By Elson Concepción Pérez on October 9, 2017
2007 protest of Iraq War in San Francisco. Photo: Bill Hackwell
When Iraq formed part of the “axis of evil” – that hegemonic and criminal view created under the George W. Bush administration – the “solution” of the “good folks” from Washington was to bomb and invade the Arab nation. According to data from international organizations, the aggressor forces killed, maimed and injured more than one million people. Civilians, children, women, old people, were torn apart by rockets and bombs “Made in USA,” launched by those who were there to destroy everything, except the oil they wanted to seize.
Bush also included Iran and North Korea in this axis of evil, to which Washington later added Libya, Syria and Cuba, followed by Belarus, Myanmar and Zimbabwe.
The entire criminal plan was executed as if it were a simple mathematical operation: some were added and others were subtracted.
Following the heinous massacre of Iraq, the nation was left mutilated, in a genuine state of chaos and prey to the corruption imposed by those who had invaded it, who, under the pretext of rebuilding the country, handed over million dollar contracts to U.S. transnational corporations that never resulted in anything, on the contrary, they made off with the money.
Today, Syria is part of the select list of countries forming the “axis of evil.” There, the “good folks” from Washington, in addition to funding extremist groups, bomb alleged terrorist targets, and every day children, entire families and soldiers of the Syrian National Army are killed as “collateral damage.”
For the aggressors, Syria is bad because it resists, because it has a government chosen by the people, and because it does not accept foreign impositions to surrender and hand over its riches to those who describe it as part of the “axis of evil.”
Cuba has also been included in this select list over different periods, and as such current U.S. President Donald Trump has said that the blockade will continue, regardless of the almost unanimous international rejection of the policy, that causes great harm to the population. For more than 50 years, Cuba has been zealously blockaded, invaded by mercenaries financed, armed and militarily trained by the United States, and continues to be the constant object of imperialist sanctions and provocations. But Cuba resists.
In the list of enemies updated by Trump, Venezuela could not be overlooked. The new U.S. president has even threatened to overthrow the country’s government through military action.
It’s a question of wanting to put an end to recent history, whereby the Venezuelan people have been participants and beneficiaries of a Bolivarian process that has brought them out of the ostracism of centuries, and given them education, work, health and culture, among other social benefits.
Caracas forms part of Trump’s “axis of evil” for having built and delivered to the poor more than a million furnished homes; for having declared itself a country free of illiteracy; for having an inclusive, free and quality health service for the entire population; for being truly solidary.
Adding the Islamic Republic of Iran to this sort of “evil doers” club – another U.S. term – is likewise an indication of Trump’s desire to punish the Iranian people for their resistance.
Iran, as a key sign of its policy of peace, agreed to the signing of a nuclear deal, committing itself to, or rather reiterating its commitment, that its nuclear program has peaceful purposes.
The decision was not – unlike those of the current U.S. administration – improvised, and much less used to conceal its real intentions.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the body responsible for monitoring and verification of Tehran’s compliance with the agreement, assures there has been no violation by the Iranian government.
But Trump is not at all content with the possible achievements of his predecessor, Barack Obama, and is determined to pull out of the deal, just as he did with the climate change agreement, and others.
In an offensive speech, in no way appropriate to the UN General Assembly, Trump insulted North Korea and even threatened to wipe the country off the map.
Add to this the provocative military maneuvers undertaken by U.S. forces with modern means of warfare in the Korean peninsula, very close to the nation’s border, as well as the inclusion of Pyongyang on it’s list of the worst of the world, and Washington’s true objectives become clear.
The theme of the “axis of evil” is nothing new, it wasn’t thought up by current U.S. President Donald Trump. Nor did George W. Bush come up with it himself, when he used it in his infamous State of the Union address on January 29, 2002.
In the case of both of these presidents, their most assured “virtue” is improvisation. The imperialist “axis of evil” expression, used to refer to countries and governments that do not adhere to the dictates of Washington, was coined by David Frum, former Bush speechwriter, who notes in his book that the prevailing mediocrity and improvisation in the White House, together with the president’s misinformation, dominated the political environment of the time.
Bush first used the phrase, and now President Trump has dusted it off, adding new names to the well-known list of “rogue regimes.”
http://en.granma.cu/mundo/2017-10-09/the-united-states-and-the-axis-of-evil
Source: Granma