Sorry, spelling error - I meant to type " .... the cowardly acts of the reactionaries in Pakistan, shooting girls in the face, and burning down their schools."

Perhaps Mr Pilger will lead a campaign to behead all those who shoot young girls in the face, for wanting an education.

I would certainly be tempted to join in with him, if he did.

But I don't know where Germaine might stand on that 'cultural' issue.

What a pass some of us on the Left have come to.

Arjay,

With bombing attacks somewhere every day, from Mali and Nigeria to Indonesia and the Philippines, in Afghanistan and God know where else, it's completely legitimate for anybody to criticise the Islamists involved.

And not even the Macquarie Dictionary would agree with your definition of 'fascism'. But judging by the acts of Boko Haram and the other Islamists in West Africa, one would not have to look far for something that looks like fascism - after all, isn't the use of terror one of its hallmarks ?

The world is very many-sided, Arjay - there are many, many forces fighting for local or universal ascendancy, all in their different ways, from the US to China, to the Catholic Church to neo-tsarism in Russia, to Islamist, even to crackpot evangelical Christianity: they all have their axes to grind.

But on balance, I don't think the US is particularly 'fascist': there are far more fascist forces than the Yanks therse days. You might have to find another angle, Arjay.

Cheers,

Joe

Loudmouth the CIA MOSSAD and their mercenaries are in these African and Middle Eastern countries stirring up trouble so they have an excuse to invade.

Arjay, if you wish to assert, you must prove. What evidence do you have that the various al Qa'idas and Islamic fronts and screwball groups like Boko Haram are mere puppets in the hands of the CIA and Mossad ? If you have no evidence, yet still 'believe', then you should question either your sanity - are you being just paranoid ? - or your integrity - are you being merely opportunistic, ready to accuse one 'side' without evidence, and excuse the 'other side' even with ample evidence, including their own admissions ?

Perhaps there is a ranking of fascisms, from mild to extreme ? So where would the Islamist groups in Mali fit, who are blowing up historic monuments (as did the Taliban), cutting off the hands of thiefs and stoning women who have been raped, and who are after all, now damaged goods ? Are these things happening in the US ? Is Obama calling for young girls to be shot in the face, or beheaded, or have their schools burnt down ? Are punk rockers being gaoled for performing in churches in the US, and sent off to Gulags (who would have known ?) Are people sent out to labour camps for doing the wrong sort of art in the US, as in China ?

Find evidence, Arjay, then you can assert. Don't just pluck it out of the air, because it sort of 'makes sense'.

Good luck with that.