Posted on 09/16/2009 10:26:56 PM PDT by Ooh-Ah
The bad old Axis of Evil is back in the news. That's not because President Barack Obama has resurrected the label, but because he's now planning to hold direct talks with its two surviving charter members, Iran and North Korea.
It's one of many signs of change (if not hope) that the phrase itself, "axis of evil," has become less welcome in Washington's diplomatic calculus than envoys of that axis itself. Even before Obama scrapped the entire concept, President George W. Bush during his second term had abandoned the formulation.
...
If the term "evil" has now been written out of the U.S. political dictionary, then America's leaders might at least acknowledge that we are witnessing the rise of an axis of opportunism--or, to put it another way, a network of impunity. Increasingly, control of a sovereign state translates into de facto license for almost anything a tyrannical regime might fancy and find ways to afford. Nuclear weapons? Missiles to deliver them? With the U.S. not only holstering its guns, but unilaterally deleting force as an option, the incentive is for malign regimes to arm themselves to the teeth--the better to expand influence and extract concessions at the bargaining table.
Such trends do not end well. In the gap between how we see something, and what's really going on, dangerous things take shape. That gap was filled on Sept. 11, 2001, by Al-Qaida, with the hijacking of four airliners filled with people who woke up that day planning simply to travel across a country at peace. That gap is growing again apace. Somewhere in all the talking that now lies ahead, it would be wise for Obama to bend his skill with words toward finding a phrase that reflects the awful realities.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
Obama has armed himself with a light saber in a photo op. I wonder if it is now in the Presidential bedroom. It is symbolic beyond words. Iran and NKor have real weapons they plan for USE, as Obama eschews our own as well as defense shields for Europe.
Come to think of it, he is not too hot on US defense shields either.
“Obama has armed himself with a light saber in a photo op.”
Meanwhile these countries intend to arm and launch nukes. I now realize that the majority of the Democrat presidents make fantastic ornaments to adorn the good times, but then the Republicans have to rebuild after the Democrats squander everything.
Forbes magazine employs one of Obama’s closest advisors and benefactors. Forbes in fact helped build his business and make him very wealthy. Nice job.
It’s only the “axis of miscomprehended good” now.
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