The US on Sunday asked Iran, Iraq and North Korea, described as "axis of evil" by President George W Bush, to change their ways failing which America will do whatever necessary to protect itself and its friends. Denying that President Bush in his State of the Union message threatened these countries with war, Secretary of State Colin Powell said, "We reserve the right to do whatever is necessary to protect ourselves and our friends and allies. As the President also said in that speech, he will be consulting with our friends and allies as we move forward."
Iran, he said, has been supporting the Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations. He did not think that was much in dispute. What the US is trying to tell these three countres, he said, is that they should not be developing weapons of mass destruction and supporting terrorism. They should be using their resources to improve their countries. In the case of North Korea, it should be using its resources to feed the starving population, which the US is now doing, and not investigating
Its treasure in missiles. Instead of doing that, North Korea, he said, is trying to improve its missiles for export. That is a dangerous problem. He reiterated his demand that Iraq should allow UN inspectors back in. Powell, who was appearing on CBS-TV, said he has no information that Iran has been actually helping the Al-Qaeda and Taliban to escape into Iran. When the interviewer said Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says they were helping them, Powell said "Don is closer to these (developments) than I am."
Bureau Report