Bush to Saddam: Comply or face reprisal

President calls conflict 'defining moment' for U.N.

Bush addresses the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday.

UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- Calling the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein "a grave and gathering danger," President Bush on Thursday called on Saddam to comply with U.N. resolutions or face possible military action to remove him.

"The Security Council resolutions will be enforced. The just demands of peace and security will be met. Or action will be unavoidable," Bush said. "And a regime that has lost its legitimacy will also lose its power."

Bush said to assume the Iraqi government's good faith would be "to bet the lives of millions and the peace of the world in a reckless gamble."

He said that since the end of the Gulf War, Iraq had repeatedly violated U.N. resolutions calling for it to disarm its chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs. (U.N. resolutions on Iraq)

The president accused Saddam's regime of continuing to pursue weapons of mass destruction, calling the period since U.N. inspectors left in 1998 "four years for the Iraqi regime to plan and to build and to test behind the cloak of secrecy."

Bush did not did not lay down any deadlines for returning the inspectors to Iraq. But he called the situation a "difficult and defining moment" for the United Nations.

"We have been more than patient. We have tried sanctions. We have tried the carrot of oil for food and the stick of coalition military strikes. But Saddam Hussein has defied all these efforts," Bush said.

Bush also accused Iraq of sheltering and supporting terrorist organizations and said members of al Qaeda had found refuge there. He said Iraq's government "openly praised" the September 11 terrorist attacks.

"By his deceptions and his cruelties, Saddam Hussein has made the case against himself," Bush said.

The president also announced the United States would rejoin the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) "as a symbol of our commitment to human dignity." The United States quit UNESCO in 1984.

Annan warns Iraq and U.S.

Before the president's speech, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan delivered a two-pronged message to the Assembly. He cautioned Iraq it must comply with U.N. resolutions, while warning the United States that no U.N. member nation "large or small" should act alone on major global issues as "a simple matter of political convenience." (Full story)

Reaction from other world leaders was mixed, with Spain expressing support for the U.S. position but other countries reacting more cautiously. (Full story)

The White House produced a report in advance of the president's speech to the U.N. General Assembly, documenting repeated violations by Iraq of the commitments it made at the end of the Persian Gulf War to eliminate its chemical, nuclear and biological weapons programs. (Full story)

Iraq's foreign minister, who will address the General Assembly on Friday, said Iraqis don't want war but "will fight to defend their own country, their own freedom against those barbaric invaders." (Full story)

The administration is coordinating its strategy with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and U.S. officials said London will take the lead in pressing the United Nations to demand a return of inspectors within weeks.

For weeks, the Bush administration has been reviewing the British equivalent of a "white paper" on Iraq, which U.S. officials said Blair is also expected to release to the public in coming days.

To that end, officials said, U.S. strategy following the Bush speech is three-pronged:

And Washington will send a clear signal to Iraq by sending troops to the Middle East to test the idea of moving the headquarters of the U.S. Central Command to the Gulf nation of Qatar. Central Command is now based in Tampa, Florida. (Full story)

Bush has been widely criticized in world capitals for what some, even traditionally supportive, U.S. allies consider a unilateral push for military confrontation with Iraq.

But White House officials reject much of the criticism, saying Bush all along has maintained the use of force as a last option.

And these administration officials say the White House has achieved its first goal when it comes to Iraq: putting the issue at center stage in the international debate after what the White House considers years of inattention to Iraq's defiance of its commitments.

Bush will try in several meetings this week -- while he attends the U.N. General Assembly -- to build support for ousting Saddam.

The president met with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday morning, and will meet with the leaders of Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Japan, South Africa, Rwanda and the Congo.

Bush will then hold talks Saturday at the presidential retreat at Camp David with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

State Department Correspondent Andrea Koppel contributed to this report