Bush defends decision to invade Iraq to U.N. General Assembly

UNITED NATIONS -- President George W. Bush delivered an unapologetic defense of his decision to invade Iraq, telling the United Nations Tuesday that his decision "helped to deliver the Iraqi people from an outlaw dictator." Later Bush condemned the beheading of a U.S. hostage by an Islamic militant.\nBush's speech to the U.N. General Assembly, running just 24 minutes, appealed to the world community to join together in supporting the new Iraqi interim government. He included appeals for intensifying the global war against terrorism and for focusing energies on humanitarian missions, from helping to end the bloody violence in Sudan to combating AIDS in Africa.\nTwo years after he told the world body that Iraq was a "grave and gathering danger" and challenged delegates to live up to their responsibility, Bush strongly defended his decision to lead the coalition that overthrew Saddam Hussein's regime without the blessings of the U.N. Security Council.\nHe spoke shortly after U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan opened the 191-nation gathering with a warning that the "rule of law" is at risk around the world. Annan, last week, asserted that the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq "was illegal" because it lacked such Security Council approval.\n"No one is above the law," Annan said. He condemned the taking and killing of American hostages in Iraq, but he also said Iraqi prisoners had been disgracefully abused, an implicit criticism of the U.S. treatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.\nBush told a subdued U.N. session that terrorists believe "suicide and murder are justified ... And they act on their beliefs." He cited recent terror acts, including the death of children earlier this month in their Russian schoolhouse.\n"The Russian children did nothing to deserve such awful suffering and fright and death," the president said.\nBush reached out to the international organization to help with the reconstruction of Iraq, noting that the prime minister of Iraq's interim government, Ayad Allawi, was among those attending the session.\n"The U.N. and its member nations must respond to Prime Minister Allawi's request and do more to help build an Iraq that is secure, democratic, federal and free," he said.\n"A democratic Iraq has ruthless enemies," Bush added, asserting that "a terrorist group associated with al Qaeda is now one of the main groups killing the innocent in Iraq today, conducting a campaign of bombings against civilians and the beheadings of bound men."\nMany world leaders were reluctant to comment immediately on Bush's speech, including South African President Thabo Mbeki who said "I'm still reading it." Others were cautious. Diplomats and government officials refused to comment publicly on the upcoming U.S. election, saying it was an internal matter for the American people.\nSpanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said while he agreed with Bush's comments about defending liberty and democracy, there were other issues with which he disagreed. He didn't elaborate, but he mentioned earlier that Spain would not contribute troops to the U.S.-led force in Iraq.\n"Combating terrorism is a part of the shared goals of all nations, of all democratic bodies," he said. "There is a very strong solidarity going beyond what might be any differing views on any specific country or any specific method."\nBush made specific reference to Monday's beheading of an American civil engineer. "We can expect terror attacks to escalate" as elections approach in both Afghanistan and Iraq, he said.\n"We will be standing with the people of Afghanistan and Iraq until their hopes for freedom and liberty are fulfilled," Bush said.\nSix weeks before Election Day, Bush's comments were directed as much to his audience at home as to the assembled U.N. delegates. His Democratic rival, John Kerry, has accused him of "stubborn incompetence" and "colossal failures in judgment" regarding Iraq policy, and of having squandered international good will.