WASHINGTON, August 25 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - One year after the September 11 attacks, the stark “with us or against us” doctrine of U.S. President George W. Bush in the war on terrorism has produced a clear set of winners and losers.

The “Bush Doctrine” has clearly benefited Russia, Israel and Britain while Afghanistan’s deposed Taliban regime, the nations that make up the “axis of evil” and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat have lost out.

Others, like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, have been left in a kind of limbo, under constant surveillance for shortcomings in the anti-terror effort while still others, such as NATO, Latin America and Africa, are ignored, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

The members of the Bush administration “are good at seeing the world in black and white terms and all what happened since then has suited their way of thinking and given them a cause,” said Thomas Carothers, a foreign affairs specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

As for the losers, the Taliban and their Al-Qaeda allies were the first to fall victim to the new U.S.-led war on terrorism. Chased from power in Kabul, hunted in the mountains and deserts, they will never be forgiven or forgotten by the United States. Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar, if still alive, are on the run and in hiding.

Bush’s “axis of evil”, Iraq, Iran and North Korea may be at the center of a possible second phase of the war against terrorism. But topping that list is Iraq, where Bush has made no secret of his desire to topple Saddam Hussein, by force if necessary.

Yasser Arafat saw his shaky position plummet further as Bush decided to shun the long-time Palestinian leader, AFP said.

As for the winners, among the first to offer his condolences to Bush for the attacks was Vladimir Putin and the Russian president has seen his star rise in Washington ever since.

Washington and Moscow have signed a historic arms control agreement, reached compromises over NATO and Putin has seen a notable decrease in U.S. criticism of his policy in Chechnya. Still, Moscow’s flirtation with Baghdad continues to bother Washington, AFP said.

Israeli Prime Minister Arial Sharon has managed to convince Bush that the anti-Israel attacks committed by Palestinian ‘militants’ are from the same school as those against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Bush has wholeheartedly adopted Sharon's anti-Arafat position.

Tony Blair’s Britain, the lone foreign country judged sufficiently loyal to participate in the opening days of the war in Afghanistan, has also won but an extension of the conflict into Iraq could introduce new tensions into the special relationship.

Anti-terrorism solidarity has also benefited countries facing the so-called radical Muslim movements, such as India, Uzbekistan and the Philippines. Relations with China, strained early in the early months of the Bush administration are now on the rise.

In limbo, comes Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. The firm backing given to Bush by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has allowed Islamabad to make a spectacular return to U.S. grace as a strategic ally. Its past support for the Taliban and the continuing presence in Pakistan of powerful radical movements, including Al-Qaeda members, leave lingering suspicions, however.

Officially, Saudi Arabia remains a strong U.S. ally. But criticism of the kingdom is growing among many in Washington where lawmakers and pundits have accused Riyadh of financing terrorism and complained about Saudi opposition to a U.S. military campaign in Iraq.

Finally, the forgotten. NATO, the most important military alliance in the world, has not yet received the fruits of its total support for the United States in the days immediately following September 11.

Most of Washington’s European allies were ignored in the U.S.-British operation in Afghanistan and the alliance is today questioning its role and future.