by Nathan H

Created on: March 09, 2007   Last Updated: April 19, 2007

President Bush invaded the wrong country! The term "Axis of evil" was used by United States President George W. Bush in his State of the Union Address on January 29, 2002 used the term "Axis of evil" to condemn the nations of Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. Here is the phrase used in the context of his speech:

[Our goal] is to prevent regimes that sponsor terror from threatening America or our friends and allies with weapons of mass destruction. Some of these regimes have been pretty quiet since September the 11th. But we know their true nature. North Korea is a regime arming with missiles and weapons of mass destruction, while starving its citizens.

Iraq aggressively pursues these weapons and exports terror, while an unelected few repress the Iraqi people's hope for freedom. Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support terror. The Iraqi regime has plotted to develop anthrax, and nerve gas, and nuclear weapons for over a decade. This is a regime that has already used poison gas to murder thousands of its own citizens leaving the bodies of mothers huddled over their dead children. This is a regime that agreed to international inspections then kicked out the inspectors. This is a regime that has something to hide from the civilized world.

States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger. They could provide these arms to terrorists, giving them the means to match their hatred. They could attack our allies or attempt to blackmail the United States. In any of these cases, the price of indifference would be catastrophic.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases /2002/01/20 020129-11.html

Why would I quote a speech delivered over 4 years ago? President Bush in the State of the Union identified three rogue nations that sponsored terrorism and threatened the national interests of the United States. However, four years the United States foreign policy has focused on Iraq, and Iran and North Korea were almost completely ignored.

The United States military invaded Iraq and overthrew Hussein, but Iran and North Korea have been developing nuclear weapons and now North Korea is testing their nuclear weapons. The United States invaded a nation that was thought to have WMDs, but now we know that Iran and North Korea have nuclear technology and Hussein never developed nuclear weapons.

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