WASHINGTON, January 24 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – After loosing support of key allies Germany and France and with mounting opposition from Russia and Chine, growing numbers of Democratic and Republican Senators are pressing U.S. President George Bush to better explain the need for war against Iraq.

This came as a group of more than 100 legal experts warned Bush in a letter published Friday, January 24, that senior officials could face prosecution if U.S. soldiers committed war crimes in Iraq.

Criticism for the war rhetoric is on the rise as opinion polls show weakening public support for a possible war against Iraq, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The polls indicate in particular that the public want to see proof of Iraq's alleged weapons programs.

The White House on Thursday, January 23, rushed Secretary of State Colin Powell and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to Congress to give closed briefings to lawmakers on Iraq.

But Powell and Rumself failed to convince legislators in the Congress, now controlled by Bush's Republican Party, of the need for military action.

"There is not enough hard evidence to launch a preemptive attack at this junction," said Senator Kent Conrad, a Democrat from North Dakota, one of more than 50 Senators from the 100 in the upper chamber to take part in the meetings.

Conrad said it would be wiser "to have an aggressive inspection regime" supported by the work of U.S. intelligence agencies.

Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, said Bush had to explain "why we as Americans should shoulder the burden; the money burden and the human sacrifice."

Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington State, expressed concern about the attitude of some allies such as France, which is pressing for U.N. weapons inspectors to be given more time to finish their operation.

"I think it would be very difficult for us to pursue this without military and monetary support from U.S. allies," declared Murray.

"I think it will be a huge mistake if the president went forward without the support of our allies and the U.N.," averred Daschle

"I think it will be a huge mistake if the president went forward without the support of our allies and the U.N.," averred Tom Daschle, the Democratic leader in the Senate.

Even Richard Lugar, the Republic chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, said he would prefer to see the United Nations pass a new resolution on Iraq before hostilities are declared.

Leading Democrat Joseph Biden said there was not enough proof to convince the United States and world public opinion of the nee to wage war on Iraq.

Biden said the U.N. inspectors must be allowed to finish their work and Bush must give proof of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons to convince U.S. allies.

Kerry accused the Bush administration of "blustering unilateralism" that could endanger the country

John Kerry, one of the contenders for the Democrat nomination for the 2004 presidential election, accused the Bush administration of "blustering unilateralism" that could endanger the country.

"It has meant alienating our long-time friends and allies, alarming potential foes and spreading anti-Americanism around the world," said Kerry.

A group of more than 100 legal experts warned Bush in a letter published Friday that senior officials could face prosecution if U.S. soldiers committed war crimes in Iraq.

The experts said violations of international humanitarian law by U.S. and allied forces "were extensively documented" during the 1991 Gulf War and military campaigns in Kosovo in 1999 and in Afghanistan in late 2001.

"Given these past violations, there is a reasonable basis for assuming that in any future military action against Iraq, these requirements will once again be breached," they wrote.

The letter, signed by more than 100 law professors and non-governmental organizations, was also sent to Rumsfeld, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Canadian counterpart, Jean Chretien.

Previous violations included "indiscriminate methods of attack," the use of cluster bombs and fuel-air explosives, and attacks on electricity supplies and dams, said the letter.

One of the signatories, Michael Ratner, President of the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York, said: "I hope this unjustified war never happens, but if President Bush proceeds to war, we fear it will be a war that unlawfully targets the Iraqi people as was the case in 1991."

"I hope this unjustified war never happens, but if President Bush proceeds to war, we fear it will be a war that unlawfully targets the Iraqi people as was the case in 1991" Ratner said

The experts "are putting the U.S., U.K. and Canadian governments on notice that such illegal tactics cannot and must not be used again," Ratner said.

Britain and Canada are both parties to the statute of the new International Criminal Court, set up on July 1 last year to try cases of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

"While the U.S. did not ratify the treaty establishing the court, U.S. officials involved in committing certain international crimes may nonetheless be held responsible under principles of Universal Jurisdiction and the War Crimes Act," the lawyers said.

They said the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal had plans to convene a hearing in London to examine evidence of violations of international humanitarian law with a view to referring such evidence to the prosecutor of the ICC.

"We wholly support this initiative," they added.

The lawyers said their primary concern was "the large number of civilian casualties that may result should U.S. and coalition forces fail to comply with international humanitarian law in using force against Iraq."

They quoted an estimate by the World Health Organization that "as many as 500,000 civilians could require treatment to a greater or lesser degree as a result of direct or indirect injuries."

The lawyers said they did not accept "that all 'peaceful means' to resolve the dispute have been exhausted as required under Article 33 of the U.N. Charter."

"Indeed, we consider that any future use of force without a new U.N. Security Council Resolution would constitute a crime against peace, or aggressive war in violation of the U.N. Charter," they wrote.