Democrat leader rages at Bush's 'patriot' claim

Tom Daschle, the most senior Democrat on Capitol Hill, launched an impassioned attack on President George Bush yesterday, accusing him of politicising the debate over Iraq and of making offensive comments about Democrats.

Mr Daschle, the US equivalent of Leader of the Opposition, demanded Mr Bush apologise after the President said Democrats were not "interested in the security of the American people".

"You tell those who fought in Vietnam and in World War Two they're not interested in the security of the American people," said Mr Daschle, his voice breaking with emotion. "That is outrageous."

Speaking from the Senate floor, he added: "We ought not to politicise this war. We ought not to politicise the rhetoric about life and death.

"It's not too late to forget the pollsters, forget the campaign and fund-raisers, forget making accusations about how interested in national security Democrats are, and let's get this job done right."

The mild-mannered Mr Daschle spoke out after Mr Bush said this week that "the Senate is more interested in special interests in Washington and not interested in the security of the American people". The President's spokesman yesterday said Mr Bush stood by his comments.

Mr Daschle's comments follow criticism from the former vice-president Al Gore, who said Mr Bush had squandering sympathy towards the US and failed to recognise the diplomatic fall-out that would follow war on Iraq.