GW and Rummy have been tossing about terms like Islamic Fascists and Islamo-Fascism lately to describe the enemy in the War on Terror. This dovetails nicely with Rummy’s claims that opposition to the war in Iraq is akin to opposing the U.S. entry into WWII. Hitler was a fascist. No reasonable person thinks we should have ignored the threat posed by Germany 65 years ago. Therefore war against fascists is justified. Ipso facto, terrorism = fascism. From a marketing perspective the dots connect better than bikinis and beer. But does it wash?

I’ve always understood that fascism was a political philosophy which embraced nationalism, militarism, and anti-liberalism. And yes, the terrorists qualify as militaristic and anti-liberal, but they lack the whole nation-thing. That seems a rather critical point. Foxes are fuzzy and have pointed ears, that doesn’t make them tigers. Note that I’m not arguing that terrorists are harmless or that we should ignore them, just that they are not fascist. In many ways, it would be easier for us if they were. We have vast experience fighting fascism effectively. fascists have armies to engage and governments to topple. Terrorists lack that sort of centralized organization by definition.

Is that important? After all, fascists are bad, terrorists are bad, why quibble about the difference? The reason to quibble is that the tactics for opposing one are different than the tactics for opposing the other. Any hunter knows that to effectively bag your quarry, you have to understand the animal you’re hunting, know its habitat, its behaviors, and have the proper tools to capture or kill it. By refusing to acknowledge that terrorists and fascists are different, we are disabling ourselves from opposing them effectively. And this has been a major problem with the War on Terror to date. We are fighting the way we know how to fight, not necessarily in a way that is most effective against the enemy we are opposing.

On an interesting and related note, Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each. Take a look at his list by following this link. While you’re there, think about how the terrorists measure up against each of the 14 traits. Then go back and ask yourself how the Bush administration rates against the 14 traits. Scary, ain’t it?