Bush's axis of enemies.

When George W. Bush in his 2002 State of the Union address identified three nations--Iran, Iraq, and North Korea--as an "axis of evil," he was making a religious as well as political statement. This continued on May 6 when he expanded his "axis" to include Cuba, Libya, and Syria. His use of the word evil, a term more appropriate for theological discourse, presupposes some standard of judgment as to what is good. Yet Bush produces no evidence to justify the selection of these nations while excluding others.

For example, none of these nations is engaged in war against its neighbors--as Israel is. None of them has nuclear weapons but is simply suspected of either developing or merely having the capability to develop some. And while none of them permits official inspection of their arsenals, there are other nations--notably Israel, Russia, China, and the United States--which don't permit any inspection. Iraq, in fact, is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, while the United States has withdrawn from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in order to proceed with its planned missile defense program (construction on silos began June 14).

One thing all six of Bush's "axis" nations have in common is that they all reject any U.S. alliance or control. And despite warnings out of Washington that it might expand its War on Terrorism beyond Afghanistan, there has been no evidence released that any of these "axis" countries is harboring Osama bin Laden or al-Qaeda members.

By contrast, one might wonder why Bush didn't include Sudan in his "axis of evil." After all, it not only harbored bin Laden from 1993 to 1996 but allowed him to build a terrorist network there while he subsidized its Islamic government. Sudan has endured civil war for decades, with the Muslim government attacking the so-called Christian south. After intense lobbying by right-wing Christian groups, the U.S. Congress in July 2001 did adopt the Sudan Peace Act, which includes an amendment prohibiting oil companies operating in Sudan from being listed on the U.S. capital markets and from raising capital in the United States. However, Richard Boucher, a spokesperson for the State Department and the Bush administration, announced that such sanctions "would undermine our financial market competitiveness." So, in the end, the combination of Bush's commitment to unfettered capitalism and his declaration of war against terrorism shelved enforcement of the Sudan Peace Act--even though the Sudan government in October 2001 bombed United Nations aid workers in the south for three days, causing the UN to stop its food aid work and leave the area.

Why isn't Israel among Bush's "axis of evil"? It has repeatedly used its own claim to a War on Terrorism to drive tanks through neighboring lands in violation of its own agreements and with the knowledge and apparent approval of the United States. On January 14, 2002, the BBC reported that the United States had again vetoed a proposal by a member country of the United Nations that the UN be asked to provide a peacekeeping force between Israel and the Palestinians. The BBC pointed out that the United States had vetoed numerous such proposals over recent years. In other words, the United States purports to be the sole "peacekeeper" and, albeit with official reluctance, will allow its ally, Israel, to destroy Palestinian homes and airstrips and other infrastructure as it so desires.

A BBC report on March 14 states that Israel's tanks had deliberately smashed five Palestinian ambulances while they were picking up wounded Palestinians. The Israelis tried to justify this violation of the Geneva Convention by asserting that the ambulances were being used by "terrorists." Yet, they could provide no actual evidence to justify their deadly work.

The Israelis have again and again killed Palestinian police officers, used tanks and bulldozers to demolish homes and buildings, destroyed airport runways, isolated the Palestinian leader, and bombed his headquarters. In recent months, they have used massive force against the Palestinians. For example, the October 2001 Washington Report on Middle East Affairs states that on June 23, 2001:

   Israelis and tanks rolled into Rafah refugee camp in Gaza in the middle of
   the night and in two hours demolished 20 houses, leaving 110 people
   homeless. On July 10, again with no advance warning, the bulldozers roared
   into Rafah at 1:00 AM, destroyed 26 houses and 12 shops and forced
   residents to flee in their nightclothes. This time 150 people were made
   homeless.... In the same period the Israelis burned 2,280 acres of crops
   and uprooted 26,570 olive trees. At least 80 percent of all Palestinians
   now rely on food provided by UN RWA.

Even as it began to withdraw some of its troops in April 2002 in an apparent surcease of its incursion into Palestinian areas, Israel invaded Hebron. According to the April 16 New York Times, UN officials said that as recently as April 15 "Israeli forces blocked a convoy carrying 25 tons of aid from entering the [Jenin refugee] camp where 2,000 of the camp's original 13,000 residents remain." Such illustrations of Israeli terrorism have led to Palestinian reprisals, inciting further response from Israel.

The United States essentially stamped its approval on Israel's actions when both houses of Congress voted in April overwhelming and unconditional support. And when he was asked if Israel should show restraint, Secretary of State Colin Powell responded, "We're not about to tell Mr. Sharon what he should do." When Palestinians demanded a vote on a new United Nations resolution ordering Israeli military forces to withdraw from Palestinian cities, a U.S. official warned on April 17 that "the United States would veto the resolution."

Given all this, how can Bush limit his "axis of evil" to just Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Libya, Syria, and Cuba? Does he or any of his advisers have any clear criteria by which to judge which nations are "evil" and which aren't? The answer is clearly no, since his claims of the danger they pose apply to other nations as well.

For example, Bush asserts that Saddam Hussein has used chemical weapons against Iraq's Kurdish citizens. But Turkey has also fought its Kurdish citizens, and Sudan has steadily fought its southern citizens. Iraq's casualties among Kurds are small compared to casualties at the hands of the United States. The sanctions imposed on Iraq for the past decade have led to the deaths of thousands of Iraqi children. In August 1999 UNICEF estimated that, between 1990 and 1998, 500,000 more children under the age of five died than would have if the child death rate had continued declining at the rate it was in the 1980s. As for assessing Iraq's danger to the United States via terrorist acts, Bush's assessment doesn't hold.

As for North Korea, when the United States-led war with that country ended in July 1953, the armistice provided that within ninety days there would be a peace conference. However, the United States has never been willing to have such a conference to normalize relations. North Korea now has established normal relations with more than 100 non-communist countries. In 1987 North Korea proposed reducing its armed forces to 100,000 soldiers; holding a multinational disarmament conference in Geneva in March 1988; U.S. withdrawal of all forces from South Korea, including its nuclear weapons, and the dismantling of U.S. military bases there; and a phased inspection by neutral nations. But the United States has never been willing to end its occupation of South Korea, where it maintains 37,000 troops and numerous bases.

While in South Korea earlier this year, Bush spoke of the barbed wire North Korea has laid across its border but never mentioned the 150-mile concrete wall built across the entire Korean peninsula by the United States using South Korean labor. That wall on South Korean territory varies from sixteen to twenty-six feet in height, from nine to twenty-two feet in width at the top, and has a base varying from thirty-two to sixty feet. It was built in 1977 to prevent crossing from either side; anyone wishing to travel from South Korea to North Korea must fly first to Beijing, China.

Why does the United States demonize North Korea and refuse diplomatic recognition? This attitude has resulted in a permanent state of hostility and distrust. U.S. forces remain there, as they do in Japan and Okinawa, ostensibly only if needed against China--which, ironically, isn't included in Bush's "axis of evil" despite its deplorable record on human rights.

As for Cuba, Bush originally argued that this "rogue state" was actively seeking to obtain and develop chemical and biological weapons, charging that its laboratories served "dual purposes." Since then, the administration has tempered its charge. On May 14 Colin Powell said the United States isn't accusing Cuba of having biological weapons but, rather, of having the potential for them. While visiting the island nation, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter toured the laboratory which Cuban President Fidel Castro insists solely makes medicines and vaccines.

None of Bush's proclamations about an "axis of evil" logically relates to his original declaration of a War on Terrorism. He is simply expanding his war in ways Congress and the American people have yet to approve and on which they ought to have a voice.

John M. Swomley has a Ph.D. in political science and international affairs from the University of Colorado and is professor emeritus of social ethics at St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri.