Too late to leave Iraq alone? - Breaking the Status Quo

Long before Condolezza Rice became Bush's National Security Advisor, she published an article in which she argued that the only real difference between Republican and Democratic foreign policy is that Republicans still acknowledge the existence of evil in the world. Perhaps this is where Bush got his clever idea of creating the "axis of evil" and implementing policy based it.

I say Bush "created" the axis because he, personally, gave them a connection. Prior to his infamous speech, the three countries -- Iraq, Iran and North Korea -- had nothing to do with each other except that they were, in the U.S. eyes, "rogue nations." Politically, they are disparate, especially North Korea, which is geographically and ideologically distinct. He produced an enemy. Now his job is to take care of it.

The idea of the "evil axis" must be examined in both phraseology and political perspectives. There are more than a few reasons why deeming a country "evil" is wrong, but I'll just point out two. First, calling other nations "evil," and subsequently fighting evil implies that the United States is virtuous and upright. Bush set up a good knight vs. bad knight situation in which he cast the United States as the good knight.

Second, the idea of the "axis" is a throwback to World War II, where the Allies fought against the Axis powers. In that war, the allies triumphed, destroying an enemy that would be vilified in history. World War II is a much different conflict than anything we face today. Iraq is not Nazi Germany and her allies. The new "axis" involves countries that don't pool together their efforts against a common enemy; they are not waging war on the United States. The show must go on. In reality, Bush has, in his two years of presidency, created a foreign policy in which he cannot step back on Iraq, because it would be inconsistent with stated policy (remember his address to the nation following Sept. 11: "you are either with us in the war against terror, or you are against us.").

So, what explains the new, hot issue of North Korea, intertwined with talk of Iraq? Is it really just the new flavor of the month? Bush underwent criticism and personal attacks for his policy on Iraq. But then people were also quick to point out the contradiction of targeting Iraq for their potential nuclear activity, when North Korea already has and continues to develop nuclear weapons. Nothing serious has developed with North Korea yet, but considering how fast things happened with Iraq, this could easily reach that level in a matter of weeks. The best way to deal with this contradiction, apparently, is to target both countries, instead of stepping back and reexamining the policy.

The problem with the billing of an evil country and afterward making extensive efforts, militarily and domestically, is that it doesn't work. Yes, it is arguable that Germany and Japan were "tamed" because of U.S. efforts after WWII, but those were different types of countries in a different era. Iraq (and maybe soon North Korea) is different. Germany and Japan were industrialized, capitalist nations. Thus, when the United States employed policy, it was somewhat smoothly adopted. An example of when U.S. policy did not work in reforming a nation due to severe ideological and social differences is found in the Philippines. Iraq and North Korea do not have a history of capitalism nor democracy, and to assume that U.S. policy will be accepted so easily is ignorant.

So why doesn't Bush see the wrong of his actions? He still has time to step back on what has been said and done. However, for Bush not to attack an "evil" country and try to reform it would be a contradiction to his no-fooling-around credo against terrorism. It would also be a contradiction to Rice's idea of a Republican foreign policy. If Bush stepped back now it would make him nothing more than Democratic (doesn't seem so bad now, does it?). "Evilness" is a force to be reckoned with. Republicans use the idea of "evil" because no one will argue that evil countries and people shouldn't be stopped. How convenient that the Republicans get to cast the players and script the plot.

After all, the world is a stage.