Iraq war resolution gains momentum in Washington

A resolution that would give US President George W Bush broad authority to use military force against Iraq gained momentum with Congress in Washington.

Mr Bush, meanwhile, suggested war with Baghdad could become “unavoidable” if Saddam Hussein does not disarm.

Full compliance with all UN Security Council demands “is the only choice and the time remaining for that choice is limited”, Mr Bush said yesterday, standing with top congressional leaders in the Rose Garden of the White House.

The President struck a deal on the resolution with House leaders in the morning, and momentum quickly built behind it throughout the day. Leaders of both parties predicted passage, probably next week, by large margins.

“Mr President, we delivered for your father. We will deliver for you,” said Senator John Warner of Virginia, the senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee. In January 1991, Congress authorised the first President Bush to use force to reverse Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.

Said House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, a Democrat: “We disagree on many domestic issues. But this is the most important thing that we do. This should not be about politics. We have to do what is right for the security of our nation and the safety of all Americans.”

At the UN, the administration was pursuing a Security Council resolution that would give Iraq 30 days to compile an “accurate, full and complete” inventory of all aspects of its weapons programmes – and provide UN inspectors military backing to carry out their search.

The three and a half page draft proposal has not been submitted formally. It faces deep opposition from Russia, China and France, each of which holds veto power.

As part of the deal with the House, Mr Bush bent to Democratic wishes and pledged to certify to Congress – before any military strike, if feasible, or within 48 hours of a US attack – that diplomatic and other peaceful means alone are inadequate to protect Americans from Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction.

The resolution would also require Mr Bush to report to Congress every 60 days - instead of the 90 days suggested by the White House – on matters relevant to the confrontation with Iraq. And it would reaffirm the policy embedded in US law that Saddam should be overthrown.

The resolution would give Mr Bush wide latitude to act, with or without waiting for the UN.

The House International Relations Committee worked into the night on the measure, although no votes were expected until today. An identical version was introduced in the US Senate.

Three women, shouting “no war with Iraq” briefly disrupted the House committee’s session. Republican Chairman Henry Hyde ordered them removed from the room.

Congressman Tom Lantos of California, the panel’s senior Democrat, said delaying a confrontation with Iraq would only “increase the danger and increase the price” and leave the US “humiliated before history.”