Warning that Saddam Hussein was trying to develop nuclear weapons, he said the Iraqi leader had proved his contempt for the U.N. “We must choose between a world of fear and a world of progress,” said Bush.

The president’s speech drew a range of responses from inside and outside the U.S. A sample:

“I would have been pleased if the U.S. president had talked about his true motives behind his speech–revenge, oil, political ambitions and also the security of Israel.”

–Iraq’s U.N. ambassador, Mohammed Aldouri, describing Bush’s speech as “the longest series of fabrications that has ever been told by a leader of a nation”

“If we are attacked, we will choose our own means by using everything at our disposal, even sticks, kitchen knives, our hands and stones … We shall never let those Zionists invade our country.”

–Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri in an interview with Reuters hours before the Bush speech

“I urge Iraq to comply with its obligations–for the sake of its own people and for the sake of world order … If Iraq’s defiance continues, the Security Council must face its responsibilities.”

–U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in an address just before Bush’s speech urging the United States not to act alone against Iraq

“I think it was helpful, I don’t think it was conclusive [in making the case for invading Iraq].”

–U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, in a press conference after the speech

“We must vote to show support for the president right now … it is a question of leadership and action.”

–U.S. Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott saying Congress needs to “give the president all the authority he would need” in going after Saddam.

“I think the president made the right step, going to the world community and making the case that time after time, Saddam defied the U.N.”

–U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, Republican of Missouri

“It opened the way to looking for another way to resolve the problem, other than starting a war.”

–South African President Thabo Mbeki, welcoming the speech as “an affirmation of the United Nations”

“What was positive in his speech is that future action is rooted in the United Nations.”

–Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik

“The prime minister has always agreed that the U.N. was the right place to deal with the issue of Iraq and weapons of mass destruction, because it is the U.N.’s authority that has been consistently flouted.”

–A spokesman for British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who “warmly welcomed” President Bush’s speech

“No decisions have been taken on either side of the Atlantic about specific military commitments [against Iraq].”

–British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon

“The president has brought this back to the United Nations … We want to see multilateralism as an effective way of dealing with problems, not as an excuse for failing.”

–European Union external relations commissioner Chris Patten

“I hope that it will not turn into a military operation.”

–Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, in a prespeech comment describing the possibility of a U.S. attack on Iraq as “a sword dangling over our heads” for neighboring Turkey