by Michael Carrasco
Daily Lobo Columnist
As one might expect, the part of president Bush’s State of the Union Address that has garnered the most attention and protest is the characterization of Iraq, Iran and North Korea as an “axis of evil.”
These individual nations protested by calling the United States a variety of names and many traditionally friendly nations also disapproved of the classification. In the United States, Clinton administration officials and other experts derided the remark as “delinquent” or “ill-advised,” and I am sure that there are many here on campus that believed it to be straight-up warmongering aggressiveness.
So, is there a defense for this remark? Absolutely. These nations pose a grave threat to the United States and the rest of the world. To explore this threat, I will consider the states included in the axis of evil individually.
Iran: Many were shocked to see Iran on this list, especially because of its recent rhetoric supporting some U.S. actions in Afghanistan and the general warming up to the West seen in the policies of reformist politicians inside the government. Through a series of internal reforms and outreach in foreign policy, the reformist president Muhammad Khatami ostensibly wishes to bring Iran out of its self-imposed exile and back into respectability.
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For whatever reason, Khatami is either unwilling or unable to affect any real departure from the status quo. This is reflected in the continued stifling of any protest, the continued support of terror (as demonstrated by the captured cache of weapons originating in Iran intended for Palestinian extremist groups) and by a seemingly never-ending obsession with obtaining weapons of mass destruction.
Dealing with the Khatami administration as if it somehow represented something other than the past twenty-two years of autocratic rule is an insult to those in Iran that seek real change and an end to isolation.
Bush’s inclusion of Iran in the axis of evil is justified; it remains a hostile, oppressive country eager to acquire weapons that would threaten the entire globe.
North Korea: One of the “rouge nations” before Madeline Albright ditched the classification; North Korea remains an isolated death- trap of a country. Led by the paranoid and effete Kim Chong-il, North Korea is unable to feed its people while supporting an army of one million and continuing expensive delving into missile and nuclear weapon technology. The Democratic People’s Republic also insists on exporting their technology to other nations, continuing to make the world just that much more dangerous.
Dealings with North Korea during the past decade have dealt mostly with creating a dialogue between the north and the south and have attempted to nullify the nuclear threat in a method that is at best bribery and at worst appeasement.
Throughout this outreach period, nothing has changed in the regime either in its treatment of its own civilians or in its continued designs on becoming a nuclear power. While North Korea has not been connected to the September attacks, it remains a major threat to the United States and its allies and its actions for all intents and purposes tend to be — well, evil.
Iraq: Like most Americans I believe that the Iraqi situation has been handled poorly since the end of the Gulf War. But with that said, Iraq remains the biggest threat to the United States and our interests in the Middle East. Saddam Hussein continues to have a one-man tyrannical grasp of the country and seems hell-bent on remaining a threat to any sort of stability. Even if Iraq had nothing to do with Osama bin Laden, his flaunting of the cease-fire agreement and of the inspection program make him a very dangerous man.
Iraq also is the only nation on the list that the United States actually might take some sort of action against. World opinion seems to be almost universally opposed to any military move against it, but this should not deter the United States.
If the United States shows resolve and if need be a willingness to go it alone, I have no doubts that many of the now detractors will offer at least tacit support.
This new axis may not have signed an agreement or may not have ever worked in tandem, but that does not make it any less dangerous. They are states well deserving of their new classification.
Let’s hope that the Bush administration means what it says and will work to end the threats these countries pose.
Questions or comments for Michael Carrasco can be sent to mjc_carrasco@hotmail.com.
