July 15, 1998: Rumsfeld’s Ballistic Missile Committee Says Chief Threat to US Is from Iran, Iraq, and North Korea

The Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States, headed by former and future Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (see July 1998), reports its findings about risks to the US. The Commission, of which Paul Wolfowitz is also a member, says that the greatest threat to the US is posed by Iran, Iraq, and North Korea, and that this threat is greater than the US intelligence community has previously indicated. Although Pakistan has recently tested nuclear weapons (see May 28, 1998), it is not on the list. [Guardian, 10/13/2007] Iran, Iraq, and North Korea will be dubbed the “Axis of Evil” by George W. Bush in his 2002 State of the Union speech (see January 29, 2002).