Bennett says 'axis of evil' is weakened but still intact

The way Sen. Bob Bennett sees it, today's "axis of evil" is still connected by its contempt for the West, but it's perhaps less evil with Iraq's Saddam Hussein out of power.

As for whether there is even less evil in the axis with North Korea's new commitment to resume talks about curtailing its nuclear objectives, Bennett said Tuesday, "You hope so."

Invited by the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics, the Republican senator last week gave U. students his own briefing on Iran, Iraq and North Korea, the three countries that in 2002 President Bush referred to as the axis of evil.

But first Bennett compared the complexities of dealing with those countries to the more "simple" days of the Cold War, a time, he said, when you were either for communism or you were for the West.

Then, focusing on Iraq, Bennett described a pre-Iraq war history in which the West typically ignored Islam's contributions to the world throughout the centuries and a lack of effort in the West to understand the religion. And when the United States invaded in 2003, he said it lifted the lid off "ancient grudges" within the region that are now flaring up, referring to conflicts between Shiite and Sunni Muslims.

"Basically, that is what is happening in Iraq," he said.

The "mess" in Iraq that Bennett outlined also consists of members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party, criminals Saddam released from prison during the invasion and al-Qaida all trying to drive the United States out of Iraq.

Bennett said there is "no easy way out" of a war that he reminded students has never been solely about weapons of mass destruction, which it turned out Saddam didn't have, Bennett added. Referring to a pre-war briefing by Secretary of State Condo- leezza Rice, Bennett said invading Iraq was also about taking down a "tyrant" and a regime that threatened those who spoke out against it with being shot.

Pulling out now, he said, would mean enemies in the region would follow a retreat back to U.S. soil. Bennett added that's a view taken by top military officials — and followed by Bush — that the media, singling out the New York Times, isn't reporting.

As for Iran and North Korea, Bennett said both countries appear to be using threats of nuclear pursuits to "blackmail" the West to get what they want.

In Iran, the mullahs, or religious leaders, hold all the real power and at present they are tolerating tough talk from the country's political leader, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, according to Bennett. The mullahs, he pointed out, could remove Ahmadinejad from power.

But in North Korea, there is a Communist regime that is near to collapsing, an observation that Bennett connected to renewed six-party talks that are expected to include the United States, Japan, Russia, China and South Korea. Bennett said that involving other countries is the "way to go" toward achieving more productive talks. "That's what we're pinning our hopes on," he said.

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E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com