NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, 10 August — The first cracks began to show in American solidarity for a military campaign against Saddam Hussein yesterday after a top-ranking Republican on Capitol Hill bluntly argued that any unilateral attack would be unjustified and would lose the United States friends around the world.

Among America’s key allies in Europe, Germany was equally blunt. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder ruled out joining any military attack on Iraq. "I think that if there is a military intervention, we should be cautious. That means that Germany will not take part," in any US-led action against Iraq, Schroeder told the ARD public television station.

Asked by a reporter if he might change his mind after the Sept. 22 general elections, Schroeder said he would not, adding his statement "would hold. And there is nothing to change. Our allies know this."

Dick Armey, the majority leader of the House of Representatives, made the surprising intervention just as members of six Iraqi opposition groups were preparing for two days of talks with members of the Bush administration.

The Iraqi opposition groups, based either in London or Iran, were set to urge the US to press ahead with plans to dislodge Saddam by force. President George Bush has vowed to force a "regime change" in Iraq, but officials insist no decision has been made on launching an attack.

A new CBS poll showed two thirds of Americans supporting an attack on Iraq in principle. But a similar number said that the US first needs to get the support of other nations — a task that looks increasingly tricky — and that President Bush would need to consult Congress first.

While the mood in Congress seems to be overwhelmingly in favor of toppling Saddam, the comments of Armey, a highly influential figure on Capitol Hill, will be unsettling for the White House. He said that he did not think Saddam had yet done enough to warrant US action.

"My own view would be to let him bluster, let him rant and rave all he wants," Armey said, when asked by reporters about the prospect of targeting Saddam "As long as he behaves himself within his own borders, we should not be addressing any attack or resources against him."

"If we try to act against Saddam Hussein, as obnoxious as he is, without proper provocation, we will not have the support of other nation states," Armey said. "We, as Americans, don’t make unprovoked attacks against other nations."

Armey went so far as to suggest that continuing deadlock over UN attempts to reinsert inspectors in Iraq would not be sufficient to justify a military response. "In my estimation it is not enough reason to go in, that he does not allow weapons inspections," he said.

Armey’s warning drew a muted response from the White House, which said Bush has made no decisions on Iraq. But Bush’s hawkish Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said a longstanding US strategy of using economic sanctions and no-fly zones to contain Iraq is not working because it still has weapons of mass destruction. (The Independent)