THE NEW AXIS OF EVIL: Michael Ledeen writes:

The “Axis of Evil” went hand in hand with Bush’s analysis of the threat we faced:  it was, he said, a combination of terrorist groups and countries that supported them.  He promised that the United States would not distinguish between the two groups.  We would go after the terrorists and their sponsors and allies.  That we did it badly—Iran, not Iraq, was the logical target after Afghanistan, and political warfare, not invasion, was the logical method—shouldn’t blind us to the fact that it was already clear in early 2002 that we had to deal with multiple threats, and we’d eventually have to defeat them all or face a grim future.

Would that we’d kept that thought.  Instead, we got the grim future.

We now face a more potent Axis of Evil that includes two of the original three (North Korea and Iran, with Iraq up for grabs), plus Russia, China, Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia and other countries, and terrorist groups including al Qaeda, Hezbollah, and the Islamic State.  With the exception of their hatred of the West, there is no single ideology that unites them.  The new Axis includes Sunni and Shi’ite radical Muslims, Communists and other radical leftists, and nationalistic secular tyrants like Vladimir Putin.  They have certainly succeeded in wrecking hopes for a peaceful world.

There is no escape from this war, whatever Western leaders might wish.  We will either win it or lose it, and right now we are losing, most obviously in the Middle East and Central Europe, less dramatically in Africa from Somalia to Nigeria, and in Latin America where Iran is busily strengthening its cooperation with local autocrats.

“We can win this thing.  But we’d better get at it fast.  It’s getting worse right now,” Michael adds. And it will continue to do so until at least 2017.

Speaking of which, “Iran [Reportedly] Tests New Ballistic Missile in Violation of Nuclear Deal.” Or as Amir Taheri today writes in the New York Post, “Obama will be the only person sticking to Iran deal.”