Dems Skeptical of Starting Row With Iran

In this photo provided by ABC News, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., appears for an interview with George Stephanopolous on ABC's This Week, in Washington, Sunday, Feb 11, 2007. (AP Photo/ABC News, Lauren Victoria Burke) (Lauren Victoria Burke - AP)

WASHINGTON -- Skeptical congressional Democrats said Sunday the Bush administration should move cautiously before accusing Iran of fomenting a campaign of violence against U.S. troops in Iraq.

The members of Congress spoke on the morning talk shows as the U.S. military said it believes orders came from the highest levels of the Iranian government to send components for sophisticated roadside bombs in Iraq.

The military told reporters in Baghdad that between June 2004 and last week, more than 170 Americans had been killed by the bombs, which the military calls "explosively formed projectiles." Those weapons are capable of destroying an Abrams tank.

Explosives seem to be flowing into Iraq from Iran, but does it stem from a deliberate government policy or rogue elements within the Iranian government? asked Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said that ultimately Iran wants a stable Iraq and that the United States needs to engage in diplomacy.

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said the administration could be laying the groundwork for an attack on Iran and that "I'm worried about that. That's how we got into the mess in Iraq," by relying on what Dodd called "doctored information."

Senate Intelligence Committee member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said "the administration is engaged in a drumbeat with Iran that is much like the drumbeat that they did with Iraq. We're going to insist on accountability."

On the Republican side, Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi said he does not think the United States is trying to make a case for attacking Iran. Lott said the U.S. should try to stop the flow of munitions through Iran to Iraq but that "you do that by interdiction ... you don't do it by invasion."

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, spoke in more aggressive tones, saying that "we have to do everything within our power to stop" any cross-border flow.

Reed spoke on "Fox News Sunday," Kerry on ABC's "This Week," and Dodd and Lott on CBS's "Face the Nation" and Cornyn and Wyden on CNN's "Late Edition."