This article is quite simply perfect. Concise, packed with information and compellingly to-the-point. Islamism is Fascism, Acceptance is Defeat and our apologizing for it is nothing short of despicable, being on a par with the actions of those who whispered admiration for Hitler in the 30's, Stalin in the 40's and the greater Soviet Union for the better part of the 20th century.
Why is it that so many on the far-left seem open to embracing fascism? I'm fairly certain things used to be different. I'd have thought that by now the left-right divide on issues would have been eradicated when it came to the 'f' word.
So many people seem happy to take things on face value: The Chinese Communist Party really is looking out for its people, Fidel Castro leads a democratic and well-supported government, Al Qaeda's attacks are 'revenge' for western military intervention. It's an utter travesty.
I stand with Nick Cohen, David Aaronovitch and the other left of centre writers who look on to 'our' camp in utter dismay. How idiotic is it that we can have so successfully made the jump into accepting free markets as a decent distributor and creator of wealth, into accepting a working environment with stricter labour laws and yet can't seem to bring ourselves to call fascism by its name or to confront it. Attacking fascism is what the left does, or at least what it used to do. New Labour is more or less our saving grace and we spend half our time gnawing at the only thing which stands a chance of furthering left wing ideals.
Some writers, such as Roger L Simon have shifted their allegiances to the right and some would say I have. I take a different view, I'm standing exactly where I've always stood, the ground has simply shifted beneath me. It's the job of writers like Cohen to try and push the left back towards its core values, because if fighting fascism makes me a right wing nutjob then the left has truly lost sight of what it stands for.
Later
John
Posted by John Swaine at August 1, 2005 01:58 PM