Retired manicurist Edna Fishbein claims that the speech, which branded Iran, Iraq and North Korea “an axis of evil” was based largely on her un-produced screenplay “Handsome Johnny Strong and The Axis Of Evil”, a romantic action comedy which she recently published on the internet to attract movie industry interest.

“It’s true that the President was anxious for a “Bond Movie” style name for rogue states that everyone could relate to,” Claims Tangdon Lipswith of the Washington Post. “And it’s also true that the names his speechwriting staff were coming up with were pathetic. I have it on good authority that the best they had come up with the night before the speech were “The Bad Squad”, “The Dirty Gang” “The Naughty Conglomerate” and “The Triumpherate Of Wrongdo”.”

With impending legal action keeping The White House tight-lipped over the affair, the furore has persuaded Prime Minister Tony Blair to ask the British public to choose a name he too can use to handily lump all his enemies together. Special suggestion forms, to be delivered to everyone on the electoral roll, will ask Britons to suggest a name and complete the sentence “I think Saddam Hussein is evil incarnate because…” as a tie-breaker. The eventual winner can expect to meet the Queen, as she takes part in a ceremony aiming all of our nuclear weapons at the Middle East as part of her Jubilee celebrations. Meanwhile, Libyan Premier Colonel Gadaffi has responded to American hostility by hiring London based Spin-Doctors The Brant Consultancy to re-brand evil as “Good With a Twist”. “It’s quite a challenge but we’re well on our way to a strong set of ideas.” Said Marketing Director Pop Lopsy today.

“At the moment we’re looking at a campaign involving television ads featuring a handsome, young James Dean type, with mirror shades and a red jacket kicking the shit out of an elderly grandmother before riding off on his motorbike. He may or may not be smoking a cigarette, we haven’t decided yet.”