Top Bush aide defends Iraq war

Condoleezza Rice: Saddam lied "right up until the end"

The US national security adviser has strongly defended the decision to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, in a new White House public relations campaign.

Condoleezza Rice said the credibility of the United Nations would have been "in tatters" if the US had not acted.

New evidence uncovered by weapons inspectors proved that the Iraqi regime posed a serious threat, she said.

But the White House line on Iraq is still proving a hard sell at home and abroad, a BBC correspondent says.

Dr Rice said US-led weapons experts who have scoured Iraq since the war were "finding proof that Iraq never disarmed and never complied with US inspectors".

"Right up until the end, Saddam lied to the Security Council," she told the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations.

"And let there be no mistake, right up to the end, Saddam Hussein continued to harbour ambitions to threaten the world with weapons of mass destruction and to hide his illegal weapons activity", she said.

The BBC's Rob Watson in Washington says the Bush administration is trying to win back public and political support for its policies on Iraq, where US forces are coming under daily attack and suffering mounting casualties.

President George W Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are expected to make similar speeches in the days ahead.

The Bush administration is seeking congressional approval for an extra $87bn in emergency funding to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan.