George W. Bush's "Axis of Evil". Helpfulness in Fighting the War on Terror (PDF)

Essay from the year 2019 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: Near East, Near Orient, grade: 68, University of Winchester, language: English, abstract: This paper is going to tackle whether Bush's 2002 articulation of an "Axis of Evil" in fighting the 'war on terror' was a mistake or not. To answer this question, this essay will look at Iraq as an example because Iraq was invaded by the US in 2003. On the one hand, Bush's articulation that the "Axis of Evil" could be seen as helpful in fighting the war on terror as the US argued, that Iraq had acquired chemical weapons and Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD).

On the other hand, invading Iraq could have been a huge mistake because the problem of Al-Qaeda became stronger and there were many terror attacks in Europa after the Iraq invasion. Thus, the "Axis of Evil" could be helpful, but there were some problematic things. This essay will first explore, what the "Axis of Evil" was. Then the essay will turn to illustrate the question if a state can be a terrorist. It will argue what evidence there is that a state is involved in terrorism. Finally, this essay will discuss the outcome of the 'war on terror', and conclude if the invasion of the Iraq by the US was a mistake or not.

The terrorist attacks in New York and Washington on the 11th September 2001 represent a symbolic declaration of war by Islamic fundamentalists to Western civilization. However, in January 2002, George W. Bush in his speech to the Washington Post demonstrated the existence of an international "Axis of Evil" by addressing North Korea, Iran and Iraq. Further, under Secretary of State John Bolton said that Cuba, Libya and Syria could be grouped with these as rogue states. Bush added that states like these and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil.