call them Fascists. It's inaccurate, and it needlessly angers people. Since he has no credibility left anyway, President Bush probably would have been better off announcing that we are at war with dragons.