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Is it West and the rest or America and the rest? by Sabri Oncu 01 February 2002 00:39 UTC |
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Top World News 01/31 16:32 Bush Warns Terrorism Sponsors in Next Phase of War (Update2) By Holly Rosenkrantz and Richard Keil Atlanta, Jan. 31 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush said countries that develop weapons of mass destruction must ``get their house in order,'' sharpening his rhetoric about the next phase of the war on terrorism. ``If you're one of those nations that develops weapons of mass destruction, and you're likely to team up with a terrorist group, or you're sponsoring terror,'' then ``you, too are on our watch list,'' Bush said at a campaign-style rally today. Bush's characterization of Iran, Iraq and North Korea as an ``axis of evil'' in Tuesday night's speech drew condemnations from the three countries. Two top White House aides, Chief of Staff Andrew Card and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, said today that Bush was simply putting those countries on notice the U.S. is pursuing another stage in the anti-terror war. ``The list of states that sponsor terror and the list that are seeking to acquire weapons of mass destruction happen to overlap substantially,'' Rice said at a speech to the Conservative Political Action Committee, an arm of the American Conservative Union. Bush didn't mention North Korea, Iran and Iraq by name in two days of rallies in North Carolina, Florida and Georgia. Today in Atlanta, he said he wants the world to know ``what it means'' when his administration warns nations that develop nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. Rule of Law ``They better respect the rule of law,'' Bush said. ``They better not terrorize America and our friends and allies, or the justice of this nation will be served on them as well.'' Bush's aides were more explicit when asked whether Iran, Iraq and North Korea were at the top of an administration watch list. ``They represent priority concern,'' Card told reporters while traveling with Bush. ``There are reasons well known for the world to be concerned about the climate of these three countries.'' ``Those countries where they invite terrorists to play are inviting greater scrutiny from the civilized world,'' Card said. In North Korea's case, Card said the country had a history of selling delivery systems for weapons of mass destruction ``to some around the world who might not have the best of motives.'' The three countries are also far along in their development of weapons of mass destruction, Rice said. North Korea, for one, is the ``world's No. 1 merchant for ballistic missiles, open for business with anyone, no matter how malign the buyer's intentions,'' Rice said. Iran's ``direct support for global terrorism'' and its ``aggressive'' efforts to obtain weapons ``belie any good intentions'' it showed in the days after the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S., Rice said. Appeal to Allies The U.S. wants its allies to help stop these countries from deploying weapons, and will take steps of its own, including tightening export controls, Rice said. The U.S. will also use its ``new and budding'' relationship with Russia to improve efforts to prevent ``the leakage of dangerous materials and technologies,'' Rice said. Even as Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin have touted their personal friendship, they've clashed over Russian sales of weapons technology to Iran. Some analysts said Bush's ``axis of evil'' remark may have done more harm than good. Ted Carpenter, the Cato Institute's vice president for defense and foreign policy, said Bush's comments Tuesday were ``inflammatory rhetoric'' and ``not particularly helpful'' toward cultivating a dialogue to reduce the threat of global terror. Bush Marker Jim Lindsay, a former Clinton administration national security aide, said Bush ``clearly has made a major rhetorical commitment'' and ``that puts pressure on the administration to follow through.'' Bush laid down ``a marker'' for action that may have to be unilateral and risks alienating Arab allies like Saudi Arabia, Western nations like Britain and even Asian allies like South Korea, plunging the Middle East and Asia into disarray, Lindsay said. Today the president defined the enemy as one that ``knows no values, does not share the same values we do.'' ``For the sake of a peaceful world, we must not only find them in Afghanistan, we must find them wherever they hide, in any country that harbors terrorism around the world,'' he said.
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