U.S. Muslim group's leader: Bush's term "Islamic fascism" inaccurate

Xinhua
Sep. 02, 2006

WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- The head of the Islamic Society of North America said on Friday that recasting the war on terrorism as "a war against Islamic fascism" by U.S. President George W. Bush and other Republicans was inaccurate and added to a misunderstanding of the religion.

Ingrid Mattson, the group's first woman president, said at the opening of its 43rd annual convention in Rosemont, Illinois, that labeling terrorism as "Islamic" was not helpful to people of her faith, the Associated Press reported.

"I'm convinced that it is not only inaccurate, but unhelpful. If our major concern is security, security of this country, this is a term that has very bad resonance in the Muslim majority world and makes us feel uncomfortable here," she was quoted as saying.

Mattson said the group would argue for a change in rhetoric away from "Islamic fascism." "We're hoping that there can be some adjustment to this language and we're trying to voice that opinion to those who have been using this, circulating this term," she said.

Bush and other Republicans have been using the term "Islamic fascism" in recent speeches, according to the Associated Press.

Bush used the term earlier this month in talking about the arrest of suspected terrorists in Britain, and spoke of "Islamic fascists" in a later speech in Green Bay, Wisconsin. White House spokesman Tony Snow has used variations on the phrase at press briefings, and Senator Rick Santorum from Pennsylvania on Monday drew parallels between World War II and the current war against "Islamic fascism," a phrase he has been using for months, according to the news agency.

On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told the national convention of the American Legion, a veterans' group, in Salt Lake City, Utah, that the country was confronting "the rising of a new type of fascism."

The Islamic Society of North American is an association of Muslim organizations and individuals that provides a common platform for presenting Islam, supporting Muslim communities, developing educational, social and outreach programs and fostering good relations with other religious communities, and civic and service organizations, according to a statement on its Website.












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