![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
You are in: World: Americas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
Wednesday, 6 February, 2002, 05:08 GMT
US softens line on 'evil axis'
![]() Powell said the US was not planning any invasions
US Secretary of State Colin Powell has said America is willing to talk to states which President Bush described as an "axis of evil".
The secretary of state said that while Mr Bush's remarks did not mean America was about to invade any of the states, "action is going to be required". President Bush's comments, in his State of the Union speech last Wednesday, have been criticised by Iraq, Iran and North Korea, as well as some of America's allies around the world and even from within his Republican party.
On Iran, Mr Powell said Washington had a long list of grievances - but he also acknowledged Iran's co-operation over Afghanistan. The BBC's State Department correspondent Jon Leyne says what was most noticeable was the difference in tone between Mr Powell's remarks, the president's speech and subsequent tough comments by the Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld. Speaking to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, however, Mr Powell said Mr Bush's characterisation was fair. "[Iraq, Iran and North Korea] are deserving of this kind of designation", he said. "There is no reason for us not to identify them for what they are: regimes that are inherently evil," Mr Powell told the committee. War will continue Mr Powell said the president had tried to make the point that the war on terror would not end as long as there were "still regimes out there" that were developing weapons of mass destruction. The secretary of state said he stood by the president's words, which were reminiscent of former US President Ronald Reagan's description of the Soviet Union as an "evil empire". "The fact of the matter is Ronald Reagan was right and the fact of the matter is George Bush is right," he said. |
![]() |
See also:
![]() Internet links:
![]() The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top Americas stories now:
![]() ![]() Links to more Americas stories are at the foot of the page.
![]() |
![]() |
Links to more Americas stories
|
![]() |
![]() |
^^ Back to top News Front Page | World | UK | UK Politics | Business | Sci/Tech | Health | Education | Entertainment | Talking Point | In Depth | AudioVideo ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To BBC Sport>> | To BBC Weather>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © MMIII | News Sources | Privacy |