THE US: President Bush warned nations that might seek to terrorise the United States they had "better get their house in order" or face the consequences as he stepped up harsh rhetoric yesterday against Iraq, Iran and North Korea.
Although he did not mention them by name, Mr Bush appeared to be alluding to those three nations he cited on Tuesday as an "axis of evil" that had sought weapons of mass destruction.
The State of the Union remarks have brought strong reaction from the three countries with Iran's leadership revisiting the anti-American phrase "great Satan" and North Korea saying the President's speech was effectively "a declaration of war".
Meanwhile the US Defence Secretary, Mr Donald Rumsfeld, last night warned that the US must prepare now for potential surprise attacks "vastly more deadly" than those on September 11th.
In a speech laying out the Bush administration's justification for proposing a $33 billion increase in the defence budget, Mr Rumsfeld said the nation was vulnerable to new forms of terrorism ranging from cyber attacks to attacks on military bases abroad to ballistic missile attacks on American cities.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, branded Mr Bush "thirsty for human blood"."Bush's tone is that of a man thirsty for human blood," Ayatollah Khamenei said.
"He threatens and accuses the countries and peoples of the world of being evil, while in the past few years it is the Americans who have given most support to the regimes which repress the people, sold deadly weapons and looted the wealth of nations," he said.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran is proud to be the target of the rage and hatred of the world's greatest Satan," Ayatollah Khamenei added. He was addressing participants in a media conference in Tehran in support of the Palestinian or intifada.
In its first official response North Korea denounced Mr Bush saying the speech "amounts to an effective declaration of war against us". It added: "Never before in US and (North) Korean relations in recent years has a US president made such a blatant threat in a policy speech against our country."
The statement said Mr Bush's speech "has made it clear" that the Bush administration has abandoned any efforts to resume a dialogue with North Korea to discuss nuclear weapons issues.
Mr Bush's speech has testified to North Korea's "foresight" to build up its offensive and defensive weapons, the statement said. Iraq unleashed a barrage of fiery rhetoric, branding President Bush stupid, arrogant and irresponsible.
Mr Bush said yesterday: "If you're one of these nations that developed weapons of mass destruction and you're likely to team up with a terrorist group or you're now sponsoring terror . . . then you too are on our watch list," Bush said in a speech in Atlanta.
"People say, 'well what does that mean?' It means they better get their house in order is what it means," Mr Bush said.
The White House said on Wednesday Mr Bush did not intend to signal imminent military action against Iran, Iraq and North Korea.
Meanwhile a shadowy Islamic extremist group extended the deadline for the killing of a kidnapped American journalist by one day yesterday as Washington ruled out meeting the demands of the abductors.
"We give one one more day," said an e-mail seen in Karachi apparently from the captors of the Wall Street Journal reporter, Daniel Pearl.
But the US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, said the kidnappers' demands for better treatment for suspected al-Qaeda prisoners at a US camp in Cuba were not open for negotiation.