In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on his nation a year ago, President Bush demonstrated skills many of us thought he lacked.

We expected a swift and angry retaliation to the atrocities. What we got was a calm and considered response.

But, in coming to terms with such an unspeakable outrage, it was inevitable, perhaps natural, that some anger would emanate from otherwise measured tones.

With the benefit of hindsight, the pledge, in the heat of the moment, to wage a "war on terror" was ill-judged. The phrase has haunted his presidency for the past 12 months, will haunt his presidency over the next two or six years, and will haunt his country for many more years to come.

In making that promise, President Bush not only avowed to seek and bring to justice those who sponsored and conspired in the attacks, but also avowed to eliminate the threat from those perceived as enemies of the United States.

Having removed the Taliban and hunted down al Qaida, the President needed to find the next enemy to fulfill his pledge to his country and turned his attention to Iraq.

Saddam Hussein is an implacable enemy of the United States. Indeed, he is an implacable enemy of most right-minded nations of the world.

But to meet President Bush's own criteria of "war on terror" Saddam Hussein has to be proved to be a threat to the peace of the world.

The President will have little difficulty in making such a case in the United States.

But he faces a more difficult task in making the case elsewhere. While his leadership of the United States is beyond question, his leadership of the world is not. And it will be achieved, not by military might, but by diplomacy and respect.

In unifying his country over the past 12 months, President Bush has had a relatively easy task. The task of unifying the rest of the world against the Taliban was relatively easy task.

The task of unifying the world against Iraq is far more daunting, and one he must begin in his address to the United Nations today.