1978: NOAA announces gender-neutral hurricane naming system
Federal News Network presents a daily update of important moments in the history of the U.S. government.
On this day in 2002, in his first State of the Union address since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, President George W. Bush described Iraq, Iran and North Korea as an “axis of evil.” After 9/11, George W. Bush’s administration waited less than a month before invading Afghanistan and deposing the Taliban regime there. Soon after, Bush turned his attention to “regime change” in Iraq. Although there were no direct links between Iraq, Iran and North Korea — Iraq and Iran were geopolitical enemies — the concept of an “axis of evil” united in its desire to harm Americans proved useful to those making the case for a second invasion of Iraq. Bush’s father, former President George H.W. Bush, had invaded Iraq in 1990 after repelling the Iraqi invasion of neighboring Kuwait, but left Saddam Hussein in power. The State of the Union speech outlined the second Bush administration’s logic to the War on Terror, and its foreign policy. Bush speechwriter David Frum is credited with coining the term “axis of evil. The president argued that each axis nation was in the process of building weapons of mass destruction and supporting terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda.
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