Rumsfeld Glorifies Iraq War to Legionnaires

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld gave a speech yesterday at the annual convention of the American Legion in Salt Lake City. To his thousands of tailor-made admirers, Rumsfeld said that Americans “are facing a new type of fascism in the world, a new type of enemy”. He said, “Iraq war critics seem not to have learned history’s lessons”. Meaning, the lessons taught by those who tried to appease the Nazis. “With the growing lethality and the increasing availability of weapons, can we truly afford to believe that somehow, some way, vicious extremists can be appeased?” Rumsfeld said. The word “fascism”, of course, was chosen for Rumsfeld’s speech because it would resonate with the Legionnaires who had lived through WWII. But perhaps it’s Rumsfeld who has missed a few history lessons. When a militant group employs new methods and spews a new philosophy, it can’t be called fascism. Fascism refers to a specific form of government used by specific tyrants in Europe. We certainly do have a new enemy. But fascists they are not. They are extremist Muslims. The very word fascist comes from the ancient Roman symbol of authority of magistrates: the fasci, a bundle. Rods bundled around an axe became the symbol for a movement started by Benito Mussolini in 1919 which he called, Fascismo. The symbol was adopted by Adolf Hitler for his National Socialist German Worker’s Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei) better known as NSDAP’s or Nazis. Fascism extols nationality and stands for a central, totalitarian government headed by a dictator. Fascism practices forcible suppression of those who oppose it. This does not describe the guerilla warfare and acts of terrorism of vicious extremists that the Bush administration has said is the reason “the fight against terrorism must continue”. However, all dictionary definitions of fascism fit the Bush administration regime to a tee. If you're going to use the word fascism, Mr. Rumsfeld, point your accusation in the right direction--at yourself and your buddies in the White House.