Leaders urged to confront Iraq

UNITED NATIONS -- President Bush demanded Thursday that world leaders force Saddam Hussein to destroy his weapons of mass destruction, saying the lives of millions of people will be at risk and the United Nations "will be irrelevant" unless it confronts Iraq.\n"The just demands of peace and security will be met -- or action will be unavoidable," Bush warned. "And a regime that has lost its legitimacy will also lose its power."\n"We cannot stand by and do nothing while dangers gather," Bush told the U.N. General Assembly. "We must stand up for our security and for the permanent rights and hopes of mankind."\nBush made his case against the backdrop of widespread hesitation among U.S. allies -- and American lawmakers -- to use force against Baghdad. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan cautioned the United States against taking action on its own without Security Council backing.\nA senior U.S. official said Secretary of State Colin Powell would work on Friday with the four other permanent members of the Security Council -- Russia, China, France and Britain -- on a resolution that would set a deadline for Iraq to comply with demands that it admit weapons inspectors.\nBush made it clear the United States was prepared to act, saying that America's will should not be doubted.\nIraq's U.N. ambassador assailed Bush's speech, saying it lacked credibility and was motivated by revenge and political ambition.\n"He chooses to deceive the world and his own people by the longest series of fabrications that have ever been told by a leader of a nation," said Ambassador Mohamed al-Douri.\nSpeaking before Bush, Brazil's foreign minister, Celso Lafer, reflected the concerns of most nations, saying "force can be used only through the Security Council and if other means are exhausted."\nBut Bush argued that extended diplomacy would mean betting the lives of millions in a reckless gamble. "And this is a risk we must not take," he said.\nAnnan, at a luncheon, renewed his appeal for a joint approach on Iraq. "Let us act as truly united nations," he said.\nAnd Bush, in a toast to the secretary general, pledged "continued cooperation between the United States and the United Nations."\nBush's stance has been questioned in Congress. And Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle said afterward that he did not think "the case for a pre-emptive strike has been made yet."\nBut the South Dakota Democrat did acknowledge that Bush continues to make his argument, saying "I think that was helpful."\nSenate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said "now, I think it's vital for Congress to show the world that we back the president and give him the support he needs."\nBush said, "Iraq has answered a decade of U.N. demands with a decade of defiance. All the world now faces a test ... and the United Nations, a difficult and defining moment. Are Security Council resolutions to be honored and enforced … or cast aside without consequence? Will the United Nations serve the purpose of its founding … or will it be irrelevant?"\nHe offered to work in concert with other nations on a resolution "to meet our common challenge." And, he said, "if the Iraqi regime defies us again the world must move deliberately and decisively" against the Iraqi leader.\nWhen he concluded, Bush virtually sank with relief into his high-backed chair on the massive U.N. dais. He drew a deep breath and blew out again, with his cheeks puffed and his frame slumped back into the seat.\nLater, a senior administration official said Bush intends a "very short time frame" for the United Nations to take action to force Saddam's hand. But, the official insisted, Bush is still keeping his own options open.\nBush's expression of willingness to act through the United Nations appeared to respond to a growing chorus of opposition to unilateral U.S. military action to topple Saddam.\n"By heritage and by choice, the United States of America will make that stand," the president said. "Delegates to the United Nations, you have the power to make that stand, as well!"\nBush said that if Iraq defies a new U.N. resolution demanding the return of inspectors, "the world must move deliberately and decisively" against Saddam.