US President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair are facing increasing pressure over the existence or otherwise of Iraq weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
The US Congress is preparing to investigate the objectivity of US intelligence reports about Weapons of Mass Destruction that motivated the US-led invasion of Iraq.
Virginia Senator Mr John Warner said that the Senate's Intelligence and Armed Services committees will soon hold joint hearings into whether an intelligence breakdown occurred in the run-up to the Iraq war, or whether US officials oversold intelligence data to whip up domestic support for the conflict.
Before Congress's week-long holiday break, West Virginia Senator Mr Robert Byrd also questioned the accuracy and forthrightness of the Bush administration's use of US intelligence.
"It appears to this senator that the American people may have been lured into accepting the unprovoked invasion of a sovereign nation, in violation of long-standing international law, under false premises," Mr Byrd said in a florid speech delivered from the Senate floor.
"The run-up to our invasion of Iraq featured the president and members of his cabinet invoking every frightening image they could conjure, from mushroom clouds, to buried caches of germ warfare, to drones poised to deliver germ-laden death in our major cities," said Mr Byrd.
In Britain, British Prime Minister Tony Blair flew home today from the G8 summit into a storm of political controversy centering on claims that his office embellished a report on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction to justify the US-led war.
Mr Blair's spokesman indicated a parliamentary committee was already examining the claims.
Simmering mistrust over Iraq amongst Labour and opposition MPs developed into all-out calls for a public inquiry spearheaded by former cabinet ministers Mr Robin Cook and Ms Clare Short.
Opposition Liberal Democrat leader Mr Charles Kennedy called for a special House of Commons select committee to be set up, with full access to the intelligence material, to examine the issue.
AFP