Christopher Hitchens steps forward to defend the neologism "Islamofascism" and Andrew Sullivan skeptically reviews his attempt.

Setting aside our on-going coverage of the Horowitz buffoonery, here's my answer to this question.

Why not call it Islamotarianism? Or Islamozism? We say there's a lot in a name. But many names come into existence and stick for no particularly good reason whatsoever. Actual students of fascism find it pretty hard to tie the term even to many of the European movements which carried the title during fascism's heyday between WWI and WWII, let alone would-be post-war imitators in Latin America and elsewhere. Certainly we needn't constrain ourselves by the professional literature in deciding how to frame the public debate. But all violent and illiberal movements have parallels of one sort or another, pretty much by definition. And it's dubious whether the label makes sense for movements from a different century and culture. Fascism's racism and general irreligion would seem to create some hurdles to its use as well.

Presumably we're talking about various forms of violent religious extremism within Islam. Radical Islam, Islamic terrorism, Islamism, Muslim extremism all seem like serviceable enough terms.

But let's be crystal clear about their real inadequacy. They don't fill the key need of inflating the political egos and intellectual pretensions of those who most push for its use. The battle against fascism and then later communism were not only by most measures the greatest battles and dangers the United States has ever faced. They were also the greatest mixes of military struggle and intellectual engagement. For people who make their livings with pens and keyboards especially that combination is simply intoxicating. That is, among other reasons, what is behind the very deserved reputation of George Orwell.

But this isn't 1938 or 1948. A bummer perhaps if you're aiming to write a political essay for the ages. But not a bad thing if you're trying to live a life, raise a family or a bunch other things. If the War on Terror is on par with the struggle against fascism and communism, or far graver as some claim, the case can be made with fact and argument. The craze for 'Islamofascism' is just an effort at verbal bamboozlement, flipping the volume up to 11, a hedge against the evident losing of the argument on the merits. Orwell wouldn't be amused.