US Democratic presidential contenders in Congress will cast a critical vote on the Iraq war this week, when politicians decide on a $120bn (€88bn) bill to keep military operations afloat.

DEMOCRATS took the first step toward a wartime repudiation of US President George W Bush yesterday, convening a Senate committee to endorse legislation declaring that the deployment of additional troops to Iraq is “not in the national interest”.

Republican senators in the US criticised the Bush administration today over its policies in Iraq, Iran and the Palestinian territories, as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s first testimony to Congress in months exposed her to a tough grilling from some members of her own party.

CONGRESSIONAL critics of US President George W Bush's stay-the-course commitment to the war in Iraq argued yesterday that the administration lacks sufficient troops on the ground to mount a successful counterinsurgency.

US president George Bush gained important new Democratic support for his war resolution, bolstering his expected margin of victory in Congress for broad authority to use force against Iraq.