Democratic accusations that President Bush is seeking a blank check for war with Iraq are slowing his drive for approval by Congress. Trouble brewed for the administration at the United Nations , as well. There, a tough resolution prepared by the United States and Britain to threaten Iraq faced stiff opposition from France, Russia and China, who hold veto power in the U.N. Security Council. "We are a long way from getting an agreement, but we are working hard," Secretary of State Colin Powell told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday as he stepped up U.S. diplomacy internationally.

On the home front, three Democratic senators, Paul Sarbanes of Maryland, John Kerry of Massachusetts and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, told Powell the White House was asking Congress for unprecedented backing.

The senators did not question a need to get tough with Iraq for blocking U.N. weapons inspections for nearly four years and refusing to disarm.

But they said the congressional resolution the president proposed was far too broad.
For instance, Sarbanes said, it would authorize force against Iraq for refusing to return Kuwaiti prisoners held since the Persian Gulf war in 1990-91.

Kerry told Powell "you are asking for blanket authority" and Feingold said "we are hearing shifting justifications for using force in Iraq."

Powell tried to placate them, saying the Bush administration was unlikely to use force except if Iraq continued to refuse to get rid of weapons of mass destruction.

In an op-ed article in Friday's New York Times, House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt criticized Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and other Republicans for injecting politics into the debate on Iraq.

Gephardt said that earlier this week the president "went so far as to say that the Democrat-led Senate is 'not interested in the security of the American people.'"

Gephardt also said it was wrong that some Republicans would question Democrats' patriotism for insisting that Congress fully discuss the administration policy. He was also critical of Cheney for saying the country's security efforts would be stronger with more Republicans in Washington.

Democrats, he said, are committed to working with the administration to produce a final measure that will have broad bipartisan support.

"But the statements by the president and vice president only serve to weaken that process, undermine trust and thwart cooperation," he wrote. If Republicans "continue to use the war as a political weapon, our efforts to address the threat posed by Iraq will fail."

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said the Senate would begin its debate next week, but he said the White House proposal was unacceptable.

A resolution giving the president the authority to go to war should be backed by the broadest coalition possible, Daschle said after meeting with Senate Democrats. "We've come some distance. We've got a long way to go before that can be achieved," the South Dakota Democrat said.

Senate Republicans said they strongly backed the proposal offered by the White House and felt the president had gone far enough in meeting Democratic concerns about its scope. "Any further erosion, I think, is going to be a problem," Senate Republican leader Trent Lott of Mississippi said.

On the international front, Powell sent Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman to Paris and Moscow to try to persuade France and Russia to agree to the proposed U.S.-British resolution.

Powell met with Chinese officials and telephoned the foreign ministers of France, China and Russia and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan as part of the difficult U.S. campaign.

"We expect there will be an agreement on a number of elements and disagreement on others," Powell said.
France, Russia and China, as permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, have the right to kill any resolution by vetoing it.

All three countries are inclined to take up Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on his offer to admit weapons inspectors before threatening military action.

Hinting that the administration was willing to compromise to some extent, Powell said the United States and Britain wanted a single resolution that told Iraq what it must do and warn of consequences if it refused.

But French President Jacques Chirac has proposed two resolutions - the first calling for new and unfettered inspections of suspect weapons sites and only threatening force in a second resolution if Iraq was still defying the Security Council.

As the administration built its case against Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said there was evidence senior members of the al-Qaida terror network had been in Baghdad "in recent periods."

And Powell told the Senate committee that there was evidence of linkage between Iraq and al-Qaida. He said there was "no smoking gun" that linked Iraq to the 9/11 terror attacks on the United States.

"But we cannot dismiss the possibility," Powell said. He told the senators defectors and other source were still providing additional information on the relationship.

PHOTO CAPTION

Senate Majority leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., talks to reporters after meeting with Senate Democrats regarding the Homeland Security bill and the resolution on Iraq Thursday, Sept. 26, 2002, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Daschle said Thursday there was no consensus on an anti-Iraq resolution and they didn't know if Congress could vote on the issue next week as planned. "I had expected we would have an agreement by now," Daschle said. "We don't." (AP Photos/Evan Vucci)