“Sooner or later, Mr Bush, self-styled universal soldier of truth, will have to stop pretending that tragedy gave him a free hand to remake America and the world to fit his simplistic, narrow vision — or risk having voters and US allies end the pretence for him.” — Guardian UK

Bush speech could break international coalition: British press

The Financial Times said that although Bush’s keynote speech “pressed all the right buttons” at home, “there is a danger that his ringing rhetoric about defeating an `axis of evil’ will divide the alliance, rather than seal a common purpose.”

“North Korea and Iran do not belong in the same breath as Iraq. To lump them together is simplistic and will alienate new allies in Asia, Europe and the Middle East,” added the business daily.

Its assessment was shared by The Independent which said Bush’s “forthright views will play well at home. But many outside America are likely to find them distinctly disturbing”.

The broadsheet added: “America is already envied and disliked because of its domination. The danger is that Mr Bush’s speech, with its simple certainties and pronounced unilateralist flavour, will merely fuel that resentment further.”

The harshest criticism of Bush came from the left-of-centre Guardian, which said the US president’s address “unabashedly set out” to “exploit and manipulate the September 11 tragedy for political advantage.

“When Mr Bush speaks of ‘tens of thousands of dangerous killers schooled in the methods of murder … spread throughout the world like ticking bombs,’ he is not only being irresponsibly alarmist; he is also disingenuously justifying the whopping $US48 billion ($A95.16 billion) defence increase he always dreamed of,” it said. TheAge.com.au