Are We Fighting 'Islamic Fascists'?

"This nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom," President Bush said last week after Britain announced it had foiled a plot to blow up airliners over the Atlantic. I have been pondering since then his description of the enemy. What are "Islamic fascists," and does this phrase make sense in describing America's adversaries?

The judicious columnist's answer is, of course, yes and no. A look at the history of fascism produces some startling parallels to the revolutionary movements that have swept Iran and other Muslim countries over the past several decades. But the phrase is misleading, both in its broad reference to Islam and in its evocation of another century and another war.

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