"The term, "Islamofascism" has been criticized by Western scholars and journalists alike. One of the world's leading authorities on Fascism, Walter Laqueur, after reviewing this and related terms, concluded that "Islamic fascism, Islamophobia and antisemitism, each in its way, are imprecise terms we could well do without but it is doubtful whether they can be removed from our political lexicon."[19]
Cultural historian Richard Webster has argued that grouping many different political ideologies, terrorist and insurgent groups, governments, and religious sects into one single idea of "Islamofascism" may lead to an oversimplification of the phenomenon of terrorism.[20] In a similar vein the left-wing National Security Network argues that the term dangerously obscures important distinctions and differences between groups of Islamic extremists while alienating moderate voices in the Muslim World because it "creates the perception that the United States is fighting a religious war against Islam."[21] Other critics, such as former National Review columnist Joseph Sobran, and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman argue that it is predominantly a propaganda term used by proponents of the War on Terror.[22][23][24] Yet others, such as security expert Daniel Benjamin, political scientist Norman Finkelstein and The American Conservative columnist Daniel Larison, highlight the claim that despite its use as a piece of propaganda the term is inherently meaningless, since as Benjamin notes, "there is no sense in which jihadists embrace fascist ideology as it was developed by Mussolini or anyone else who was associated with the term."[25][26][27] Conservative British historian Niall Ferguson points out that this political use of what he calls a "completely misleading concept," is "just a way of making us feel that we're the 'greatest generation' fighting another World War."[28] Harping on the claimed incongruity between the "Muslim World" and "industrial state fascism," American journalist Eric Margolis claims that ironically the most totalitarian Islamic regimes, "in fact, are America's allies."[29]"
