Iraq war based on international law, Powell says

Coalition action against the government of Saddam Hussein in Iraq was both necessary and consistent with international law, US Secretary of State Colin Powell says.

Powell told news interviewers September 17 that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's observation that the war in Iraq was illegal because it violated the U.N.'s charter was incorrect.

Powell said the U.N. does a lot of good work, but when it comes to a crisis it is difficult "to get everybody on the same sheet of music."

Asked about French Prime Minster Jacques Chirac's observation that the war in Iraq was illegitimate, Powell said during the Fox News television interview that such disagreements are not unusual. When disagreements occur, leaders have to search for areas of agreement and build on them, he said.

Former U.N. weapons inspector Charles Duelfer is scheduled to issue a report later in September on what happened to Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. His effort will seek "to get to the truth," Powell said.

The former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein clearly had the intention of producing such weapons, Powell said, and would have built up his weapons stockpile "if he had ever broken free of U.N. sanctions or international oversight."

Asked to reflect on intelligence provided about Iraq's arsenal, Powell said: "My instinct right now says that the sources that we had were mistaken with respect to the existence of any significant stockpiles. We haven't found any and I haven't seen a persuasive case that said they've all been buried or they all went to another country."

But Saddam Hussein did maintain a dual-use production capacity that gave him the capability of producing biological and chemical weapons, he said. The truth is that "Saddam Hussein never changed his spots," Powell said.

Powell said President Bush responded by refusing to allow the dictator to remain in office, posing a threat to his own citizens, the region and the world.