Lawmakers Debate the Issue of Iraq

Some top Washington officials are urging the Bush administration to slow down its push for action against Iraq. Former Vice President Al Gore says that Bush is putting the war on terrorism in jeopardy by focusing on Iraq, and that the United States needs time for careful analysis of what may lie ahead concerning the Arab nation.

Gore said that it is impossible to completely prevent Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction. However, he added that the ability of the United States to secure multilateral support in the war on terrorism could be damaged if the country acts against Iraq alone-a move President Bush has said the U.S. would do if necessary.

Most Americans appear to favor military action, according to a Pew Research Center survey of 1,100 people nationwide. But support drops off sharply if the U.S. faces thousands of casualties.

Meanwhile, President Bush has warned that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein "threatens civilization." Bush's administration has said it wants Congress to authorize a move against Hussein before lawmakers adjourn in October.

While Iraq has denied that it has nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons, Vice President Dick Cheney said, "The entire world knows beyond dispute that Saddam Hussein holds weapons of mass destruction in large quantities and is seeking to acquire more."

Responding to the Iraqi statement that it would allow United Nations inspectors access to see if the country has such weapons, Cheney called the offer another attempt by Iraq to avoid strong action by the U.N. Security Council.

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On the international front, British Prime Minister Tony Blair has called a special session of Parliament to begin Tuesday. The focus of the meeting will be on Iraq, and Blair's office is expected to release a 55-page file on Iraq's weapons programs.

U.S. Defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld met with NATO officials in Poland to drum up support for a possible strike against Iraq.

At the United Nations in New York, Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged Iraq to follow any new U.N. Security Council resolution on disarming the Arab nation and setting up the return of weapons inspectors. But Saddam Hussein has said his country would not accept any resolution that is different from his original offer to allow the inspectors back inside Iraq.