The Iraqi response to the United Nations leaves room for interpretation on whether Baghdad really has accepted the U.N. resolution -- and that could mean a military confrontation is waiting down the road.

Iraq's defiant nine-page letter, delivered Wednesday to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, does not use the word "accept" but states that "we will deal with resolution 1441, despite its bad contents."

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After the meeting, Annan said he hoped that Iraq would fully comply with the resolution and allow weapons inspectors to do their jobs.

"The issue is not the acceptance, but the performance on the ground, it's the performance on the ground," Annan said. "So let the inspectors go in and I urge the Iraqis to cooperate with them and to perform and I think that is the real test we are waiting for."

Regarding the tone of the letter, Annan said he would "wait to see whether it's an indication of that they are going to play games or if it's a message they are sending to their own people."

Baghdad has promised to send another letter to Annan, outlining how it believes the U.N. resolution violates international law.

The U.N. chief acknowledged that the language in the resolution does not clearly define the key phrase, "material breach." That's the point at which Iraq would be found to be not cooperating -- and also the point at which the United States has promised to use military force to disarm the Persian Gulf state.

» CNN.com - Iraqi letter hints at trouble down the road - Nov. 14, 2002