Bush beats the drums of war

President George Bush warned that war with Iraq "will be unavoidable" unless the United Nations puts an end to a decade of defiance by Baghdad.

In a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York yesterday, Mr Bush made it plain that unless the UN acted to enforce its own resolutions against the Iraqi dictator, the United States would take its own steps to topple Saddam Hussein.

The speech, delivered to heads of government and foreign ministers, will trigger an immediate and heated debate in the Security Council on drafting a new resolution demanding that Iraq accept a return of weapons inspectors. The US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, will start that process in New York today.

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

Moments earlier Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, opened the session with a warning to the US to resist the impulse to act unilaterally. "Even the most powerful countries know that they need to work with others, in multilateral institutions, to achieve their aims," he said.

While not mentioning the US by name, Mr Annan made no secret of his disdain for the appetite in Washington to attack Iraq with or without international support. "For any one state – large or small – choosing to follow or reject the multilateral path must not be a simple matter of political convenience," he declared.

But Mr Annan also warned that "If Iraq's defiance continues, the council must face its responsibilities" – a formula that clearly does not rule out UN-authorised military action.

Already, US forces are being moved into position to strike against Iraq.

Mr Bush backed up his call for swift action by submitting a hefty document detailing how President Saddam has violated 16 UN resolutions over the past decade, and describing Iraq's continued illegal attempts to hold on to, and develop, weapons of mass destruction. While the US would work with the Security Council "for the necessary resolutions", he told delegates, the "purposes of the United States should not be doubted". He declared: "All the world now faces a test ... and the United Nations a difficult and defining moment. Are Security Council resolutions to be honoured and enforced ... or cast aside without consequence? Will the United Nations serve the purpose of its founding ... or will it be irrelevant?"

General Powell will meet with European Union foreign ministers this morning to begin consultations on the content of a new Security Council resolution. US officials said last night that Washington would press for it to include a clear deadline for Iraq to readmit the inspectors. But it was unclear whether the draft would also contain an explicit threat of military reprisals if it is ignored. It may be at least two weeks before any final text reaches the Council, diplomats said.

Most delegates welcomed the decision by President Bush, responding to pressure from several allies including Britain, to bring the issue to the United Nations. But governments around the world continue to worry about the consequences if the US loses patience with diplomacy and attacks alone.

There were fresh signs, meanwhile, of ambivalence closer to home on Capitol Hill. Tom Daschle, the Senate Majority Leader, applauded Mr Bush for a "very strong presentation" to the UN, but said many questions still had to be answered before he would recommend approving any military strike. "I don't think anyone is committed to a course of action legislatively or militarily at this point," he said.

Among the delegates listening to Mr Bush's address was Iraq's ambassador to the UN, Mohamed al-Douri. He dismissed it as motivated by revenge and political ambition on Mr Bush's part. "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," he said.

The Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, who will address the assembly tomorrow, strongly endorsed Mr Bush's speech. "No one who heard Mr Bush's speech can be in any doubt whatsoever of the urgency of the threat posed by Saddam Hussein and the responsibility resting on the shoulders of this international community," he said.

But Germany again sounded the alarm about the dangers of military escalation. In an interview on German television, the Finance Minister, Hans Eichel, said that "a war in Iraq would without doubt mean a sharp rise in oil prices and turbulence in the world economy".