The Big Lie About 'Islamic Fascism'

[4dsc]

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14743.htm

It would appear that the GOP is attempting to frame the issue here and they are all wrong again..

The latest big lie unveiled by Washington’s neoconservatives are the poisonous terms, "Islamo-Fascists" and "Islamic Fascists." They are the new, hot buzzwords among America’s far right and Christian fundamentalists.

The term "Islamofascist" is utterly without meaning, but packed with emotional explosives. It is a propaganda creation worthy Dr. Goebbles, and the latest expression of the big lie technique being used by neocons in Washington’s propaganda war against its enemies in the Muslim World.

This ugly term was probably first coined in Israel – as was the other hugely successful propaganda term, "terrorism" – to dehumanize and demonize opponents and deny them any rational political motivation, hence removing any need to deal with their grievances and demands.

As the brilliant humanist Sir Peter Ustinov so succinctly put it, "Terrorism is the war of the poor, and war is the terrorism of the rich."

Both the terms "terrorism" and "fascist" have been so abused and overused that they have lost any original meaning. The best modern definition I’ve read of fascism comes in former Colombia University Professor Robert Paxton’s superb 2004 book, The Anatomy of Fascism.

Paxton defines fascism’s essence, which he aptly terms its "emotional lava" as: 1. a sense of overwhelming crisis beyond reach of traditional solutions; 2. belief one’s group is the victim, justifying any action without legal or moral limits; 3. need for authority by a natural leader above the law, relying on the superiority of his instincts; 4. right of the chosen people to dominate others without legal or moral restraint; 5. fear of foreign "contamination."

[Crazy Dave]

1. Lots of lies going on about the Mid-East

But notice how squeaky clean the Saudis and Pakistanis are still considered to be? Another big lie is about Al Jazeera supporting terrorism. They don't but they do report it and they do have access to all the political groups (terrorist groups if we don't like them) there in the Mid-East.
The US should be proud of Al Jazeera as it's the closest private form of free speech and free press in that highly restricted, religious and censored region and no, they don't televise be-headings either.

[izzie]

2. I guess they are into scaring the beejesue out of every one.

I guess I read the wrong history books. I was sure that Europe after WW1 was sick of wars and their society had been changed plus they had lost the cream of their young men even ones in college. Ever seen the death count on that war? My guess is it will work

[greenman3610]

3. it's the new "Axis of Evil"

and has the advantage of being
racist as well. Tailored to the
Republican base.

[chat_noir]

4. GOP: Fascists R Us

……….


www.awolbush.com




DESERTER: THE STORY OF GEORGE W. BUSH AFTER HE QUIT THE TEXAS AIR NATIONAL GUARD http://www.glcq.com/bush_at_arpc1.htm















$10,000 reward was never collected




Cheerleader action doll hahahaha

[ShawnGreen]

5. How Come There's No Mention Of Israel In The Original Editorial?

"This ugly term was probably first coined in (((Israel))) – as was the other hugely successful propaganda term, "terrorism" – to dehumanize and demonize opponents and deny them any rational political motivation, hence removing any need to deal with their grievances and demands."


Here's the original article:

http://www.ericmargolis.com/

Hmmmm

[ComerPerro]

6. good question, actually

[ShawnGreen]

9. Yeah.

I like Eric Margolis. He has written some nice pieces on Afghanistan and the "war on terror" in Vanity Fair.

He's obviously an opponent of the neo-con agenda but his critique is layered and fairly nuanced. Why would the webiste editor put those incendiary words in his "mouth".


Here's the link again:


http://www.ericmargolis.com/archives/2006/08/the_big_lie_abo.php


Nowhere does Margolis charge Israel with coining the term.

[ComerPerro]

10. Who knows where the website editor got the article

could be a mistake. If they got it from another source, who got it from another source, it could have been put in at any time.

But its curious.

One possibility, of course, could be that Margolis once had the word "Israel" in the article, and it was there when the website editor copied the article, and then Margolis may have edited it out on his site afterward.

Not saying that is what happened, but its one possible explaination.

[newyawker99]

12. Hi ShawnGreen!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[ComerPerro]

7. I like that quote, "Terrorism is the war of the poor, and war..."

[stepnw1f]

8. kick to the front page

nominated!

[pdxmike]

11. AIDS, a disease probably invented in Israel...

I noticed this as well. A perfectly reasonable (and important) argument is undermined by bias and inuendo.

I was listening to Mike Malloy the other day as he was sitting in for Randi Rhodes. I forgot what the topic was but he made the statement that the two regimes that practice torture in the Middle East are America and Israel. WTF? Has he never heard of Saudi Arabia- where summary and public executions are practiced, where people are stoned? Has he never heard of Egypt? You know, the place we RENDER people to. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find a single state in the Middle East that doesn't practice torture.
At least in Israel, the supreme court voted against their government to ban torture. Whether this is strictly followed in Israel is debatable. But there is a large and vigorous human rights movement in Israel that tries to hold the Government's feet to the fire. There is no other state in the ME that can say the same thing.
Hell, we in America can barely say the same thing anymore.