The ideology that isn't
The continued reluctance of the Bush administration to name its enemy after five years of so-called war long ago crossed the border of the absurd. First, there was the War on Method, then there was Gathering Silly Acronyms Vice Execution. Throughout, the president demonstrated his hitherto unrevealed linguistic expertise in assuring the people that Islam did not, as is commonly supposed, mean "submission", but peace.
To the delight of neocons of all religious persuasions, George Bush annoyed his fellow Islamic experts by referring to "Islamo-fascism" a few weeks ago. He publicly backpedaled in the face of criticism from the Council on American-Islamic Relations as is his wont, but not before inspiring a chorus of praise from the bloodthirsty revolutionaries who want to attack "Islamo-fascists" in Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank.
It is strange that neocons seldom have a word of criticism for the only Islamic nationals who are actively planting mosques throughout America and the West, the Saudi Arabians. Apparently jihadists in Baghdad and Tehran are a problem, those in Boston and Terre Haute, Indiana are not. All of this dancing around the subject makes little sense until one realizes that the term "Islamo-fascism" is not intended to identify a particular enemy, but rather to create an artificial distinction between "Good Muslims" and "Bad Muslims."
This is ludicrous, not because all Muslims are either good or bad, but because there is no such thing as a fascistic strain of Islam. Fascism is more than a synonym for evil, it is a coherent and structured political ideology and the fact that it was not perfectly implemented in its most pure fashion should confuse no one living in a modern Western democracy where the power of the people's vote is strictly hedged on every side.
The principle elements of Fascist ideology are laid out in the Manifesto of the Fascist Struggle and are as follows:
- Nationalism
- Economic centralization with progressive taxation
- Subordination of Church to State
- Expansionist militarism
- Political equality for women
With the partial exception of number four, none of these points apply in any way to the expansionist Islam of today. The global jihad is pan-nationalistic and is more genuinely diverse than the fraudulent multiculturalists of the West. So long as the strictures of Sharia are respected, it is equally at home in a socialist or capitalist economic structure. It is precisely the opposite of Fascism in subordinating the State to the Mosque. While there is certainly a military element to the jihad, this is actually a secondary line of attack; its primary line rests on a quiet and peaceful migration that lays the groundwork for future victory through demographics and democracy.
As for the last point, while the Islamic disregard for Western "women's rights" is no secret, rather less well-known is the fact that political equality for women was the very first point in the Fascist manifesto. Furthermore, it was a woman who founded Britain's first Fascist organization and famous suffragettes such as Mary Richardson, Mary Sophia Allen and Adela Pankhurst all became leaders in Fascist organizations subsequent to their successful campaigning for women's suffrage.
Finally, Fascism was not anti-Semitic. The anti-Jewish laws of 1938 were imposed under pressure from Nazi Germany and more than 40,000 of Italy's 50,000 Jews survived the Holocaust despite the National Socialist occupation that began five years later.
The nonsensical, chimerical nature of the neocon term is further underlined when one considers the way in which the historical Fascists regarded Fascism itself. Giordano Bruni Guerri writes in "Fascisti":
"La solidariet fascismo-Vaticano non pu stupire, anche se - idealmente - Mussolini e il fascismo originario erano anticattolici e anticlericali perch consideravano se stessi una religione. La Chiesa per aveva in comune con il fascismo tutti i nemici: la democrazia, il liberalismo, il comunismo, la massoneria."
- Fascisti p. 146
The solidarity between Fascism and the Vatican cannot astonish one, even if Mussolini and the original Fascism were ideally anti-catholic and anti-clerical because they considered Fascism to be a religion in itself. The Church, however, had in common with the Fascists all of these enemies: democracy, liberalism, communism and Masonry.
Were Fascism not a defunct historical ideology, it would be a rival to Islam, not a variant form of it. And indeed, considering the numerous ways in which Tony Blair's Third Way and George Bush's Strong Government Conservatism echo the principle elements of Fascism, future historians may even see that as having been the case.
Regardless, a review of history and the tenets of the actual ideology prove that it makes no more sense to refer to "Islamo-fascism" than it would to talk about "Catholo-fascism" or "Judeo-unicornism." Jonah Goldberg, who has been writing a book on Fascism for quite some time now, notes: "The problem with "Islamo-fascism," as many have noted, is that — historically — Fascism is at war with traditional religion, while the Islamists believe that they are loyal to the true tenets of their faith."
It is a positive sign that some of the most prominent members of the conservative commentariat are beginning to reject neocon terminology; here's hoping they will soon come to reject the neo-trotskyite World Democratic Revolution as well.