Military

DATE=02/28/2002

TYPE=EDITORIAL

NUMBER=0-09732

TITLE=EDITORIAL: U.S. POLICY AND THE AXIS OF EVIL

INTERNET=Yes

CONTENT=THIS EDITORIAL IS BEING RELEASED FOR USE BY ALL SERVICES.

Anncr: Next, an editorial expressing the policies of the United States Government:

Voice: "Make no mistake about it," President George W. Bush said, "if we need to, we will take necessary action to defend the American people."

One of the greatest dangers the U.S. and its allies face is posed by collaboration between terrorists and countries seeking nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and the missiles to deliver them. As Mr. Bush said, "I think one of the worst things that could happen in the world is terrorist organizations mating up with nations which have had a bad history and nations which develop weaponry of mass destruction. The free world," he said, "must make it clear to these nations they've got a choice to make."

The U.S. has called on Iraq to accept the return of United Nations weapons inspectors. Secretary of State Colin Powell has said that "the President has no plan. . .to begin a war with any nation." But as U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice said, "We've made no secret of the fact that we think that the world will be much safer when the Iraqi people have a regime that they deserve instead of the regime that they have. It is hard to imagine Saddam Hussein ever doing the kinds of things that he needs to do to make others feel secure around him. He has, from the very beginning, attacked his neighbors twice, gassed his own people."

Then there is Iran. As Condoleezza Rice said, "This is a regime that is supporting terrorism not just in the Middle East, but terrorism that has ended up killing Americans. This is a regime that is aggressively seeking weapons of mass destruction."

There is a debate inside Iran on the future of that country. As Secretary of State Powell said, "we can sense within Iran that there are people who are starting to take a hard look at what their leadership has done for them for the last twenty years. The Iranian people have expressed a powerful desire for reform, and we hope that those aspirations will be realized, and not repressed by an unelected few."

The third country in the axis of evil is North Korea. As Ms. Rice said, North Korea "is a regime that is repressing its own people and that is spreading ballistic missile technologies around the world at an incredibly alarming rate."

Iraq, Iran, and North Korea all have a choice to make. As President Bush said, "Either you are with us or with the terrorists. . . . Any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime."

Anncr: That was an editorial expressing the policies of the United States Government. If you have a comment, please write to Editorials, V-O-A, Washington, D-C, 20237, U-S-A. You may also comment at www-dot-ibb-dot-gov-slash-editorials, or fax us at (202) 619-1043.