Congress set to back Bush's war

An increasingly bellicose Congress is now expected to support President George Bush's call for military action to topple Saddam Hussein.

Mr Bush and his team are confident that Congress will authorise an attack on Iraq early next year, in spite of party rivalry and differences between the White House and Capitol Hill.

The threat posed by Saddam's arsenal of biological and chemical weapons, and the likelihood he will have nuclear weapons in the foreseeable future, has persuaded politicians that the security of the United States is at stake. This view was reflected in the flat rejection by Congress of an invitation by Saddam for US politicians to visit Iraq for three weeks to "see for themselves" that there are no weapons of mass destruction there.

Senator Joseph Lieberman, a Democrat who ran against Mr Bush on Al Gore's presidential ticket at the last election, urged Congress to give the

President all the support he needs to rid the world of Saddam Hussein.

Congress is likely to give Mr Bush the authority to act in any way he chooses by a vote more decisive than that which approved the launching of the Gulf War by his father in 1991.

A rising tide of approval for White House action against Iraq is all the more impressive given a rebelliousness in Congress about other foreign policy positions taken by Mr Bush.

Observers are talking about the dawning of a new era, "an end to the extraordinary period of bipartisan cooperation on world affairs since the suicide attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 11 September."

Republicans have been voting "No" on many Bush initiatives. Defying the White House, Congress earmarked millions of dollars to destroy weapons in the former Soviet Union.

Republicans are also questioning Mr

Bush's refusal to support a larger peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, his determination not to deal with Yasser Arafat if he wins re-election, the abandonment of the Kyoto Protocol on global warming and his efforts to thwart the creation of an International Criminal Court.

Meanwhile, Germany broke ranks with the US and other European nations today with an outright declaration that it would not provide troops or money for any attack on Iraq. The move by Chancellor Gerhard Schr?der's ruling SPD party came as opposition to war grew both abroad and in Britain.

SPD general secretary Franz Munterfering said his party, currently fighting presidential elections, would stay out even if the UN gave its blessing to an attack. And Mr Schr?der said: "Under my leadership Germany will not be available for adventures."

The move went further than France where President Jacques Chirac has insisted on a fresh UN mandate before any attempt is made to topple Saddam.

It is likely to stiffen the resolve of many Labour MPs calling on Tony Blair to rethink support for Mr Bush.

Leading churchmen are delivering a petition to Downing Street today, claiming an attack would be immoral and illegal.

Opposition would soften if a fresh UN mandate for action was obtained, but the presence of sceptics France and Russia on the UN security council makes such an outcome unlikely.