WASHINGTON (REUTERS) — The Bush administration charged Thursday that Iraq has maintained close contacts with al Qaeda members, including training related to chemical weapons, as progress was reported in Congress toward a resolution authorizing military force against Baghdad.
Senior al Qaeda leaders have been in Baghdad in recent weeks, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said.
At the same time, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the United States and Britain had agreed on the outlines of a U.N. resolution setting out demands that Iraq disarm.
A U.S. envoy will seek to convince France and Russia, two key members of the U.N. Security Council who have been cool to a new resolution. Powell will visit Paris and Moscow to explain the resolution, including “hard consequences” if Iraq failed to comply, he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
On Capitol Hill, congressional leaders proposed a draft resolution that sought to address lawmakers’ concerns language offered a week ago by President Bush was too broad.
The congressional draft makes clear the target of any U.S. attack would be Iraq, dropping a passage in which military force would be authorized to restore international peace and security in the region. Some lawmakers said that would give Bush a blank check to strike throughout the Middle East.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said he intended to get a final resolution to the Senate floor next week to start debate.
The draft authorizes Bush to use the armed forces “as he determines to be necessary and appropriate in order to defend the national security interests of the United States against the threat posed by Iraq,” and to enforce U.N. resolutions calling on Iraq to eliminate chemical, biological and nuclear weapons and end support for terrorism.
Bush would be required to report to Congress on the Iraq situation at least every 90 days.
At the White House, Bush predicted an imminent deal with Congress to give him authority to attack Iraq, despite a public feud with Daschle ahead of Nov. 5 elections that may hinge on the administration’s Iraq policy.
“We’re making progress. We’re near an agreement. And soon we will speak with one voice,” said Bush, surrounded by a number of Republican and Democratic members of the House of Representatives.
The Bush administration opened a new front in the rhetoric against Iraq, seeking to tie Iraqi president Saddam Hussein to the al Qaeda network.
Speaking at the Pentagon, Rumsfeld said there was “solid evidence” of the presence in Iraq of al Qaeda members.
“We have what we believe to be credible information that Iraq and al Qaeda have discussed safe haven opportunities in Iraq, reciprocal non-aggression discussions. We have what we consider to be credible evidence that al Qaeda have sought contacts in Iraq who could help them acquire weapons of mass destruction capabilities,” Rumsfeld told reporters.
The comments at a Pentagon briefing detailed Washington’s charges that Saddam Hussein has given support to the network of al Qaeda fugitive leader Osama bin Laden.
One report, he said, indicated Iraq had provided unspecified training related to “chemical and/or biological matters” to al Qaeda, blamed by Washington for the Sept. 11 attacks on America that killed approximately 3,000 people.
National security adviser Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday the information was gleaned from senior al Qaeda detainees captured in the U.S.-led war on terrorism.
However, Washington has been unable to prove a link between Iraq and the Sept. 11 attacks, although Washington insists it does not need a link to justify attempts to disarm Baghdad or remove Saddam from power.
A number of Democrats have said the administration has not shown Iraq poses an immediate threat that would justify a U.S. first strike.
They also questioned the timing of the push for military action, which has overshadowed the stumbling economy as an issue in the weeks leading up to Nov. 5 elections that will decide which party controls Congress.
Bush adopted a conciliatory tone one day after Daschle accused him of politicizing the war and homeland security by saying Democrats were not interested in the security of the United States, a point Bush has made at fundraising events on behalf of fellow Republicans.
“The security of our country is the commitment of both political parties and the responsibility of both elected branches of government. We are engaged in a deliberate and civil and thorough discussion. We are moving toward a strong resolution,” Bush said.
Speaking later at a political fund-raising event in Texas, Bush again sought to smooth ruffled feathers in Congress.
“This is not a partisan issue,” Bush told Republican donors. “This is an American issue, a uniquely American issue … I say uniquely American issue because I truly believe that now that the war has changed, now that we are a battlefield, [Saddam] poses a much great threat than anybody could have possibly imagined.
“Other countries, of course, bear the same risk. But there’s no doubt his hatred is mainly directed at us. There’s no doubt he can’t stand us. After all, this is the guy that tried to kill my dad,” he added, referring to an Iraqi plot to kill former President George Bush after the 1991 Gulf War.
Daschle told reporters he still hoped for a bipartisan agreement despite the ongoing “grave concerns we have about the politicization of this effort that we can reach conclusions successfully, an agreement that will allow bipartisan compromise.”
