“This nation is at war with Islamic fascists.”
The President actually said this [1] to describe our opponent in his war on terrorism. It appears to be a GOP talking point [2].
Now, what would most Americans think if those intent on bombing civilians described their enemy as “Christian fascists?” How about “why are you bringing my religion into this?” The President’s choice of words provokes needlessly because it is overbroad. Just like “Bring it on.” The President’s phrase is also ambiguous. How can anyone tell who is, and is not, an “Islamic fascist”? I suppose the President would respond, “It’s easy. The Islamic Fascists are the guys we’re shooting at.”
But why bring Islam into the description of the purported enemy? This just makes enemies where there weren’t any. Instead, we should have kept the proper focus: we need to be on the lookout against anyone (of whatever religion, country of origin, ethnicity, whatever) trying to attack American interests. No more, no less.
And are “they” really fascists? Here’s what Cenk Uygur had to say [3] about that:
The idea that Muslims are looking to take over the world and are on the precipice of dominating militarily as the Nazis did is so laughable that I can’t quite believe they’re saying it out loud. Nazi Germany took France in five days. Are Islamic fundamentalists about to roll their tanks in to Paris and Prague?
The administration wants to keep a broad focus on “Islamic fascists,” rather than focus solely on the particular people bent on attacking American interests. Why? Without this overbroad focus, Bush can’t justify his war. It doesn’t fit the frame of “war” to direct military violence against various guilty people scattered among hundreds of millions who pose no threat.
All of this demonstrates that a massive waste of human lives got off the ground based on a war of words. And how is the real life “war” going? Words can give us lots of clues. Listen to the words being shouted in Bagdad [4]:
Hundreds of thousands of Shiites chanting “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” marched through the streets of Baghdad’s biggest Shiite district Friday in a show of support for Hezbollah militants battling Israeli troops in Lebanon.
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