Dr. Clyde Wilson on Neocons and Nazis

Dr. Clyde N. Wilson takes the naysayers that refuse to acknowledge a similarity between the neoconservatives and Nazis to task.

The likenesses between Neocons and Nazis: the same worship of force and equation of force with morality; the same disdain for other people’s ideas and interests and presumption of special and superior vision; the same contempt for law, tradition, and the opinion of the civilized world; the same forced redefinition of history according to a European ideology; the same racialist disdain for the inferior breeds—in this case Muslims; the same manipulation of the public with exaggerated and misplaced fears; the same reliance on propaganda slogans and disregard of truth; the same preference for the Leader over democratic process; the same boastful launching of illegal wars of aggression; the same blundering in military action and occupation.

Hard to disagree there. Wilson is particularly correct in his illumination of racialist disdain. I have served in Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Iraq. I have gone to professional schools with folks from several Islamic countries. I can say with certainty that Islam is not fascism - our enemies are not Islamofascist (we have covered all of that before).

The entire Islamic world has provided a ready target for the neoconservatives in their crusade to "democratize" the middle east - that is absolutely the last place I would like to see democracy take hold. Not because the people are evil but precisely because Islam as an ideology and theology is potentially just as divisive and explosive as Christianity. No people with a passionate religion can long tolerate the burden of democracy. (of course no people regardless of religion should be burdened by the tyranny of democracy).

Of course one of the primary straw-man arguments against the obvious conclusion that there are striking similarities between neoconservative and Nazi tenancies goes something like this. "Well if the neoconservatives are really Nazis":

• why are you not in one of those KBR prison camps (not commenting on the conspiracy theory that such camps may or may not exist)
• why not just go ahead and do away with the illusion of rights and a constitution
• why risk losing an election if these folks are really Nazis

Well like any straw-man these points do not focus on the issue. Dr. Wilson and others claim there is a likeness, not a carbon copy. The situations are different. The US did not lose a major war 15 years ago, we did not suffer humiliation and sanctions or loss of territory, we have not been in the midst of a depression. Americans are not fully ready to accept a Hitler.

Americans are prepared to surrender rights, support an illegal war with no foreseeable end, to allow our executive to rule by executive order, and permit our own government to spy on us - we still draw the line at uniform wearing, goose-stepping leaders (for now).

Wilson concludes that while there is a likeness between the neocons and the Nazis perhaps a better comparison is between Bush and Lincoln.

their presidencies do bear a strong family resemblance: launching of an unnecessary war of aggression, a war largely fueled by greed, government-worship, and the blasphemous equation of God and America; repeated miscalculations in the conduct of the war; disregard for the lives and property of civilians; evasion and misrepresentation of constitutional limitations and abuse of civil liberties; a giant step toward transforming the republican United States into an empire.