The Ministers for Foreign Affairs and for Justice have echoed the Tánaiste's accusations of anti-Americanism against some anti-war campaigners. On RTÉ Radio 1, Mr McDowell accused some of being supporters of Saddam Hussein.
Mr Cowen told reporters in Dingle yesterday there were people not favourably disposed to the United States in this country. There were people "both in and outside the Dáil who advocate visions obviously inimical to the American, in terms of this issue".
Mr McDowell went further than Ms Harney, who last Friday accused some anti-war campaigners of attempting to stir up anti-Americanism by exploiting the genuine concerns of many people about war. Mr McDowell said some left-wing anti-war campaigners were supporters of Saddam Hussein.
He was totally amazed, he said, that a group of people who saw themselves on the left of the political fringe should support a man who butchered his own people, gassed them, who singled out at his party conference those who opposed him and had them shot.
"And these people suddenly see him as a champion of small nations against large nations. I regard that as grotesque," the Minister said. "I agree completely with the Tánaiste that the Irish people should remember where democracy and basic morality lies in all of this. Supporting or perpetuating the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq is not a moral cause. It's a deeply immoral cause in my view", he said.
The Green Party chairman, Mr John Gormley TD, said last night that on a visit to Iraq two years ago he had met senior figures and raised issues concerning human rights, arms spending and the rights of minorities.
"Our record on Saddam Hussein's regime is clear. Where were these Ministers back then?"
He dismissed Mr McDowell's comments as "more propaganda. It's disappointing he is continuing the mud-slinging and the smear campaign. Mr McDowell and Ms Harney should listen to their own supporters because they are out of touch with them."
The Socialist Party deputy and anti-war campaigner, Mr Joe Higgins, said Ms Harney and Mr McDowell had come out with a crude form of "red-baiting" not heard since the Cold War.
He said that whereas Fianna Fáil in government had shipped mountains of beef to Saddam Hussein's dictatorship during its brutal war against Iran, those opposed to war were calling for his overthrow.
"These outrageous lies are a desperate attempt to cover over the huge gulf between the massive anti-war feeling among ordinary people and the Government's craven subservience to the warmongering of the Bush-Blair axis", Mr Higgins said.
Mr Cowen said people were entitled to their views and to voice their opinions - once they stayed within the law.
However, the anti-Americanism that existed among some campaigners was not broadly representative of the Irish people. "People recognise that we have close bonds of friendship and kinship with America. That it has been an outstanding friend to us particularly in relation to the Northern peace process and continues to be so under this administration."
America had made a huge contribution to inward investment in the past 10 to 15 years, he said.
All of those factors were issues that related to our interests. "No responsible government would not acknowledge these factors in our consideration of what policy we would adopt as this situation evolves", he said.
That did not mean Ireland was a military ally of the United States, or agreed with all its foreign policies in every respect, now or in the past, Mr Cowen said. He said the Government's position was in line with what the EU decided last Monday in Brussels.
He counselled moderation in the way anti-war people articulated their positions, adding it was "ironic to hear the people advocating the most pacifist positions using the most violent language".
He said he had listened to the contributions of Sinn Féin TDs and other TDs in the Dáil. There were a number of people both inside and outside the Dáil who advocated positions inimical to America's on Iraq, he added.