President George W Bush says Saddam Hussein has shown "utter contempt" for the world community and must be held to account.
"The dictator of Iraq is not disarming. To the contrary, he is deceiving," the president said in an excerpt from his State of the Union address.
"This country has many challenges. We will not deny, we will not ignore, we will not pass along our problems to other Congresses, other presidents and other generations," Bush said in further excerpts released by the White House.
Bush said in his speech that "the gravest danger facing America and the world" concerns outlaw regimes that possess weapons of mass destruction and make deals with terrorists, an apparent reference to Iraq.