Democrats Lambaste Bush on Iraq (washingtonpost.com)

In separate Capitol Hill appearances a few hours before Bush's prime-time news conference, Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said it would be premature to invade Iraq without trying to win broader international support.

Congress in October debated and approved the resolution giving Bush unlimited power to strike Iraq regardless of public and U.N. opinion.

Democratic leaders, worried about exposing deep fissures inside the party that could haunt them in the next election, have shot down several attempts by antiwar liberals to force a new debate on Iraq. Some Democrats fear a repeat of the Persian Gulf War, when Democrats paid a political price for opposing what turned out to be a victorious military campaign.