Islamofascists?

From David Janus...

In today's Washington Post is a letter to the editor I submitted in
response to a column by David Ignatius - which you can read by following this
link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/17/AR2006081701193.html

The text of my letter is below:

Why the 'Fascism' Analogy Holds
Tuesday, August 29, 2006; A14

An otherwise insightful column by David Ignatius ["Are We Fighting 'Islamic Fascists'?" op-ed, Aug. 18] contains one important inconsistency. While acknowledging that Islamic extremism resembles classical fascism in many important ways, he "balks" at the term "Islamic fascists" because it unfairly tars all Muslims. He supports this assertion by claiming that we would not refer to Hitler and Mussolini as "Christian fascists."

The problem with the analogy, however, is that today's Islamic extremists (or fascists) claim to be representing Islam -- their version of it, at any rate -- and it holds a central place in their ideology. The fascists of the 20th century made nationality, not religion, the focus of their murderous ideologies. While most would share Mr. Ignatius's desire to not unfairly malign an entire faith, obscuring the nature of Islamic extremism is, at best, unhelpful.

DAVID JANUS
Silver Spring