Clinton urges caution over Iraq as Bush is granted war powers

As President George Bush moved a step closer to waging war on Saddam Hussein yesterday, his predecessor, Bill Clinton, warned against pre-emptive military action against Iraq and praised Tony Blair for acting as a restraining influence on Washington's hawks.

As President George Bush moved a step closer to waging war on Saddam Hussein yesterday, his predecessor, Bill Clinton, warned against pre-emptive military action against Iraq and praised Tony Blair for acting as a restraining influence on Washington's hawks.

Mr Clinton took the Labour Party conference in Blackpool by storm after echoing the fears of many delegates about prospects of war but urging the party to support the Prime Minister's efforts to solve the Iraq crisis. British ministers are increasingly optimistic that a non-military solution will be found but are anxious to keep the pressure on President Saddam by making it clear that force will be used if necessary.

But Mr Bush was given broad backing from leaders of the US House of Representatives when they gave a green light to the use of American forces "as necessary and appropriate" against Iraq. Mr Bush warned that Baghdad had a narrow window of time in which to comply with United Nations resolutions and said that the use of force could soon become "unavoidable".

Britain is pushing for a compromise new UN resolution on Iraq that answered French demands for a two-stage process before military action. The resolution will demand that Iraq give unfettered access to weapons inspectors and will trigger a second one allowing military force if inspectors are frustrated. Russia also signalled that it might sign a new UN resolution demanding Iraq give the weapons inspectors unfettered access to sites previously off-limits to surprise visits, such as President Saddam's palaces.

Mr Clinton's address to the party conference was a break with the tradition that US presidents do not attack their successors over foreign policy. He said military action should be a last resort in Iraq for three reasons: "Today, Saddam Hussein has all the incentive in the world not to use or give these weapons away. With certain defeat, he would have all the incentive to do that. A pre-emptive action today, however well justified, may come back with unwelcome consequences in the future."

As someone who had ordered military action before, he said: "I don't care how precise your bombs and your weapons are, when you set them off, innocent people will die." He urged the international community to continue to seek a UN solution and suggested that Mr Bush was pursuing this route only because of Mr Blair's pressure.

He said: "I appreciate what the Prime Minister is trying to do in terms of bringing America and the rest of the world to a common position. If he weren't there to do this, I doubt if anyone else could. So I am very, very grateful.

"I can tell you that, as an American and a citizen of the world, I am glad Tony Blair will be central to weighing the risks and making the call. We should support his efforts in the United Nations and until they fail we do not have to cross bridges we would prefer not to cross."

The former president urged Labour delegates to put aside anti-American feelings stemming from their dislike of other policies adopted by the Bush administration. "We cannot lose sight of the bigger issue. To build the world we want, America will have to be involved and the best likelihood comes when America and Britain, America and Europe, are working together. That is what Tony Blair could not walk away from and should not walk away from, and what we are all trying to work through in the present day and I ask you to support him as he makes that effort. If the inspections go forward, and I hope they will, perhaps we can avoid a conflict."

If that happened, he said, the international community should still work for "regime change" in Iraq through non-military means by supporting the Iraqi opposition.