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Such proposals constitute an unsubtle statement that Muslims have no place in America. Muslims seem to us somewhat exotic, and are, therefore, easy to stereotype. Dumping on Muslims is fun, cheap, and easy.

The unwillingness of American and Western societies, in general, to confront naked Islamophobic incitement recalls so many pathological actions associated with the development of modern anti-Semitism in Central and Eastern Europe that we Americans must ask ourselves whether Islamophobia is the New Anti-Semitism.

Unabashed Islamophobe Robert Spencer, who has strong associations with neocon organizations and leaders, routinely mischaracterizes Islamic religion and cultures.

The title of his book, Islam Unveiled, is strongly reminiscent of Eisenmenger's classic anti-Jewish text, Entdecktes Judentum (Judaism Unmasked). [1]

Now that the Stalinist/Maoist regimes have collapsed or evolved toward capitalism and no fascist states with imperial ambitions exist (besides the United States and its few allies), the American Empire needed to find a new "enemy" to replace Stalinists and Nazis. Much of the soft power employed by the leaders of America’s "top down democracy" stems from psychological manipulation of "the mob".

Western exploiters and invaders are culpable of far more frequent and grievous war crimes than the Middle Easterners who are defending themselves, their resources, and their people.

If the majority of the people controlling the corporate media had a shred of moral decency they would focus their efforts on informing their viewers, listeners, and readers of the vast number of war crimes committed by Israel and the United States.

They would start portraying the "terrorists" as the resistors of oppression they truly are. They would make a distinction between the various Middle Eastern resistance groups’ legitimate attacks on their occupiers’ militaries and the war crimes they commit against civilians.

And they would devote most of their remaining substantial resources to the inundation of news consumers with stories, photos and video footage depicting the tragic and gruesome civilian suffering and death. As it is, the Western corporate media shamelessly serve the Neocons by perpetuating a virtually endless cycle of hatred and violence. They incite and feed Islamophobia and they fabricate a plethora of false justifications for the malevolent actions of Israel and the United States.

But then in a fascist nation, corporations are wedded with the state, militarism is the state’s primary focus, scapegoats and enemies are essential, and the function of the Fourth Estate is to provide the propaganda to control the masses. [2]

The British literary scene is dominated by three writers: Martin Amis, Salman Rushdie and Ian McEwan. They are the vanguard of British literary neocons. They believe Islam is the greatest threat to 'our' civilisation.

All three have considered the central dilemma of our time: terror. Indeed, Amis has issued something of a manifesto on the subject he terms "horrorism".

In their different styles, their approach and opinions define a coherent position. They are the vanguard of British literary neoconservatives - or, if you like, the "Blitcons".

Blitcons come with a ready-made nostrum for the human condition. They use their celebrity status to advance a clear global political agenda.

The Blitcon project is based on three one-dimensional conceits. The first is the absolute supremacy of American culture. Blitcon fiction is orientalism for the 21st century, shifting the emphasis from the supremacy of the west in general to the supremacy of American ideas of freedom.

The second Blitcon conceit is that Islam is the greatest threat to this idea of civilisation.

Rushdie's suspicion of and distaste for Islam is obvious in his novels Midnight's Children, Shame and The Satanic Verses.

In Shame, Rushdie describes Islam as a mythology that cannot survive close examination, but in The Satanic Verses it becomes an abomination.

The novel imagines a rival life of the Prophet Muhammad, complete with historical details and every orientalist stereotype imaginable.

As the product of the paranoid delusions of a violent, sexually perverted businessman, The Satanic Verses suggests, Islam runs contrary to every decent value known to man.

The third Blitcon conceit is that American ideas of freedom and democracy are not only right, but should be imposed on the rest of the world.

There is an exercise beyond the reach of any of the Blitcons. There are exotic creatures they cannot imagine in their fictions and diatribes: the generality of Muslims, people who believe in something other than the Blitcons' understanding of Islam. [3]

[1] Joachim Martillo & Karin Friedemann

[2] Jason Miller

[3] Ziauddin Sardar