Original: The domestic political equation changed in the U.S. after the September 11 , 2001 attacks ; in his January 2002 state of the union address to Congress , President George W. Bush spoke of an '' axis of evil '' consisting of Iran , North Korea , and Iraq .
Simplified: In his January 2002 state-of-the-union message to Congress , George W. Bush ( the son of George H.W. Bush ) spoke of an '' axis of evil '' comprising Iran , North Korea , and Iraq .