Mr. Bush's appearance

Far from coming cap in hand to the General Assembly, Mr. Bush was as confident as he was when he last addressed that body a year ago. Then, he warned it that it would become irrelevant if it failed to meet Saddam Hussein's defiance of its resolutions.

He did not admonish, but left his listeners in no doubt of his determination to prevail in Iraq and of his conviction that all nations of good will should contribute to this endeavor. His speech reached beyond the differences between Security Council members over Iraq to what he listed as the scourges of our age - terrorism, weapons proliferation, HIV/AIDS, famine and the slavery of child prostitution. How persuasive it proves will emerge over the next few months.

Mr. Bush first wants a resolution authorizing an expanded but not determining UN role in Iraq. Then he would like troop contributions from countries such as Pakistan and Turkey, and increased financial commitments from a donors' conference in Madrid next month. He may yet be disappointed in some of these ambitions. But the tone of his speech suggested he thought the worst of UN obstructiveness was over. -- The Daily Telegraph, London