The day the enemy became 'Islamic fascists'

News from London Thursday morning that British intelligence agents had foiled a potential new terrorist plot in its advanced stages prompted the highest level security alert in the United States since 9/11, and brought trans-Atlantic travel to its knees.

It was a “stark reminder,” President Bush said in his first public reaction to the events, that “this nation is at war with Islamic fascists,” seeking to destroy freedom-loving societies.

At this dramatic moment, it was not “war with terrorism,” as the president characterized events shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, or a “war on terror," as he has referred to it more commonly over time.

Instead, the war was now with “Islamic fascists” — a term that has rarely been used by the president before this week. Was it used in the heat of the moment, or was the president rolling out a new way of explaining U.S. policy — choosing new words to explain and solidify support?

The term is not new inside the Beltway. Washington’s neo-conservatives have bandied about “Islamo-fascist” and “Islamic fascism,” for months. And it's true that the president referred to the term at least once before, in a speech in October. But the president chose to use the expression pointedly at a key moment: the day after the arrests of British men of Pakistani ancestry in a plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners — and almost exactly three months before congressional elections.

The phrase contrasted sharply with the words used by British officials, who went out of their way to play down the religion and ethnic background of the terror suspects, characterizing them as criminals who did not represent the majority of British Muslim citizens.

Muslim backlash
The president’s choice of words prompted an immediate backlash from American Muslims. To leaders in that community, it represented a nasty turn from previous speeches, in which the president characterized Islam as a good religion being corrupted and used by violent extremists.

"Unfortunately, your statement this morning that America 'is at war with Islamic fascists' contributes to a rising level of hostility to Islam and the American-Muslim community,” wrote Parvez Ahmed, board chairman of the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations in an open letter to President Bush Thursday.

"You have on many occasions said Islam is a 'religion of peace’,” he wrote. “Today you equated the religion of peace with the ugliness of fascism.”

Certainly, the administration is under pressure to convince the public that controversial security measures, as well as military intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan are the right policies. Bush's approval ratings have been sagging and he has come under fire from conservative critics who have argued that his “war on terror” was too squishy, and losing impact with mainstream America.

Senator pushes to "define" enemy
In the current debate over foreign policy, no politician has pushed harder for the term Islamic fascism than Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.

"In World War II we fought Nazism and Japanese imperialism," Santorum said in a high-profile speech at the National Press Club on July 20. "Today we are fighting Islamic fascism. They attacked us on Sept. 11, because we are the greatest obstacle in front of them to their openly declared mission of subjecting the entire world to their fanatical rule."

It is not just the challenge of al-Qaida that Santorum refers to, but challenges in Iraq and Afghanistan — indeed, the whole world.

"Every major Islamic leader, from heads of states to al-Qaida has openly identified the United States as their prime target and repeatedly promises the creation of a new global caliphate, where Islamic fascism will rule mankind."

In his press club speech, Santorum lamented what he called “our fear of speaking clearly, publicly and consistently about our enemy.”

In a conference call with reporters Friday Santorum said that it was vital that “we correctly define the enemy in front of us ... One of the reasons I gave the speech at the Press Club was that I thought we had to better define this enemy and clearly articulate that to the American public of what we’re up against, that these are not isolated instances but this is a coordinated Islamic fascist movement against us.”

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