The propaganda of our times
By Paul R. Dunn
10/17/06 "Information
Clearing House" -- -- In October and November of 2005 and in May, June
and August of 2006, the President of the United States used the term, "Islamic
Fascism" in major speeches to define the creed of America's enemies. The
pejorative term has been used by many propagandists on the far right to equate
modern Islam with the sordid pasts of Italy and Germany under Hitler and
Mussolini. It is a simplistic propaganda term used by writers Christopher
Hitchens, Stephen Schwartz and others who conveniently portray a unity of belief
and purpose within the ranks of our diverse enemies where none exists. It is the
current mantra of the neo-conservatives who pushed for the Iraq war. Its
promoters seek to establish a moral equivalency between World War II democracies
on the one side and Fascist evil on the other. They want the U.S. position in
Iraq to be seen as opposing the modern day evil of Islamic Fascism. The use of
the phrase fosters Islamophobia, and is designed to denigrate much of the
Islamic world.
Sir Ian Hamilton wrote: "Propaganda as inverted patriotism draws nourishment
from the sins of the enemy. If there are no sins, invent them!" Joseph Goebbels
claimed: "Propaganda has only one object: to conquer the masses. Every means
that furthers this aim is good; every means that hinders it is bad."
General George C. Marshall believed American boys going overseas needed an
honest definition of the "ism" they were fighting against. He issued Army
Orientation Fact Sheet No. 64, which read, "Fascism: is government by the few,
and for the few." Webster's definition of Fascism is far more precise: "A
governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly
suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc.,
and emphasizing aggressive nationalism and often racism."
Mussolini coined the term Fascism. He was a journalist and a war-wounded
political activist who believed Italy had been shabbily treated by its allies
after World War I. During a period of intense domestic political strife,
Mussolini and his band of black shirts were granted power by the king. They'd
promised national unity and discipline. The symbol he chose for his political
party was the ancient Roman fasces, a bundle of rods containing an axe with the
blade projecting. It had been borne before Roman magistrates as an emblem of
official power in the time of Caesar. He reigned from 1922 until 1943.
Benito Mussolini's philosophy was "All for the state, nothing outside the state;
nothing against the state." He believed that "Fascism denies that the majority,
by the simple fact that it is a majority can direct human society; it denies
that numbers alone can govern by means of a periodical consultation, and it
affirms the immutable, beneficial and fruitful inequality of mankind." The
common street slogan for Italian Fascists was "Order, hierarchy, discipline."
Fascism was adopted in Germany by Adolf Hitler, who greatly admired Mussolini.
Hitler's National Socialist German Workers’ Party gained power in 1933 by
exploiting dissatisfaction with the punitive terms of Versailles, the Great
Depression's economic malaise, fear of communism and latent anti-Semitism. His
trademark was the swastika and his aim, the suppression of all opposition
through a dictatorship over all cultural, economic and political activities of
the German people. The Nazi credos: supremacy of Hitler as Fuehrer, virulent
anti-Semitism, the natural supremacy of the German people and world domination.
The Nazi slogan: "Hitler over Germany. Germany over the world."
The German philosopher Martin Heidegger announced in an open letter to the
students of Freiburg, (November of 1933): "Doctrines and 'ideas' shall no longer
govern your existence. The Fuehrer himself, and only he, is the current and
future reality of Germany, and his word is your law." Hitler vowed, "Those who
see in National Socialism nothing more than a political movement know scarcely
anything about it. It is more even than a religion. It is the will to create
mankind anew." George Seldes analyzing matters in 1934 concluded, "In Soviet
Russia the state owns industry; in Germany and Italy, on the contrary, industry
owns the state." Playwright George Bernard Shaw called Fascism, "Capitalist
Dictatorship."
The Spanish Fascists, who assumed power in 1939 under dictator Francisco "El
Caudillo" Franco, adopted the absurd slogan, "Long Live Death. Down with
intelligence." Generalissimo Franco, who was only able to win the bloody Spanish
Civil War with massive German and Italian military aid, remained neutral during
World War II. Serving as regent from 1947 to 1975, he planned for a peaceful
transition of government after his death. He designated Prince Juan Carlos to be
constitutional monarch. Oppressive Fascism in Spain ultimately gave way to a
moderate liberal democracy, which would have been anathema to the far rightist
Franco.
Are America's enemies in any way like the Fascists of the twentieth century? Do
they promote the idea of industrial concentration, world domination and
dictatorship? Do they have a single leader whose writings and speeches inspire
them to action? Do they share common goals? Bin Laden, with a price on his head
and hiding in a cave, is hardly such a leader. He is considered the enemy of all
moderate Muslim leaders. History will fail to find valid parallels between
Fascism, Fascist governments and the disparate forces opposing the U.S. in Iraq
and around the world. Enver Masud has written, "As for 'Islamo-Fascism', Islam
does not meet the definition of Fascism -- when the community of Muslims (the
Ummah) had a central authority (the Caliphate) it was neither totalitarian nor
Fascist." He argues that only a tiny minority of zealots within Islam are
calling for a "return to a Caliphate". Eric S. Margolis, in "The Big Lie About
Islamic Fascism", debunks the term. He argues "Fascism demands a succession of
wars, foreign conquests, and national threats to keep the nation in a state of
fear, anxiety and patriotic hypertension." None are elements of the modern
disorganized Muslim world.
The trouble with catchy propaganda phrases like "Axis of Evil" and "Islamic
Fascism" is that they have to be able to stand the test of time. "One Nation
Under God" and "A government of the people, by the people and for the people"
have stood up well and served to unite Americans of all parties and faiths. Does
anyone know of a slogan the so-called Islamic Fascists are promoting? The White
House has lumped under the Islamic Fascist umbrella such totally diverse
elements as Al-Qaeda, the Iranian government, the Taliban, the Muslim
Brotherhood, Hamas, and Hezbollah, yet none label or consider themselves
Fascist. And more to the point, their followers do not profess a Fascist agenda.
Critics of the use of the term point out that to a Muslim, the term is both
offensive and historically without merit or accuracy. Muslims universally
perceive Allah as their true leader, not some self-professed worldly Fascist.
There are no members of the Aryan Nation or Skin Heads, who idolize Hitler, to
be found within their ranks. Even during World War II, few prominent Arab
leaders announced sympathy for Hitler and his racist ideology, even though many
were strongly anti-colonial Britain.
The fiercest fighting in Iraq now involves Muslim-on-Muslim terror as Sunnis and
Shiites wage what more and more see as a sectarian civil war for power (and oil
revenues) to fill the vacuum caused by the removal from power of Saddam Hussein
by the United States. The concept of suicide bombing, looting, assassination and
armed insurrection by citizens against the ruling state authority is the very
antithesis of the historic meaning of Fascism.
The fact that the highly fractured Arab and Muslim worlds are significantly
anti-American was not caused by a call for Islamic Fascism. It flows from the
U.S. invasion of an Arab state, Iraq, stationing non-Muslim troops within the
Islamic Holy Land of Saudi Arabia and blind support for Israel against
indigenous Palestinians. Anti-U.S. sentiment was further heightened when the
U.S. supplied and then resupplied arms, bombs and aircraft to Israel for its
massive retaliatory war against the mostly Muslim citizens of Lebanon, none of
whom were professed Fascists.
J.B. Priestly in the Root Is Fear wrote: "Almost all propaganda is designed to
create fear. Heads of governments and their officials know that a frightened
people are easier to govern, will forfeit rights it would otherwise defend, are
less likely to demand a better life, and will agree to millions and millions
being spent on 'defense'." Between now and Election Day we'll see Karl Rove's
minions flaunt the Islamic Fascist line repeatedly and unabashedly to garner
votes. It may be good politics but it is lousy history.