U.S. Watches 'Axis' States

Jan. 31 -- With the eyes of the nation — and the world — on him, President Bush this week declared that a new "axis of evil" — Iraq, Iran, and North Korea — pose a deadly and unacceptable threat to the United States.

The statement was a significant expansion of the scope of the war on terror. But his administration apparently has developed no clear plan to achieve this goal.

Questions about what Bush meant by the "axis of evil" and details of how the United States would stand up to those nations are hounding administration officials.

For its part, the State Department seems to be taking a low-key approach.

"At this point, we've offered to discuss these issues, these very serious issues, in a serious manner, at anytime, anyplace, without preconditions," said spokesman Richard Boucher.

At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld sent a sterner signal.

"If we decide to initiate things, we'll initiate things, in a manner, in a time and with the choices that fit us. If the world decides to impose choices on us, then we'll make choices."

Rumsfeld says the United States will be watching closely the targeted countries.

"If I were in Iran or North Korea or Iraq and I heard the president of the United States say what he said about weapons of mass destruction and about terrorism ... I don't think there'd be a lot of ambiguity," he said. "Now, what they will do about that is something we'll find out."

Long-time Concern About 'Rogue States'

For years, the United States has worked to stop Iraq, Iran, and North Korea from obtaining weapons of mass destruction — to little avail.

The Clinton administration dubbed the countries "rogue states" and tried to block Russia and others from selling them weapons technology — and a former top official from the Clinton years doubts Bush's heated words can accomplish much more.

"We're threatening in a sense to go to war with each of these three countries," says former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger. "That's a pretty big battlefield."