MacRaven - Dave Haxton's Weblog

Sun, 03 Sep 2006

WTF? I thought Bush was loudly proclaiming that our enemy was Islamo-fascism. So what is the State department doing granting an unrestricted visitors visa to the former head of a nation with which we have no diplomatic relations, and which is arguably a genuine Islamo-fascist state?

When we had a vague inkling that Saddam might possibly still have a few old chemical or biological WMD's, we beat the drums of war loudly and rapidly. We know for a fact that the Iranians are pursuing a nuclear weapon, and yet the same government that was so anxious to effect "regime change" in Iraq is moving at a snails pace against Tehran.

Methinks that there's more going on here than meets the eye or we are governed by incompetent idiots, take your pick. And I sincerely hope it's the former, because we've still got over two years of this Administration left to run.

Ex-Iranian President Mohammad Khatami savages US foreign policy at a gathering of Muslims in Chicago.

(link) [BBC News | News Front Page | World Edition]

/Politics | 4 writebacks | permanent link

On 9/3/2006 19:45:09
Thud wrote

I think before we decide someone is "arguably" an "genuine islamo-fascist" I'd like to hear an explaination of what "islamofacism" is. Frankly, I think it's an epithet and a propaganda phrase that 1) obscures what our real enemy is and 2) makes it easier to pretend we're fighting a conventional war against a state power instead of an unconventional war against non-state actors. (Point two is a bit of a mouthful.)

On 9/3/2006 20:18:43
Dave H wrote

Well...

To start off with I don't think Bush has a clue as to what an "Islamo-fascist" really is: I think he uses the term indiscriminately to describe those Muslims who oppose US policy. Which is why I included "arguably" and "genuine" in my post. Iran is such a state, because 1.) it's strictly Islamic, following sharia law (the "Islamo", and 2.) l;ike Mussolini's Italy, nearly all manufacturing, energy, communications and other large economic sectors are nominally privately owned, but completely controlled by the State. It's almost impossible for a capitalist system to emerge in an Islamic country because of sharia restrictions on credit - any lending for interest is considered usury and is forbidden. In this sense, Islam lends itself quite readily to a top down application of classic fascist ideology. The particular variety of Islamic Republic than Iran has become also lends itself quite well to the whole romantic, anti-modern strain in fascist thought, best exemplified by Ezra Pound and Julius Evola. Fascism is an ideology that places a great deal of emphasis on a supposedly heroic history - Mussolini thought to recreate classical Rome, and I daresay that a few of the mullahs have a similar thought or two about the Persian Empire or the Caliphate. I'd imagine that Bush confuses "fascist" with "Nazi" - and there are certainly strains of that variant of fascism in Iran, too. But they fail the Nazi test in that, while they certainly hate Jews and wish to see Israel wiped out, they do so from a completely religious perspective, and not as part of some grand racist conspiracy theory, involving supermen and master races. Unlike Nazism, classical fascism doesn't preclude the existence of such trapping of democracy as voting and even political opposition parties. Mussolini's Italy had both, as does today's Iran. However, as in 1930's Italy, such trappings are strictly controlled in today's Iran. You could certainly make a similar case for Saudi Arabia being an Islamo-fascist regime, though I doubt that you'll hear that from the White House anytime soon. As for the phrase being used to obscure our enemies, the way Bush uses it I'd have to agree. The man's an idiot, using a catchy phrase to try and dig his way out of a hole. But that doesn't mean that there's not such a thing as Islamo-fascism: there assuredly is, and we ignore it at our peril. In fact, I'd say his application of it to non-state actors such as Al Qaeda and the Iraqi insurgents is confusing at best. I have no doubt that Osama would in fact establish a genuine Islamo-fascist regime given the chance - Afghanistan under the Taliban certainly fit the bill. But the insurgents have no such clearly defined agenda - and lumping both of them together with the Islamic Republic of Iran makes no sense at all. Which was kinda the point I was trying to make - obviously not as clearly as I'd hoped. Thanks for the comment, and Be well, Dave H.

On 9/3/2006 20:52:24
Thud wrote

Thanks for the clarification, Dave. The problem I still see is this: authoritarianism and state-run business does not facism make. That pretty much describes monarchies, Stalinist Communism, fuedalism, and theocracy. Saudia Arabia is a monarchy; Iran is a theocracy. I have no doubt that some Muslims are fascist, but I do doubt that most of the organizations we're lobbing "fascist" have quite a different theory of government in mind.

On 9/3/2006 22:10:29
Dave H wrote

I'll stick to it

because I actually read this guy (Khatami) quoting Evola. I wish I could give you a link - Google turns up some links with the two but they're in Italian, and my Italian is a bit rusty. IIRC it was the Detroit Free Press but I can't find it there either. In any event, Evola is characterized as a "radical traditionalist", which should set off some alarm bells. Most folks are blissfully unaware of *real* fascist (i.e. Italian - Mussolini, Evola, Pound, and even Oswald Mosley in the UK) and confuse "fascist" with "Nazi". The latter is but a subset of the former, and, frankly, the former is a bit scarier in this day and age, because so few understand it, and thus fail to recognize it when it rears its ugly head. In all honesty (and I shan't put this on the front page because it would be construed as excessive flame bait) the Republican party in this country is moving in the direction of classical fascism. The "traditionalist" element is present in the "Religious Right", and the excessive involvement of government with business and vice versa has all but made the two indistinguishable in some industries. All we're lacking is the imperialist ambitions and the army to match - we still have a relatively free Congress that controls the purse. But it's still my main worry - fascism is not "conservative" in the usual sense, but it often wraps itself in conservative paper. And reading the fine print in the wrapper around the present administration I don't see the party of smaller government and lower taxes - I see an emerging fascist movement. And that's the real tale. Thanks for the comment and Be well, Dave H.

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