“Iran aggressively pursues these weapons [of mass destruction] and exports terror, while an unelected few repress the Iranian people’s hope for freedom. … States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world.”
These words were spoken by President George W. Bush on Jan. 29, 2002, in his State of the Union address five months after the Sept. 11 attacks. It was this speech where he declared Iraq, Iran and North Korea an ‘axis of evil’ in their pursuit of weapons of mass destruction.
The axis now revolves around Iran.
Whether its the longtime funding and support of Hamas and Hezbollah, attempts to make post-war Iraq a client state, or seeding disruption across the Middle East, Iran is at the center of the anti-West movement.
While their leaders continually stoke resentment, significant numbers of Iranians recoil – a point that cannot be forgotten. As demonstrated by the 2009 Green Revolution, the Iranian government can be vulnerable.
That is compounded by inexplicable decisions made by the Obama and Biden administrations to bail out Iran’s leaders. Then-President Barack Obama’s lack of support allowed the ’09 Green Revolution to fizzle and die on the vine. The Iran deal in his second term gave the regime a lifeline of billions of dollars. Most recently, the Biden administration unlocked $6 billion for the struggling regime that now is flush with cash to spread across its client groups.
Iran’s destabilizing efforts, combined with work done to normalize relations between Israel and Arab nations, would end Iran’s efforts to control what happens in their region – untenable for them and for any spectre of a two-state solution, if nations such as Saudi Arabia back Israel and, by extension, the West.
Iran’s is a brand of militant Islam that is more uncomfortable with peace than war.
It much easier to blame the interlopers for shortages of food and medicine than to give up power. Empowering those leaders, appeasing their interests, instead of isolating them, hasn’t worked because it can’t work.
This is what separates Iran from Communist China, Russia and North Korea.
While Iran has worked in alignment with Russia and North Korea to further an anti-Western agenda, their end goal won’t align with empirical aspirations of Russia to reclaim for Soviet territory, North Korea’s desire to dominate Southeast Asia or China’s goal to once again reach its Middle Kingdom status.
The muted response from those nations following Saturday’s atrocities should be equally concerning for Western nations. If the West can’t show resolve now, the world map will reach a realignment not seen since the end of World War II.
