MILNET Opinion
  Axis Closes Ranks, 2/18/2005
"We are ready to help Syria on all grounds to confront threats...This meeting, which takes place at this sensitive time, is important, especially because Syria and Iran face several challenges and it is necessary to build a common front"

- Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref, 2/16/2005 1

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Not too unexpectedly, the Axis of Evil is closing ranks. Today, Syria and Iran announced the beginnings of a new alliance to "build a common front". Former national security advisor to U.S. President Ronald  Reagan Robert McFarlane is  quoted by Fox News as responding,
"They feel the ground shifting under them....It's a very misguided effort, this idea of cooperation between Iran and Syria...They've wreaked years and years of devastation to Lebanon and the sponsorship of terrorism."  1
The truthful rational for this alliance is pretty obvious, the two nations are feeling the pressure exacted by the U.S. coalition and much of the U.N. 

And as usual, the Euros are waffling.  While happy to use the mealy mouthed words of non-confrontation in the U.N., politely requesting Iran and Syria change their behavior, when it comes time to put some teeth in the necessity for change the Euros suddenly cave into pediatric whining.  It is totally disgusting.

And thus that great debating society the U.N. is proving its lack of worth, and the Socialist Euros are teaming up with their new friend Russia to allow Iran continue developing its nuclear weapons, happy to allow North Korea exact nuclear blackmail, and now, not eager to force Syria to withdraw from Lebanon and eject terrorists.    Their actions place the world further in peril and are close to becoming allies to Terrorists and their supporters.

Take a look at our little map we call the New Axis.  It truly tells the story.  The Euros are literally off the map.  Russia, China, Syria, Lebanon and Iran are colored in a deep red -- that's for danger.  No, this is not McCarthy style branding, it is a realization of where rogue nations exist.



The New Axis of Evil
(Legend)

The nations in gray are somewhat apathetic, but do tend to go along with western concepts and tactics. The tans are only in it for their own purposes, but surely aren't interested in joining the terrorists, nor are they out there attempting to disrupt and destroy the region.

The greens are of course are those nations which not only go along with the ideals of democracy and freedom, but are genuinely taking steps to accomplish democracy in their own nation.  You will note this includes Pakistan, who we have high hopes for as Musharraf continues reform in that country.  Iraq of course, still remains a dangerous place, but we are highly impressed with the Iraqi population that risked life and limb to go to the polls and show their support for democracy.

The bottom line is that the Axis of Evil not only still exists, it is beginning to close in on itself and finally show its face.  Iran's steadfast refusal to swear off their nuclear program, Syria and Iran's approval, support and instigation of terrorists as well as Syria's occupying a whole nation to house those terrorists all point to the most dangerous alliance in the history of mankind, making the World War II axis look like child's play. 

Just look how Syria, Iran, China, and Russia forge a wedge into the otherwise actively improving Middle East.  They threaten Jordan, Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Turkey.  With the truckloads of goodies from Saddam's pre-war Iraq, Syria is close to their own nuclear program completion, has biological and chemical weapons, plus the technicians who know how to reconstitute the programs if they are destroyed by surgical strike.  Similarly Iran was a customer of pre-9/11 Pakistan, and could easily have purchased a weapon from the Khan group just as North Korea may have done.


Business as Usual on the Left

Yet the left continues to whine and wring their hands, wishing it would all go away instead of getting of their collective butts and doing something about it.

Senators John Kerry and Ted Kennedy, as well as House Rep Nancy Polosi and Barbara Boxer, are aiding and abetting the Axis by giving them comfort.  Kerry's call for one-on-one talks with North Korea has clearly been seized by the North Koreans, and thus the Senator is guilty of subverting U.S. policy.  The Senate Ethics Committee should censure the idiot for his irresponsible actions.  Kennedy's pounding on the issue of torture clearly feeds the Iraqi insurgents and terrorists around the world (Thanks Bill O'Reilly for continuing to point that out).  Instead of letting our own justice system function, he is taking a page from Bin Laden and broadcasting to the world how he hates America and George Bush.

It is time for the other half of the leadership of this nation -- people in our Congress -- to quit aiding our enemies and start helping solve problems, not generate new ones, or help the enemies propaganda program.  Again and again we see them as clueless fools who no longer serve our country.

Certainly there are good people in Congress.  However, they must police their own colleagues, and censure of Kennedy, Kerry, Palosi, and Boxer would be a fine first step in proving to the American people that their Congress is responsible and up to the task of fighting the war on Terrorism.



Updates:


2/18/2005:  President George Bush and his Secretary of State Condeleza Rice responded to a defiant announcement from Syria and Iran that they are forming an alliance to defend against a common threat.  Bush and Rice both stated that the U.S. believes that a diplomatic solution remains their preferred choice and assured that there are no military plans although that option always "remains on the table". 14

2/16/2005:  Iran's Vice President announced that Iran and Syria are working together to from an alliance to protect against the common threat of U.S. aggression. The two nations, according to numerous sources are only confirming publicly what has been going on for decades, the intelligence services of the two countries cooperating with their support, direction, and sanctuary for Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as other terrorists, using Lebanon and Syria as sanctuaries while those terrorists continually attack Israel.  13



Further Reading:
  1. Iran, Syria Partnership Raises Eyebrows, Fox News, 2/16/2005
  2. Axis of Evil Weapons Trade, MILNET Brief, February 13, 2005
  3. China Threat Update (1/2005), MILNET Brief,  January 1, 2005
  4. Update - Iranian Conventional Forces, MILNET Brief, February 2005
  5. Iran Nuclear Weapons Chronology, MILNET Brief, September, 2004
  6. Direct Action Against Iran, MILNET Brief, September, 2004
  7. The Threat From Syria, MILNET Brief, September, 2004
  8. Chronology of North Korean Nuclear Events, MILNET Brief, September, 2004
  9. Old Russia Returns, MILNET Opinion
  10. The Terrorist Bomb, MILNET Opinion
  11. Iranian Death March, MILNET Opinion
  12. The U.N. - Useless?, MILNET Opinion
  13. Iran, Syria Partnership Raises Eyebrows, Lize Porteus, Fox News Online, 2/17/2005
  14. Bush:  No Plans For War on Iran, A.P., Fox News Online, 2/18/2005
  15. Syria Begins Pullback in Lebanon, A.P., Fox News Online, 3/7/2005


© Copyright 2005, Michael G. Crawford