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ElBaradei: US used 'false pretext' to invade Iraq
Outgoing UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei criticized the United States on Monday for using a "false pretext" to invade Iraq, costing "the lives of possibly hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians."
President George W. Bush ordered US troops into Iraq in March 2003 to overthrow dictator Saddam Hussein, citing evidence of the existence of weapons of mass destruction in that country. No such weapons were found after the invasion.
"I will always lament the fact that a tragic war was launched in Iraq," he said in a last address to the UN General Assembly.
"This was done on the basis of false pretext, without the authorization of the UN Security Council," he said.