> As Chip Berlet of Political Research Associates
> >(http://www.publiceye.org/main.htm ) points out in a recent series of
>>comments with regard to Edward Herman's thoughts on so-called "Islamic
>>fascism" (or "clerical fascism," to
>>use Berlet's term of choice), the Taliban, Osama bin Laden, the U.S. war
>>over Afghanistan, and the like, the term 'fascism' is often subjected to
>>abuse by commentators. Indeed, Berlet himself writes elsewhere, we must use
>>the terms of political discourse "with caution," 'fascism' being among
>them. (As a case in point, I should call to the readers' attention, however,
> >Berlet's frequent use of the terms 'Enlightenment' and 'modernity'. Whereas
>>the former refers to a specific period of European history, with real and
>>discernible historical contexts, characters, and products; the latter, on
>>the other hand, is one of the least referential, most vacuous, and
>>self-flattering terms in the lexicon. What are the better examples of
>>modernity: the Declaration of the Rights of Man, the separation of church
>>and state, Article 2(4) of the U.N. Charter and the amazing human rights
>>declarations of the past century--or class structure, the G-7 and the Third
>>World, World War II, so-called "globalization," and the U.S. military
>>machine now blowing the "clerical fascists" of Afghanistan to smithereens?)
>>
>> Now, while I agree with Berlet on his point about the need to avoid
> >sloppy thinking (and who wouldn't?), I should also add that the
>term 'apologist'
>is also frequently the subject of abuse. I only mention this because Berlet
> >wrote recently that he finds it "sad for the left that [Edward] Herman has
>>become an apologist for ethnic fascists in order to criticize US
>>imperialism" ("Sloppy Logic/Slurpy Argument Alert
>>#666"—and given the fundamentalists running loose in this country, I'd use
>>those digits with caution), the phrase 'ethnic fascists' here presumably
>>referring to what Berlet elsewhere calls "clerical fascism" (i.e., the
>>Taliban and Al Qaeda) and "Serbian Orthodox fascism," or Serb nationalism,
>>in short.
>>
> > This accusation is utterly unfounded, simply not true, and Berlet
>ought to retract it.
> >
>> As Berlet should know perfectly well, just because a person looks at
>>expansionary American power (And what else does Berlet think Operation
>>Allied Force and Operation Enduring Freedom were really all about?) or the
>>origins of the wars over the breakup of Yugoslavia from different
>>perspectives than the American political establishment's, with its openly
>>declared, open-ended "war against terrorism," and its cockamamie notions of
>>"Greater Serb Aggression" and "paradise lost/loathsome leaders" (the latter
>>being Lenard Cohen's phrase--and, sorry, Mr. Berlet, but Michael Sells's
>>work on this topic is pretty bad), does not make one an "apologist for
>>ethnic fascists," i.e., the Taliban, Al Qaeda, ethnic Serb nationalists, or
>>the Nazis, for that matter. (It's worth noting that the American political
>>establishment's manichean version of these events has been and continues to
> >be spun by Christopher Hitchens of all people, who once wrote with regard
>to the fighting in Bosnia-Herzegovina, "This is a war between all those who
> >favor ethnic and religious partition and all those who oppose it" (The
> >Nation, Oct. 23, 1995), and who now even more notoriously writes that "If
>we mean even half of what we say about defending what is of value in
> >civilisation, then we have to assume the burden ourselves....But those who
>>take on the Taliban today, and who will be working in the dark to grapple
>>with those who escape justice to try and spread infection and death, will
>>also be on the front line for culture and humanity" (The Mirror (London),
>>Oct. 4, 2001).—Didn't The Three Stooges once play doctors working in a
>>hospital "for duty and humanity"?)
>>
>> So, to repeat myself in no uncertain terms: For Chip Berlet to accuse
> >Edward Herman of being an "apologist for ethnic fascists" is a
>patent falsehood.
> >Berlet ought to retract it.
> Sincerely Yours,
> David Peterson
>
>
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