Liberal College Kid

The number of countries belonging to the “Axis of Evil” is dropping like the value of the American dollar. Of course, Iraq has been effectively resigned from the list for several years. It’s difficult to assign a country’s government the moniker “evil” when no discernable government exists. Now, however, it seems as though North Korea is off the hook as well, rendering Iran the sole remaining beacon of U.S. government-acknowledged evil.

This switch in attitude is apparently the result of North Korea’s decision to dismantle large portions of its nuclear weapons program and allow outside bodies to supervise this endeavor. They released a report to the international community that describes the extent to which they have developed their uranium enrichment program, although the consensus seems to be that the report does not fully disclose all of its aspects. Regardless, President Bush quickly issued a statement announcing that North Korea would be removed from the official list of “state sponsors of terrorism,” and that he would seek to lift sanctions imposed on the formerly-evil peninsula under the Trading with the Enemy Act.

Today, the North Korean’s went a step further by demolishing a tower at one of their nuclear program sites. Never mind that this particular tower is functionally innocuous and can be easily rebuilt – all agree that this is more a symbolic gesture of good will.

For the scores of hawks – both conservative and liberal – in the United States, this must seem like a terribly disappointing and uneventful conclusion to a multi-year stand-off with a country that the President once described as an “oppressive regime [that] rules a people living in fear and starvation.” So much for spreading the dream of democracy around the world. Apparently, a partial report and an exploding tower are enough to forgive the sins of a brutal dictatorship.

Sarcasm aside, it is comforting to see the ridiculous “Axis of Evil” paradigm falling apart. It was always an idiotic PR strategy used to instill fear of nuclear holocaust in the minds of American citizens. Back when the term was originally unveiled, it was already absurd on its face – and still is. There are plenty of other countries that embody “evil” (if we are forced to use that word) under the White House’s rubric. If the quest for nuclear armament, human rights violations and the sponsorship of terrorism are enough to earn the evil designation, there is an abundance of candidates around the world.

But the aspects of the Iraqi, Iranian, and North Korean governments that officially defined them as “evil” were never really the point in the first place. Many of our closest allies proliferate nuclear weapons, bend the rules of human rights, and engage in terroristic actions, whether through out-sourcing or with their own military. The real point is global American hegemony, both military and economic.

The difference between countries like Iran and (pre-war) Iraq and those such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan is not so much in how their governments conduct themselves in general as in how willing their governments are to acknowledge American supremacy and bend to the will of Washington. Saudi Arabia, certainly, from any objective viewpoint, a country that egregiously breaks the codes of conduct we apply to other governments, gets a free pass. Not only is the monarchy a good friend of the White House and a key supplier of oil, but they have also opened up their country to American business investment. Wall Street rakes in billions of dollars from Saudi Arabian development projects, so why would we ever dare to call them out on their “evil” actions? Because: it is fundamentally impossible for a country to be evil if they are on our side.

In the past, North Korea has taken a decidedly hostile stance toward American influence. Now, however, with one grand display of passivity and an eagerness to acquiesce in the face of American will, they have instantly restored their good standing in the eyes of the U.S. government; their name dropped from the list of rogue terrorist states, the economic sanctions lifted. We have taught the misbehaving dog who is in charge – who really runs the show - and now that he’s displaying obedience, we can let him out of his cage.