# "Axis of Evil" Originated as a pretext to "go after Iraq." **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 21, 2003, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/axis-of-evil-originated-as-a-pretext-to-go-after-iraq/150000 "2003-01-21T16:58:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/axis-of-evil-originated-as-a-pretext-to-go-after-iraq/150000/21 "2003-01-22T00:46:18Z")
If you don’t like the reruns, don’t complain to The Onion–complain to Bush. Next week’s headline: **Bush on North Korea: We Must Cut Taxes** ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/axis-of-evil-originated-as-a-pretext-to-go-after-iraq/150000/22 "2003-01-22T05:57:26Z")
A completely innocent question to the conservative faction here (December, Scylla, et. al): What, in your estimation _did_ Bush intend to accomplish/communicate with the “Axis of Evil” speech last year? My best non-partisan explanation might be that the message was intended to be “the world is a dangerous place. For example…” and some examples were needed. Iraq was named, then NK and Iran were included as convenient, but not particularly important, rhetorical targets. Was there a deeper meaning than that to the rhetoric? Do you see this Axis as a concrete thing or…? Thanks for clarifying. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/axis-of-evil-originated-as-a-pretext-to-go-after-iraq/150000/23 "2003-01-22T07:47:37Z")
We have a tendency to think of Presidential speeches to be directed at the world. But they are also directed at Americans, to rally them. The ‘axis of evil’ I believe was a rhetorical method of focusing Americans on the threats that faced them. There was some concern before then that the War on Terror was going to be incoherent. No one knew which countries were dangerous, which weren’t. This was an attempt to clarify everyone’s thinking. ---
**Author:** ![keithnmick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90db22/32.png) [@keithnmick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keithnmick)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/axis-of-evil-originated-as-a-pretext-to-go-after-iraq/150000/24 "2003-01-22T15:25:25Z")
What was the reaction in North Korea to the speech? (genuine question) ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/axis-of-evil-originated-as-a-pretext-to-go-after-iraq/150000/25 "2003-01-22T15:31:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by squeegee \* > \*\*What, in your estimation _did_ Bush intend to accomplish/communicate with the “Axis of Evil” speech last year? > > My best non-partisan explanation might be that the message was intended to be "the world is a dangerous place. \*\* Your explanation sounds reasonable to me, **squeegee**. Also, the idea that there is an evil axis implies that it’s urgent to take some sort of preventive action against it. That’s a policy change. Most Americans before 9/11 seemed to feel that foreign policy was more-or-less optional. France and Germany still seem to believe that. ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/axis-of-evil-originated-as-a-pretext-to-go-after-iraq/150000/26 "2003-01-22T16:20:40Z")
> [@](#): > > **Sam Stone** : There was some concern before then that the War on Terror was going to be incoherent. No one knew which countries were dangerous, which weren’t. This was an attempt to clarify everyone’s thinking. While I agree it is important to inform the world about the terror sponsoring or WMD distributing nations - would it have been smarter to simply release the information through the State Department? I have to agree with the opinion that the Axis of Evil rhetoric may have done more harm than good. Kim Jong Il is an example. Yes, he can nuke Seoul, roll tanks by the thousands, send a million troops accross the border. All the more reason to prepare to fight him while trying to soothe him in the public discourse. It was “walk softly,” not, “poke at the nutcase dictators with the stick.” ---
**Author:** ![hlujarn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7bcc69/32.png) [@hlujarn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlujarn)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/axis-of-evil-originated-as-a-pretext-to-go-after-iraq/150000/27 "2003-01-23T02:51:35Z")
“Axis of Evil” Originated as a pretext to “go after Iraq.” Well if it is it wouldn’t be the first time. Remember this from 12 years ago? Quote: “In fact, the most emotionally moving testimony on October 10 came from a 15-year-old Kuwaiti girl, known only by her first name of Nayirah. According to the Caucus, Nayirah’s full name was being kept confidential to prevent Iraqi reprisals against her family in occupied Kuwait. Sobbing, she described what she had seen with her own eyes in a hospital in Kuwait City. Her written testimony was passed out in a media kit prepared by Citizens for a Free Kuwait. “I volunteered at the al-Addan hospital,” Nayirah said. "While I was there, I saw the Iraqi soldiers come into the hospital with guns, and go into the room where . . . babies were in incubators. They took the babies out of the incubators, took the incubators, and left the babies on the cold floor to die.” Most of you are familiar with this story, which rallied American public to support the Gulf War 1. Here is the real story about “the babies in the incubators”. Link: > **[How PR Sold the War in the Persian Gulf](https://www.prwatch.org/books/tsigfy10.html)** > > Excerpted from Toxic Sludge Is Good For You, Chapter 10 "If I wanted to lie, or if we wanted to lie, if we wanted to exaggerate, I wouldn't use my daughter to do so. I could easily buy other people to do it."--Saud Nasir al-Sabah, Kuwait's Ambassador... I’m willing to bet that in a short time we are going to hear some similar story, a “Hook” to get Americans on the road to War. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/axis-of-evil-originated-as-a-pretext-to-go-after-iraq/150000.md?page=1)