The Axis of Evil – George W. Bush Was Right

The New Year begins with attention focused on two acquaintances: Iran and Iraq. Always Iran and Iraq. Both countries astound the 21st century world, which is accustomed to democracy, consensus, communication and transparency, with their persistent malice and a seemingly archaic antagonism, which seems to have gone out of fashion. But it hasn’t.

It’s more real than ever. Both countries potentially pose a considerable military threat, and both notoriously make use of this fact, even in the midst the superpowers China and Russia. Offshoots of the Cold War extend to the modern day, even though time leaves no country untouched, not China or Russia, nor Burma or Saudi Arabia. The sometimes-hesitant hand of modernity and the longing for freedom eventually touches everything.

Even Iran has seen its own young people rise up, although, for the time being, the protest has been defeated, unlike other countries in the region. In addition, Tehran senses how the embargo policies of the West have begun to gather momentum. North Korea is carrying out the transition of power to the dynastic grandson with war-like vivacity and totalitarian cold-bloodedness; the regime turns its own people into cannon fodder and simultaneously deprives them of nourishment.

Dictatorships Must be Fought

Ten years ago, U.S. president George W. Bush coined the term “Axis of Evil” during a State of the Union address on Jan. 29, 2002, referring to Iraq, Iran and North Korea as regimes whose sole purpose it is to threaten the free world, and especially the USA, with weapons of destruction and by supporting terrorists. In Europe, people didn’t want to accept America’s traditionally religious and moral language, and they viewed the notion of an Axis of Evil as misleading because it implied the countries had formed an alliance.

In the case of the adversaries Iraq and Iran, this did not occur, but George W. Bush opined in his address at the time that their character and true nature made them brothers in spirit; that is, they were united in antagonism against the West, against America and against democracy. Today, Iran, Syria and North Korea advice and support each other on questions of missiles and maybe even nuclear arms.

The antipathy against Bush didn’t drop after the fall of Saddam. Now that the last Americans have withdrawn from Iraq, the question of whether the country will be a success story depends upon the Iraqis themselves. The country without Saddam is not good, but it’s in better shape. Of course, the paths to regime change might not always be military, but Bush had the right diagnosis: Dictatorships remain dictatorships, evil and antagonistic.

One must not tolerate them but instead combat them by all available means. Especially Iran and North Korea.