The Axis of Evil Countries

[illuminati]

During his State of the Union Speech in January 2002, President George Bush declared that Iran, Iraq and North Korea were part of an "axis of evil".

He claimed that these three three countries were developing weapons of mass destruction:

Iran is suspected as being a state sponsor of terrorism. He believes that there are active plans to develop weapons of mass destruction.

Iraq at the time was suspected of wanting to develop nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons.

North Korea is problematic because of their active missile and other offensive weapon programs. In additinon, North Korea will sell and export these systems and weapons to anyone - including terrorist nations.

In May, 2002, President Bush added three more countries to this Axis of Evil list: Cuba, Libya, and Syria

He claimed that these additional countries were developing weapons of mass destruction.

[ipete23]

Originally Posted by illuminati

During his State of the Union Speech in January 2002, President George Bush declared that Iran, Iraq and North Korea were part of an "axis of evil".

Isn't it blatantly obvious to all sane Americans that the "axis of evil" is nothing more that a stupifying White-House marketing manoeuvre to sell war to it's public.
Firstly there's no real co-operation between these countries, they might have been threats, but they're very separate threats. Iraq, for instance, still owes North Korea vast amounts of money for arms, a debt that led to very bad blood between these two nations.
Secondly, adding meek little countries like Libya to the list just shows how pathetically "evil" these countries are. Libya has virtually no military, economical or diplomatic influence anywhere.

[plazul]

I know people who think that *any* country the has nuclear weapons is part of the Axis of Evil. The idea being that a country wouldn't have such weapons if it wasn't prepared to use them. But nuclear weapons are first and foremost political weapons that give a nation considerable leverage in negotiating its agenda.

We should work diligently on preventing proliferation while acknlowledging the fact that we're applying a double standard in the process.

[homer]

Well, considering the USA have the largest stockpile of nukes and they're the only nation to this day to have used them... maybe THEY are the kingpin of this axis of evil? Or maybe not. What do I know.