[link|http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/13/opinion/13FRIE.html|Friedman on our crazies are crazier than yours.]

You'll need an account on NYT, but they seem pretty good about no spam. Put quickly, his assertion is that the U.S. took it in the teeth on 9/11 because for the last 20 years, the U.S. has acted like a patsy to terrorists. The U.S. was good about spanking real countries but when it came to terrorists...well... It is his contention that the current Shrub policy of identifying the "axis of evil" may be all the things the Europeans blubber about, but it does have the effect of saying the U.S. can be just as crazy as the terrorists which he feels is a good thing to get across right now.

Personally, I wish the "axis of evil" thing had never been mentioned. There's no point in pushing those countries together and it seems to have helped the asshole mullahs in Iran regain some support. But I understand Friedman's point.

Yes and no, I don't doubt the utility of putting a country's face on the enemy. On the other hand, N. Korea is hellbent on putting nuclear warheads on missles to threaten the U.S....they think it will help negotiate the U.S. out of S. Korea (according to a Korean friend) so they can finally finishing having their war. Iran (informally via the mullahs) and Iraq (formally via Saddam "born to kill" Hussein) are a threat. Both seem hell bent on getting access to better weapons. Rafshanjani (sp?) made a comment once that nuking Israel would be worth a few Iranian cities going boom because it would mean the end of Israel. What charming man, willing to sacrifice millions of his own people for martyrdom. Saddam...one of his defectors visited Indy recently and explained how the Taliban were bush-league compared to what Saddam does to his people.