Bush Raises Specter Of War With Iraq

President Bush told skeptical world leaders Thursday to confront the "grave and gathering danger" of Saddam Hussein's Iraq or stand aside as the United States acts. Hesitant allies asked him not to go it alone.

From the United Nations' cavernous main hall, filled with wary friends and one bitter foe in Iraq's ambassador, Mr. Bush said the body must rid the world of Saddam's biological, chemical and nuclear arsenals or risk millions of lives in a "reckless gamble."

"We cannot stand by and do nothing while dangers gather," Mr. Bush told the U.N. General Assembly. "We must stand up for our security and for the permanent rights and hopes of mankind."

Mr. Bush 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.

Mr. Bush's speech amounted to a challenge to the United Nations to live up to its responsibility.

"Iraq has answered a decade of U.N. demands with a decade of defiance," Mr. Bush said. "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?"

Mr. Bush 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.

Mr. Bush's expression of willingness to act through the U.N. appeared to respond to a growing chorus of opposition to unilateral U.S. military action to topple Saddam.

A 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.

But, as CBS News Correspondent John Roberts reports, it will be on Mr. Bush's timetable.

"The president wants to move fast," White House officials say, in a matter of "weeks, not months." They warned, "Iraq will not be allowed to negotiate."

Annan, speaking minutes before Mr. Bush, called on Iraq to allow weapons inspections "for the sake of its own people." But he also insisted that only the U.N. could authorize the use of force in cases that went beyond straightforward self-defense.

In a strong appeal for respect for international law and multilateral action, Annan said: "Even the most powerful countries know that they need to work with others in multilateral institutions to achieve their aims."

The Bush administration has made clear it feels justified in going it alone if necessary and contends it does not need new legal authority to use force to try to oust Saddam.

Nearly every country in the world, with the exception of Britain and Israel, has expressed grave misgivings about a pre-emptive attack on Iraq, and many want prior approval by the 15-nation U.N. Security Council of any military action.

The U.S. Congress has also expressed doubts. But after the president's speech, a key House Democrat applauded it as "a positive step."

Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, the party's vice-presidential nominee in 2000, was among the most supportive. Bush "delivered a powerful and convincing indictment of Saddam Hussein and the grave threat he poses," Lieberman said.

Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina said that if the U.N. Security Council does not move against Iraq, "then we must act with as many allies as possible to ensure that Iraq meets its obligations to existing Security Council resolutions."

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota and House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri praised Mr. Bush for his speech. But they said it was too early to say when Congress might take up resolutions supporting military action to remove Saddam from power.

"Every time the president continues to speak out, he strengthens his case," Daschle said. But, he added, "I don't think that the case for a pre-emptive attack has been made conclusively yet."

Iraq's U.N. ambassador blasted Mr. Bush's speech, saying it lacked credibility and was motivated by revenge and political ambition.

Mohammed al-Douri, who was in the U.N. General Assembly hall when Mr. Bush spoke, said the United States had repeatedly failed to find any evidence that Iraq was involved in terrorism.

Instead Mr. Bush delivered the "longest series of fabrications that has ever been told by a leader of a nation," al-Douri said.

"We don't care about the position of the United States. If they are threatening, if they would attack, certainly we will be there for defending ourselves."

Al-Douri said further Iraqi reaction would come when Iraq had its turn at addressing the assembly later in the week.

In the speech, Mr. Bush said a failure to act on Iraq, would mean betting the lives of millions in a reckless gamble. "And this is a risk we must not take," he declared.

"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."

Mr. Bush backed his appeal with a 22-page document accusing Saddam of a decade of deception and defiance of 16 U.N. resolutions.

On a personal note, Mr. Bush said that Iraq's violence and terrorism led to the attempted assassination of his father, former President George H.W. Bush and the emir of Kuwait in 1993.

"Saddam Hussein has made the case against himself," he said.

Mr. Bush wants the 190 U.N. nations to pressure Saddam to readmit international inspectors after a lapse of more than 3½ years to look for hidden arms and then to compel him to disarm.

These demands are rooted in resolutions adopted during and after the 1990-91 Persian Gulf war that forced Iraq to reverse its annexation of Kuwait. Iraq denies it is developing weapons of mass destruction.

Already, U.S. military forces are being moved into position to strike against Iraq. The foreign minister of Qatar, a key U.S. ally in the Persian Gulf, said after Thursday's speech that his country did not want war in Iraq.

U.N.-Iraq talks since March have failed to get Saddam to agree to the return of inspectors, who left in December 1998 ahead of U.S. and British air strikes to punish Saddam's government for not cooperating with inspections. Iraq said it wants to continue the dialogue — but with a broad agenda on outstanding issues which Annan has rejected.