Bad Behavior - Andrea Faye Slade What the fuck is an axis of evil? And why is the president talking like we are fighting a war against Saturday morning cartoon villains? And why doesn't anybody notice that this is a problem? Americans have ruined their minds with play stations and Nintendo and now think that foreign policy and war are games with good guys and bad guys. My four-year old nephew operates on that presumption. But he likes to be addressed as Spiderman and began crying a few days ago because his older brother convinced him that he had stolen his brain and put it in a balloon. We worked it out and got his brain back but I'm still concerned about the President. It would be a great embarrassment to this country if President Bush had, on his trip to China last week, had accused the Chairman of China of putting his brain in a balloon. The axis of evil we are going to war against is North Korea, Iran, and Iraq. Unlike the axis forces of WWII, which consisted of the alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan, the axis Bush would like us to fight are not allied with one another. As a matter of fact, Iran and Iraq are sworn enemies, negating the use of the term axis entirely. There are things these countries do have in common, however. Iran and Iraq are both opposed to and by Bin Laden. They have all made an effort to acquire nuclear weapons. Thirdly, they are all allied with China and the Soviet Union. To understand the implications of this, imagine how the United States would respond to a Chinese invasion of Mexico or Israel, or of a Russian invasion of Canada. Canada and Israel have nuclear weapons. Does that give foreign armies the right to invade them? And even if it were right, does it make it an intelligent thing to do? I am not an isolationist. Pacifism is ideal, but this is not an ideal world. Still, I want to know why when this city was attacked by Al Quaeda members, we are going to war with three countries that are not linked to our attackers. There are an estimated 10,000 Al Quaeda terrorists plotting attacks on us who are still at large. Should that not be the priority instead of attacking nations who have no relationship with Al Quaeda. Bin Laden wanted to fight Iraq in the Gulf War. He is a Sunni fundamentalist who is against military dictatorships in the Holy Land. The Iranians are Shiite Moslems, the sworn enemies of the Sunni's. North Korea is a Buddhist communist nation that has nothing to do with any of this. Possession of nuclear weapons by hostile dictatorships is a serious problem, but unless they are at war with us, or seek to be, which none of these nations are, why should this nation risk a world war? Not to mention the fact that none of these nations have actually acquired nuclear weapons. Pakistan has nuclear weapons and is responsible for the schools that trained Al Quaeda and the Taliban. They allowed the U.S.A. access to Afghanistan after the 11th, but the Iranians allowed us to use their airspace to fire on the Taliban. Saudi Arabia forbade us to use theirs. Why don't we invade them? I don't like to overstate the obvious, but next to Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq have the worlds next largest oil supply. They are also vehement opposers of Israel and supporters of Hezbollah. But to be honest, I don't give a fuck. New York City should be a higher priority to the U.S.A. than Israel is. Besides, Israel has had fifty years to learn how to get along with even one of it's neighbors and has failed to do so. Maybe it's always someone else's fault, but if that's the case, than Israel also has a lot in common with my four-year old nephew. The axis of evil is a lot of nonsense. Speechwriters use words like axis to give this country images of WWII when we fought the Nazis and Fascists, who were as close to evil as political parties can come. But these countries are not presently a threat to the rest of the world. If George W. Bush does want to refer to WWII, then maybe he should learn from it and it's mistakes. Hitler was winning the war until he overextended himself by attacking the Russians. He found himself fighting on too many fronts, and overextended his army and his supplies. The Nazis were defeated because they were spread too thin. They went to war with too many nations at once, and lost everything. BACK TO HOME