Thursday, May 31, 2007

The Axis and the tribunal

In 2002, Bush named 3 countries in his State of the Union Address "The Axis of Evil". These countries were Iraq, Iran and North Korea. Shortly after that John Bolton, the undersecretary of state back then added 3 "rouge" states to the list: Libya, Syria and Cuba. These states have been accused of harboring terrorism & developing weapons of mass destruction, and were to be dealt with.


Iraq: Faced sanctions by the USA until it faced military action.
Iran: In limbo with the USA regarding its Nuclear program, and facing economical sanctions.
North Korea: Facing international sanctions, with an acute weakening economy.

The 3 additional states:

Libya: In 2003 Libya payed the families of the victims of the Pan Am flight 3 Billion dollars in compensation, dropped its weapons program, and have rectified its relations with the west since.
Cuba: identified as a State Sponsor of Terror by the United States Department of State in addition to the imposed sanctions.

Which brings us to Syria. So, why is Syria so worried about the latest resolution? You can take a guess. When the Syrians assassinated Hariri, they did not think that this could be used as an excuse by the Americans to rally the international community. Apparently, they were shortsighted.

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