The alliance goes back a long way. Syria under the Assad dynasty was the only major Arab country to support Persian Iran against Arab Iraq in the Iran-Iraq War.

so by opposing saddam hussein, syria is evil? my head hurts

No, no! It's simple really -- back then Hussein was getting weapons from the US, which makes him GOOD. Then later not getting weapons from the US, made him BAD.

Thus, to recap:

Weapons from US = GOOD
No weapons from US = BAD

Kegri, I can't tell if you're parodying a silly left wing position or advocating one.

You know the really scary thing....

I have no idea.

The last axis of evil -- Iran, North Korea and Saddam Hussein's Iraq -- was evil but no axis. They were more like points of evil, with North Korea included, as I wrote at the time, as a concession to ethnic diversity.

A "concession" to ethnic diversity? WTF does that mean?! "Oh, poor little liberals. They want to play National Security, too. Hmm. They've got no real understanding of current threats. They've got no secure grasp on maintaining a military. But wait! There is that rainbow thing they've got going. Maybe we can use that to...I've got it!: Not only will we aim our missiles at Arabs, but...(wait for it)...Asians too! That'll shut Barbara Boxer up!"

You know what that was, Kegri? Explananda just had a "Sister Soulja moment."