“On January 29 [2003], the president [Bush] devoted much of his State of the Union address to security issues and proclaimed Iraq, Iran, and North Korea to be part of an ‘axis of evil.’ Bush declared that WMD in the hands of rogue states was an unacceptable threat and warned that he would not wait while dangers gathered. It was the first hint of what CENTCOM [Central Command] already knew: Iraq would be the next phase in the White House campaign against terror.”
– Michael R. Gordon and Bernard E. Trainor, Cobra II, Pages 40-41