How far we've come...

...in four years!

Our President, on January 29, 2002:

"States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger...All nations should know: America will do what is necessary to ensure our nation's security."

Our President, on January 28, 2003:

"The dictator of Iraq is not disarming... Year after year, Saddam Hussein has gone to elaborate lengths, spent enormous sums, taken great risks to build and keep weapons of mass destruction... With nuclear arms or a full arsenal of chemical and biological weapons, Saddam Hussein could resume his ambitions of conquest in the Middle East and create deadly havoc in that region. America will not accept a serious and mounting threat to our country, and our friends and our allies.
We will consult. But let there be no misunderstanding: If Saddam Hussein does not fully disarm, for the safety of our people and for the peace of the world, we will lead a coalition to disarm him. (Applause.)"

The harsh reality, two years later--Steve Chapman, in today's Chicago Tribune:

"But ultimately, there may be no way to divert [Iran and North Korea] from the nuclear path. In that case, we need to focus on what is truly vital. After all, we can live with hostile nuclear states--as we've done in the past with the Soviet Union and China. What makes North Korea scary is that it might sell nukes to any willing buyer; what makes Iran scary is that it might smuggle them to terrorist groups.

So both need to get a blunt message: Should a nuclear attack take place that we trace back to them--no matter who carries it out--they will face annihilation. Nuclear deterrence kept the peace during the Cold War, and we may have no choice but to make it serve the same purpose again."

Do you feel safer yet?