Bring in Congress on Iraq, lawmakers urge

WASHINGTON -- War against Iraq is likely, said a senator exploring U.S. options, and other lawmakers joined him Sunday in pressing the Bush administration to make the case to Congress before any attack.

Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., led hearings last week that highlighted both the gravity of the threat posed by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the difficulty of replacing him with stable leadership.

"I believe there probably will be a war with Iraq," said Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "The only question is, is it alone, is it with others and how long and how costly will it be?"

Similar sentiment was expressed by other lawmakers appearing on the talk shows. Like Biden, they said the administration must do far more to sell Americans, allies and Iraq's neighbors on the need for force.

They also said Bush must seek congressional approval if he decides on war and heal splits among his own advisers over how best to meet his goal of replacing Hussein.

Democratic Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said Hussein is not likely to launch an attack with biological or chemical weapons unless he is provoked by a U.S. move against him.

"Does he love himself more than he hates us?" he asked on CBS' Face the Nation. "And I think the answer is probably yes.

"And if that's true, then it would be unlikely that he would initiate an attack with a weapon of mass destruction because it would be certain that he would be destroyed in response."

But Biden said divining the Iraqi leader's plans "is like reading the entrails of goats." What matters is his capacity to unleash the weapons, whatever his intentions.

On Face the Nation, retired Gen. Brent Scowcroft, chairman of the president's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, strongly urged restraint.

He warned that an American invasion of Iraq "could turn the whole region into a cauldron and, thus, destroy the war on terrorism."

Scowcroft, who advised Bush's father during the Persian Gulf war and who has been a voice of skepticism about invading Iraq to oust Hussein, said the United States should focus first on the war against terrorism and on calming the battle between Israel and the Palestinians.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said Congress must weigh in before America goes to war. "I don't think the president has the authority to launch a full-force effort" without congressional approval, said Daschle, D-S.D.

"We all support strongly a regime change," Daschle said on ABC's This Week. "But I think we have to get our ducks in order. Do we have the support of our allies? Do we have an appropriate plan?"

The administration has invited Iraqi opposition groups to Washington, possibly this month, to explore what they might be able to do to unseat Hussein. So far, they have not been considered an effective force.

Congress authorized Bush in the fall to use all necessary force against nations or groups that aided the Sept. 11 hijackers or harbored such terrorists.

Few if any solid leads have come out linking Hussein to the al-Qaida terrorist network and the debate remains unsettled over whether Bush must come to Congress specifically to get approval to attack Iraq.

Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said earlier it would be ridiculous for Bush to lay out a war plan in public view. And he recalled the bitterness of some of the congressional debate that preceded the last war against Iraq. But on Sunday he acknowledged the need to engage the public.

"While you may not have to come to Congress, America needs to be united," he said. "We need to understand what our problem is, what our goals are. We need to try to bring the world in."

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