Democrats and moderate Republicans in Congress have tough questions for a top military commander in Iraq who is warning against major changes to US president George Bush’s war strategy.

Senate Republicans today scuttled a Democratic proposal ordering US troop withdrawals from Iraq in a showdown that capped an all-night debate on the war.

Democrats took the first step toward a wartime repudiation of US president George Bush today, convening a Senate committee to endorse legislation declaring that the deployment of additional troops to Iraq is “not in the national interest".

President George Bush is stepping up his defence of his Iraq policy as he faces declining public support for the war and a crucial test in Iraq with the October 15 constitutional referendum.

The Iraqi lawyer who helped US troops rescue American prisoner of war Jessica Lynch was honoured by an American lawyers’ group.