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With blood still shedding in Iraq, world leaders attending an annual debate at the United Nations on Tuesday warned of danger caused by unilateralism and called for adhering to multilateralism.
But US President George W. Bush, in his address to the 58th session of the UN General Assembly, made no apology for waging war on Iraq without UN authorization. Instead, he continued to defend the unilateral act.
"Some of the sovereign nations of this assembly disagreed with our actions, yet there was, and there remains unity among us on the fundamental principles and objectives of the United Nations," he said.
He again accused Saddam Hussein of cultivating ties of terror while building weapons of mass destruction and using these weaponsin acts of mass murder and refusing to account for them.
"The Security Council was right to demand that Iraq destroy its illegal weapons and prove that it had done so. The Security Council was right to vow serious consequences if Iraq refused to comply," he added.
But he made no mention of whether there were any banned weapons found by US inspectors now in Iraq. The Bush administration staged war on Iraq six months ago on the excuse that it failed to disarm.
While refusing to apologize for the war, Bush renewed his call for international help for rebuilding Iraq. "Now the nation of Iraq needs and deserves our aid, and all nations of good will should step forward and provide that support."
But the US unilateralism and its doctrine of preventive strikes came under sharp criticism from UN Secretary-General Koffi Annan, French President Jacques Chirac and many other world leaders attending the two-week general debate.
Annan said some states argue they have the right to use force pre-emptively and need not wait for Security Council's authorization. "Instead, they reserve the right to act unilaterally, or in ad hoc coalitions."
"This logic represents a fundamental challenge to the principles on which, however imperfectly, world peace and stability have rested for the last 58 years," he warned.
"My concern is that, if it were to be adopted, it could set precedents that resulted in a proliferation of the unilateral and lawless use of force, with or without credible justification."
Chirac, a leading opponent to the US war on Iraq, said the war has undermined the existing multilateral system. "In an open world... no one can act alone in the name of all, and no one can accept the anarchy of a society without rules."
"Multilateralism is the key, for it ensures the participation of all in the management of world affairs. It is a guarantee of legitimacy and democracy, especially in matters regarding the use of force or laying down universal norms."
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said only UN leadership could overcome the prevailing climate of insecurity and tension in Iraq. "A war can perhaps be won single-handedly. But peace -- lasting peace -- cannot be secured without the support of all," he stated.
Meanwhile, alarmed by the resort to unilateralism by a small number of nations, most speakers at Tuesday's debate called for quick reforms of the world body, which was established 58 years ago.
"In order to fulfill the missions entrusted to it and remedy some of its blatant shortcomings, the United Nations must change,"Chirac noted. "It is now up to the member states to take matters forward without delay, and to put an end to the damage caused by the stalemate over reforms."
South African President Thabo Mbeki said that it seems extremely difficult to resolve the issue of the UN role in Iraq, unless the question about the future of the UN as the legitimate expression of the collective will of the peoples of the world is answered.
The two-week general debate, which opened here Tuesday, brought together leaders from 190 UN member states.
(Xinhua News Agency September 24, 2003)
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