In his State of the Union address, President Bush created an international stir when he referred to Iraq, Iran, and North Korea as the "axis of evil."

Plain speaking is not a quality practiced or appreciated by many of our timid allies. Unlike the previous administration, America actually understands President Bush when he talks. The world understands him too.

There is no endless parsing of his sentences. There are no debates about what he meant. Nor do they challenge his commitment. Furthermore, they have learned to believe him when he speaks. The outrage and fear was not caused by the words he used. Their trepidation was because they knew he meant them.

When he was trying to escape the Vietnam War, Clinton said he loathed the military. He did not respect them as a college student; he did not respect them as Commander-in-Chief. Like much of his generation, he despised those men who crawled through the mud in the distant jungles of Southeast Asia.

However, this blatant lack of respect did not keep Clinton from constantly deploying them all over the world in regions that had nothing to do with vital US interests. He did not recognize their capabilities. Even more alarming than the fact he did not respect them is that he did not give them the resources to win in places like Somalia. Too many good men died because of it.

Bush has actually led our nation into a war when we were attacked. He never questioned the justness of our cause or the eventual outcome. At the same time, he has established the fact that that our military can succeed in places where the armies of the former Soviet Union were embarrassingly defeated.

All of the "experts" told us that we could not withstand the harsh and bitter winters of Afghanistan. These same experts told us that the Soviets were soundly defeated there. No doubt they believed we would fail also. They told us that Afghanistan would be a quagmire from which he would never leave.

The same people who predicted thousands of US body bags in the Gulf War were guilty of underestimating our military and its Commander-in-Chief. They did it again little more than a decade later. The experts were wrong! As they have done in times past, the United States military has rewritten the books of what is possible.

When President Bush speaks, the world listens. They have learned to respect his word and the might of our military. The danger is certainly not over. The enemies of America have not yet been annihilated. However, the world is a safer place today when strong words are reinforced by stern actions.

When our enemies heard that our last president promised retribution, they mocked. When they hear that Bush has promised retaliation, they now cringe in fear. But when President Bush uses the term "axis of evil," the world may debate the wisdom of his language. They do not parse it.