In last week’s State of the Union address, President Bush invoked epic images of a Reaganesque “Axis of Evil” consisting of such “rogue nations” as Iran, Iraq and North Korea. Drawing the proverbial line in the sand, he laid out several “non-negotiable demands of human dignity,” namely the rule of law, limits on the power of the state, respect for women, private property, free speech, equal justice and religious tolerance. He cited these “rogue states” as prime violators of these inalienable rights.

The irony in all of this is that our so-called “friends” are as bad about these issues as the “Axis of Evil.”

Take the “rule of law” for example: Namely, the prevalence of a common code of law above arbitrary decisions of executives and ministers. When a general overthrows a nation’s elected government in a bloodless coup on an island of little strategic relevance, we call their leader a dictator and the CIA spends millions on wacky schemes which fail to assassinate him. If, however, they neighbor an area of strategic relevance, we call this leader “President Musharraf.” (On a side note, repeated promises have come from there for a free election to occur “someday” – don’t hold your breath).

With respect to freedom of speech, look no further than the majority of the Arab world, where, with the exception of Qatar and Israel, the presses are all state-owned and operated. Don’t go looking for press freedom among many of our other non-EU allies either – Russia’s government recently closed down its last privately-owned television station and freedom of speech in China is unheard of.

What of respect for women? Look no further than our “good buddies” of Saudi Arabia, where even U.S. servicewomen are “encouraged” to wear head-to-toe burqas when going out in public and forbidden from driving or riding in the front seat on threat of beatings – how’s that for enlightened?

What of private property? Every day in the United States eminent domain is used to rob property owners of land and sometimes even homes for the “vested interest” of the state – be it an expanded intersection or a parking lot. In reality, it doesn’t matter. Couple this with the confiscatory income taxes of the first world, most especially in Europe, and suddenly our “inalienable demand” of private property seems more a joke than anything.

As for limits on the power of the state? Look no further than home, where the U.S.A. “Patriot” Act is busy at work, shredding away those last checks on state power. So long “inalienable rights,” hello police state. After all, too many checks on state power allow those zany college radicals to give “ammunition to America’s enemies and pause to its friends,” as Attorney General John Ashcroft informed the Senate.

To single out Iraq, Iran and North Korea under the guise of “inalienable rights” is an absurdity bordering on rank hypocrisy given the conduct of our allies abroad and even our own government at home. More importantly, in doing so President Bush has completely glossed over any strategically significant threat (if any) that these nations pose, all while dancing around the fact that our “allies” are conducting atrocities on a daily basis as if it were business as usual, this time however with a rubber stamp of approval from the U.S. government.

Still all of this begs the question: What end does this serve? What end does it serve for the United States to evoke the ire of the civilized world by going after what amounts to strategic non-threats? As America points its guns at nations such as Iraq, even its closest allies can only cringe, shake their heads and murmur their quiet disapproval.

Expanding this campaign beyond the reach of those directly plotting against the U.S. government is not only reckless but smacks of blatant hegemony, which the astute observer will recall got us into this mess in the first place.

While America flexes its newfound muscle on minuscule “rogue states” who’ve shown little more threat to us than to thumb their nose at us more openly than our “allies,” it continues to make itself a prime target for more terrorist activity while further isolating its friends.

Iran, aside from stirring up trouble in the Middle East (a place we have little strategic interest in outside of oil to begin with), has shown little interest in provoking a fight with the United States. Their alleged clandestine nuclear program comes from none other than our “friends,” the Russian government. North Korea’s nuclear weapons development has been a derelict operation for years – mostly propped up by the Chinese government to begin with. Thus, where does the real threat exist? Should the resources and lives of our military be spent chasing down two-bit dictators while we turn a blind eye to the abuses of our partners in the “war on terror” for the sake of chasing down a few rogue states?

The men and women of our armed forces took an oath to protect the United States from threats to its people, not to police the world and overthrow petty dictators who pose little threat. If the United States must use force to achieve its ends in going after terror, it should do so sparingly and with precision. Declaring every state that America has an ideological disagreement with as an “Axis of Evil” spreads America’s forces ever thinner and dulls our focus on real threats to American security.

Steve Skutnik is a senior in physics from Palm Harbor, Fla. He is the election commissioner for GSB.