Daily · Dreamtime

Labels such as "Islamo fascism" and a narrow focus on so-called
   Islamic extremists represent a gross American misreading of what is
   happening in the Muslim world.  The use of the word, "Islamic", is
   now classed by many Muslims with the epithet, "nigger", in American
   history. By using such terms, the President of the United States
   simply talks down to all peoples of the Muslim world.


   The virtual total failure of the War on Terrorism comes down to two
   vital weaknesses.  One is that the very structure of the campaign as
   a "War" simply by-passes any focus on the real causes of and
   solutions to terrorism and insurgency. The notion that all
   disagreements with others can be resolved by force--the central
   model of Israeli policy now borrowed by the US--simply ignores the
   core realities of the human condition. Poverty, hunger, social and
   political exclusion of many groups, actual repression and denial of
   political participation will not go away because you kill some of
   the people who complain or fight back.  Resistance simply will grow.


   The second and likely most costly weakness of the War on Terrorism
   is the US focus, as exemplified by Presidential speeches, on
   so-called Islamic radicalism or the cant phrase "Islamo fascism."
   The wars in Iraq and in Afghanistan are--along with US-facilitated
   and supported Israeli destruction of Lebanon and Palestine--driving
   the people of the Muslim world progressively away from the United
   States.