Such a far reaching approach would require a very clear international legitimacy and in particular a United Nations mandate," he told reporters.

The use of the German military in any action without a United Nations mandate is constitutionally forbidden.

Under its United Nations mandate, the force is limited to the capital and its environs.

But without a United Nations mandate to be more aggressive, those forces are limited to a mostly passive role.

The purpose of a new 10,000-member international rapid-reaction force within the United Nations mandate remains to be spelled out.

His problem is that those goals go far beyond any United Nations mandate.

The force will include 6,000 troops and has a three-month United Nations mandate to protect a relief operation there.

The United Nations mandate is due to expire on Sept. 30.

He has insisted that the administration's decision to seek a new United Nations mandate for Iraq did not represent a policy shift.

An attempt to enforce the United Nations mandate has thus ended by demonstrating its limits.