Washington's inclusion of Cuba on the list of suspected promulgators of WMD is probably an attempt to shore up domestic support for the anti-terrorism war by bringing the threat closer to home -- putting it in familiar territory, with a familiar enemy. At the same time, it marries the administration's floundering Latin America policy -- and recent misadventures in Venezuela and Colombia -- with the overriding goal of eradicating terrorism.

The new focus on Cuba serves as a diversion from the battle against al Qaeda -- which has focused on almost every region of the world except Latin America, where Islamic extremism is hard to find. The range of the al Qaeda battle has stretched U.S. forces and capabilities, making the lack of a threat in Latin America a welcome reprieve. But, from another perspective, it created a hole in U.S. foreign policy, where the war on terrorism could not be used as a Trojan Horse to help achieve other goals in the region.

By adding Cuba to the expanded "axis of evil," the Bush administration will seek to pursue its goals in Colombia and Venezuela -- the two Latin American countries dominating Washington's radar screen at the moment -- with greater gusto, all under the guise of fighting terrorism and warding off the frightening possibility of a biological attack on the United States.