Saturday, February 9, 2013

Islamic fascism rising everywhere

That's a quote from French Interior Minister Manuel Vall.

As such it may shed a little light on French motivations for their African adventure. The concept of Islamofascism is nothing new; Rush Limbaugh and others have been beating the panic drums over it for years.

What is Islamofascism, and how does it differ from old fashioned regular white-folks fascism?

If one looks at the classic model of the "fascist state" i.e. Nazi Germany, it would be difficult to find significant parallels in the Islamic world. Iran under the Shah may have been an embryonic fascist state; Iran under the Ayatollahs not so much. A theocracy cannot be a fascist state unless its military-industrial complex has usurped and absorbed the theocrats, not the other way around.

On the other hand, it is more than possible for a democracy to become a fascist state. If, for example, the military-industrial complex in a country is gradually subsumed by a rapacious and expansionist clique of finance capitalists, and if that clique gains control of major institutions essential for the functioning of democracy, then you're pretty much there.

Look around you.


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