The Axis of Evil Statesmen

This week Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad cemented his position in the Axis of Evil Statesmen by traveling to New Delhi for a visit with President Manmohan Singh, the sole purpose of which was to spite the United States.

The New York Times reports Ahmedinejad was not there to, “sign…path-breaking bilateral deals,” nor was he, “trying to iron out the kinks in a proposed 1600-mile-long natural gas pipeline.” Rather, he was there to let the Indian president shake hands with a man America hates.

This move should garner President Singh a bump in support from the majority of Indians who believe their nation should assert its independence from the US. Luckily this symbolic gesture won’t actually interfere with any US policies, so in the short-term it’s a win-win-win for everyone involved.

However, combine (a) Iran’s push for nuclear weapons, (b) the recent US policy of giving India nuclear technology, and (c) a growing Indian-Iranian relationship focused on the common interests of (i) energy and (ii) not doing what the US wants; and the long-term outlook becomes somewhat disturbing in a nuclear-proliferationy kind of way.

But regardless of long-term ramifications, Ahmedinejad is clearly using a high-profile international visit to circumvent and disrupt official US State Department policy, which earns him a place alongside Presidents Jimmy Carter and Hugo Chavez in the ranks of the Axis of Evil Statesmen.