From the BBC:
Key states who joined the US-led invasion of Iraq have rejected claims by the United Nations secretary general that the war was illegal. Kofi Annan told the BBC the decision to take action in Iraq contravened the UN charter and should have been made by the Security Council, not unilaterally. But authorities in the UK, Australia, Poland, Bulgaria and Japan said the war was backed by international law. Australian Prime Minister John Howard described the UN as a “paralysed” body. And a former Bush administration aide, Randy Scheunemann, branded Mr Annan’s comments “outrageous”.
…Randy Scheunemann, a former advisor to US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, accused Mr Annan of trying to influence the outcome of the forthcoming US presidential election. “I think it is outrageous for the secretary general, who ultimately works for the member states, to try and supplant his judgement for the judgement of the member states,” he told the BBC. “To do this 51 days before an American election reeks of political interference,” Randy Scheunemann said. He said the UN’s failure to act in Sudan, and in other areas around the world, was proving that effective multilateralism may be a contradiction in terms. [Iraq war allies rebuff UN chief]