The US is facing a new “axis of evil” in Iran, China and Russia: Mitch McConnell

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell invoked the controversial phrase “Axis of Evil” on Sunday to describe growing global threats to the United States and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies.

McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, made the comments in interviews with Fox News and CBS News. During the appearances, he discussed the threat to Western nations from Russia, China and Iran, the latter of which is gaining renewed global attention for its support of Hamas, the militant Palestinian Islamist group that launched a historic deadly attack against Israel on March 17, 2017 is October 7th.

Russia has been in a protracted and bloody conflict with Ukraine since the neighboring country was invaded in February 2022. President Joe Biden has repeatedly reiterated U.S. support for Ukraine and recently called on Congress to approve billions in additional military support for the embattled country, alongside support for Israel. Meanwhile, China has become increasingly hostile toward Taiwan in recent years, leading many observers to predict a conflict between the two entities in the near future.

“You have to respond to conditions that actually exist that pose a threat to the United States,” McConnell said Fox News Sunday Hosted by Shannon Bream. “The Iranians are a threat to us too. And that’s why this is an emergency. It is an emergency that we are seizing and dealing with this axis of evil – China, Russia, Iran – because it poses an imminent threat to the United States.” In many ways, the world is more at risk today than it was in my lifetime. “

Later on CBS News’ Face the nationThe senator added: “There is an axis of evil in the world: China, Russia, North Korea and Iran, and we must stand up to the axis of evil and not try to do business with them.”

The term “Axis of Evil” was most notably used by former President George W. Bush after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City to refer to North Korea, Iran and Iraq. Since then, the speech has become infamous as a pretext for launching the global “war on terror” and the “forever wars” in Iraq and Afghanistan, from which the US only recently withdrew and both of which have only gotten worse over the years considered costly and unnecessary.

“States like these and their terrorist allies represent an axis of evil armed to threaten the peace of the world,” Bush said in his speech at the time. “By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a serious and growing threat. They could supply these weapons to terrorists, giving them the means to fulfill their hatred. They could attack our allies or try to blackmail the United States. In any case.” In these cases, the price of indifference would be catastrophic.”

During his appearance on Fox News, McConnell rebuked the Biden administration for the disastrous withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan. Supporters of the president often countered this criticism by pointing out that it was an agreement negotiated by former President Donald Trump that led to the withdrawal in the first place. However, he praised the president for drawing a connection between aid to Ukraine and Israel in his recent request to Congress, saying he also sees the conflicts as linked.

Newsweek contacted foreign defense experts via email to gain further insight.