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Patriot-News Comment– Sept. 3, 2006
Demonizing:
Terms such as 'Islamo fascists'
reflect a great misunderstanding
The penchant for preparing to fight the last war is well noted. We've seen it in recent days in remarks by President Bush, a speech by U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum here in Harrisburg and, most notably, in a speech by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at an American Legion convention.
As if reading from the same script, all have termed what more commonly have been called terrorists "Islamic fascists." Rumsfeld took it a step further and likened critics of the war in Iraq to Nazi appeasers of World War II.
Looking to stem declining public support for the war in Iraq, the administration has put the conflict with Islamic fanatics on a par with the greatest war in history, one that -- unlike today -- involved the mobilization of the entire nation.
There is, of course, nothing new about demonizing one's opponents. Both sides call each other names.
But in this instance it is especially offensive. More important, what these comments reflect is a fundamental misunderstanding of the enemy we're fighting in Iraq, in other parts of the Muslim world and, indeed, in Islamic communities in Western countries, including our own.
First of all, it's incorrect to portray Islamic extremists as all cut from the same cloth and part of a coherent and organized force that is out to destroy America "because we stand for everything they hate," as Santorum put it in remarks before the Pennsylvania Press Club this week. The Taliban fighter in Afghanistan, the Hamas suicide bomber in Palestine and al-Qaida-inspired terrorists in Europe share a common religion and maybe a common anger against the West. But they do not necessarily share the same objectives.
Hamas, for example, has not targeted either the United States or Americans. The Taliban do not have an agenda beyond Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The worst of the self-serving statements from Rumsfeld and company is that they don't see that their own policies, actions and statements lend support to the enemy we face. An invasion of Iraq that was mounted on false pretenses not only has inhibited our ability to capture Osama bin Laden, but it has been so mishandled that it has made this country countless more enemies.
And finally, this is not World War II. We cannot bomb the enemy to oblivion. The Islamic world is not our enemy, and even to suggest that it is -- as some of our leaders have come very close to doing -- is incredibly counterproductive and can only exasperate what friends we have left in the Muslim world…..
http://www.pennlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1157137804254930.xml?pennpedit&coll=1
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