Pentagon Of Evil?

I'm still catching up on old business. Here's something from last week from John & Antonio of Inside Europe: Iberian Notes (no permalinks, but it's the second item for May 22nd, 16:45 PM):

Donald Rumsfeld has warned, before the Senate, that he is sure that terrorists will eventually, one day, obtain nuclear weapons. It looks like Rummy has added Syria and Libya to the axis of evil, from now on the "Pentagon of Evil", as he stated that those five states are seeking weapons of mass destruction and will not hesitate to give them to terrorist groups.

I have two petty quibbles:

1. I like to think of a 'pentagon' as a good place, if rather grim and austere. I lived in Arlington three years ago, and always felt just a little more snug and secure when I drove by the Pentagon on either side. Perhaps John & Antonio meant to imply a Manichaean opposition between the Pentagon of Good in Virginia and the Pentagon of Evil (mostly) in the Middle East. But that doesn't work very well, since one of them is a building while the other is an assortment of thoroughly and cooperatively evil but otherwise disparate countries.
2. In a geometric pentagon, each corner is connected to only two of the other four corners. Each member of the Axis of Evil is connected to all of the others by trade in armaments, support for terrorism, opposition to Israel and the U.S., and much more. Doesn't this make the Quintuple Alliance of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and North Korea a Pentagram of Evil?

Bracing myself for a flood of e-messages from angry Satanists and Wiccans . . . .

Posted by Dr. Weevil at May 31, 2002 11:44 PM