'Axis of evil' haunts Bush's final term

[NNN0LHI]

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13740277/

WASHINGTON - More than four years ago, U.S. President George W. Bush branded them charter members of the "axis of evil."

Now the three countries he targeted, Iraq, Iran and North Korea, are haunting the final years of his presidency, topping the list of unresolved foreign policy problems he likely will leave to his successor.

North Korea's missile tests this week in defiance of U.S. and international warnings underlined the growing sense that Bush's legacy in world affairs, something aides say he thinks about more and more these days, is increasingly at risk.

"He identified these states as threats but seems unable to move toward acceptable solutions," Georgetown University political scientist Stephen Wayne said. "Future presidents will have to deal with the repercussions of his rhetoric."

Overhanging Bush's foreign policy challenges are his low approval ratings, now languishing in the mid-30s, among the worst poll numbers of any president facing midterm congressional elections.

[Deja Q]

1. I thought Bush wanted this upheaval?

:shrug: