Axis of Alliteration (2/8/2002)
by Dean Hartwell
In his recent State of
the Union speech, President Bush identified three nations as part of an
"axis of evil." In naming the nations of North Korea, Iran and Iraq,
Bush follows one of the tenets of Truth Matters, that of specificity in
communicating ideas. He wasn't quite as specific in stating what he would do,
but did imply that a use of force was possible for their participation in
terrorism.
Interestingly, Bush the candidate said very little about each of the nations and
what policies he would pursue toward them. Furthermore, his declaration came
with little warning. If Bush has a plan to take military action against any or
all of the axis, it will require extensive planning, as he should have learned
from Desert Storm under his father and the recent conflict in Afghanistan.
This axis of evil pales in comparison to another group of nations that we
referred to as an "axis": Nazi Germany, Italy and Japan during World
War II. Those nations coordinated plans to attack the United States and its
allies all over the world.
Whatever the Bush Administration plan, the public needs to hear more than just
a clever choice of words. We need to hear why he believes the use of the
military will be justified against these three as opposed to other states that
sponsor terrorism and what he expects to accomplish.