Bush tells U.N.: Iraq war was justified
President Bush told skeptical foreign leaders and envoys yesterday that Iraq was on its way to stability and democracy and called for "a new definition of security" that allows nations to act together to extend freedom to countries gripped by tyranny. In his fourth annual address to the U.N. General Assembly, Bush defended the American-led war in Iraq. He spoke in a forthright tone with an occasional defiant edge, rebutting the assertion by Secretary-General Kofi Annan that the war violated international law because it lacked U.N. authorization. On the contrary, the president said, the United States and its allies were enforcing a Security Council resolution approved in November 2002 threatening "serious consequences" if Saddam Hussein did not disarm, disclose Iraq's banned weapons and permit inspectors to roam the country.
Last week U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the U.S.-led Iraq war was "illegal." [
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